Ready to Rise Townhall Update

Ready to Rise

Expanding Opportunities for All L.A. County Youth

Townhall Update Presented by: California Community Foundation, Liberty Hill Foundation, Destiny Coaching and Imoyase

Speakers

Jai Phillips

California Community Foundation

Eric Wat

Destiny Coaching and Consulting

Stacey Urauchi Liberty Hill Foundation

Cynthia Azali-Rojas

Destiny Coaching and Consulting

Magdalena Mireles

Liberty Hill Foundation

Cheryl Grills

Imoyase Community Support Services

Overview of JJCPA Funding Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act* Established CA State juvenile justice funding source

*Passed in 2000

Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council

L.A. County Probation Department

Public-Private Partnership

Between Oversight Committee: Coordinates and administers California Community Develops a comprehensive the funds Foundation and Liberty Hill Multi-Agency Juvenile Foundation ➧ ➧ ➧ ➧ Justice Plan

Ready to Rise Grantees

The Vision Through grantmaking and technical assistance support, Ready to Rise will catalyze the growth of an L.A. County-wide youth development system made up of culturally-responsive, community-based services meant to connect young people to opportunities for civic engagement, wellness, and academic and professional enrichment.

Theory of Change

Youth Development Grantmaking

Capacity Building

• Expand services to support high-needs youth • Integrate a comprehensive youth development framework • Strengthen organizations to their work

Academic Support Workforce Development

Advocacy

Developmental Areas Program Features/Services

Cognitive & Academic

Environmental Factors Physical Health

Identity Mentorship

Community Leadership

Caretaker Support

Mental Health

SocioEmotional

Integrated Arts Education

Trauma Responsive Support

Restorative Justice

Transportation & Housing

Positive Youth Development Framework

Grantmaking Priorities

Service Type

Geography

Organizational Capacity

Population Served

Cohort 2

Cohort 1

A Place Called Home Amazing Grace Conservatory

Antelope Valley Partners for Health

Antelope Valley Boys & Girls Boys & Girls Club-San Fernando

California Conference for Equality and Justice

Cohort 1 Grantees

Bridge Builders Foundation

California Youth Connection

Central American Resource Center

Centro CHA Inc

Coalition To Abolish Slavery & Trafficking

Coalition for Engaged Education

Communities for a Better Environment

Community Coalition-Substance CDTech - Community Development Technologies

Cohort 2 Grantees

Good City Mentors Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) Homies Unidos Khmer Girls In Action

EmpowHer Institute

Koreatown Youth & Community Center

Flintridge Center

Learning Centers at Fairplex

Girls Club Los Angeles Inc

Mar Vista Family Center

InnerCity Struggle

Meztli Projects

Legacy LA

New Directions For Youth Inc

Long Beach BLAST (Better Learning for All Students Today)

New Village Girls Academy

Lost Angels Children's Project

Positive Results Corporation

Pops The Club

Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission

Safe Place for Youth

Reclaiming America's Communities through Empowerment

Southern California Crossroads

Sanctuary of Hope

Pasadena/Altadena Coalition of Transformative Leaders (PACTL)

Sharefest Community Dev Inc

Teens Exploring Technology

Stars: Illuminate, Educate, Advocate

Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural

The BUILD Program

Youth Emerging Stronger

The Learning Centers at Fairplex The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company United Friends of Children Youth Mentoring Connection

49 Grantees: Zip Codes Served

Capacity Building Support for community-based organizations that is customized and responsive to their needs. This includes access to experts, consultants, coaches, and trainers that will help organizations meet their own goals.

Develops the skills, resources, and expertise to tackle and solve deep-rooted problems

Ensures organizations are positioned to sustainably and effectively deliver on their missions

Tailored and responsive to unique organizational needs

Strong Programs exist in strong organizations

Capacity Building Structure Invest in the talent and leadership capacity of community partners.

Assessment

Individualized Capacity Building Plans/ Coaching

Cohort Based Training

Peer Learning & Networking

Capacity building = funding, coaching, training, and planning that helps nonprofits increase the specific capacities needed to deliver stronger programs, take risks, build connections, innovate and iterate.

R2R Annual Budgets to Date $13.0

$12.6 $0.90

$2.0

$3.5

$13.2 $3.5

Liberty Hill Allocation CCF Allocation Total Annual Allocation

$0.7

$7.2 $1.5

$6.69 $9.49

$9.70 $5.70

$2.30 Year 1 *In Millions of Dollars

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4 (Proposed)

Data Highlights

• Awarded $18,763,000 in grant funds as of Dec. 2021 • 34 orgs (or 69%) are BIPOC*-led • 100% (3/3) have gained independent nonprofit status • Over 640 hours of one-on-one coaching and training • Orgs serve 8 youth priority populations: • LGBTQ+ • Gender expansive • Justice-involved • Foster • Housing insecure • Alternative/ continuation school • Transition-aged • Gang-involved *BIPOC = Black, Indigenous and People of Color

Ready to Rise (R2R) Public Townhall Serving Youth with Community-Defined Evidence Practices (CDEPs) Imoyase Community Support Services January 12, 2022

Omar: A Tale of Two Approaches “I felt like I didn't have any hope anymore, I was behind a lot in school...”

CommunityDefined Evidence Practices

“Getting into the program helped me realize where I was at and gave me hope.”

– R2R Youth

“There are no words to describe the feeling of being in [this Ready to Rise] program. Being surrounded by a respectful and comfortable community is the best feeling ever.

You not only get to learn [this new skill] but learn more about yourself. You can do anything if you put your mind to it, especially with this program's support.”

– R2R Youth

Our Approach to Positive Youth Development (PYD)…

• Does NOT assume Western-centric approaches can be universally applied • Instead, we endeavor to develop a deeper understanding of community-defined evidence practices (CDEPs) which are grounded in community goals, values, and systems of meaning Shek et al. (2019)

Evaluation Approach and Method Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) • Use a set of evaluation techniques that privileges community voices • R2R Grantee input shifted focus from the “conventional” outcomes to community defined outcomes for youth of color -- 98% consensus among the 49 grantee organizations à relational ties is key outcome Community-Defined Positive Youth Development Priorities

Relation to Self

Relation to Others

Relation to Broader Community

Relation to Environment

Other

communication, leadership)

Identity

Relational / Communal / Collectivist

Responsibility to Community

Safety

Spirituality

Academic Improvement / Vocational Engagement

Hope / See a Future

Advisor

Empowermen t in Action

Stability

Self-Advocacy

Agency / Individual Empowerment

Individual Competencies Skills (i.e., life,

Healing Critical Consciousness [Designed & implemented using ethnic, cultural, spiritual, LGBTQ & other community-affirming approaches]

R2R Youth Served and Outcomes Data (July 2019 – June 2021; Year 2)

R2R Grantees served 13,750* Unique Youth! *Outlier Grantee contributed 2,229 Unique Youth

Who is R2R Serving? (Year 2) • The majority of R2R youth served are Latinx (62%) and Black (22%) Youth •

Increasing number of participants are also Asian & Pacific Islander American (7%), Native American (2%), or Indigenous (~1%) •

•

Services are inclusive of Trans and Non-Binary Youth (2%)

R2R programs serve youth 11-24 years, most are high school age(52%) Priority population youth served– • Justice-Involved Youth (96%) • Gang-Involved Youth (92%) • LGBTQ+ Youth (96%) • Foster Youth (96%) • Youth Experiencing Homelessness (94%) • Transition-Age Youth (18-24 years)(94%) • Youth in Alternative/Continuation Schools (96%)

Youth Service Highlights

Top 4 Positive Youth Development Domains

Socio-Emotional Development (19%)

What services did youth receive?

Program Touchpoints

604,918*

Academic Support & Tutoring (15%) A Place Called Home

Critical Consciousness (12%)

Case Management (14%)

Antelope Valley Boys and Girls Club

Communities for a Better Environment

*Outlier Grantee contributed 364,109 Touchpoints

Good City Mentors

COVID Services 69,134 additional Unique Youth Served

283,497 additional Touchpoints

Measuring Youth Outcomes Youth Relational and Goal-Based Outcome Questionnaire

What impact did services have on youth?

Pre-and post-test survey that measures changes in 1) the number and quality of youth relational ties and 2) progress towards completion of their own self-identified goals

33 New Supports Added!

2021 Pilot (N=71 youth) – 7 grantees 5 months on average between pre and post

Post: 188 Supporters

Pre: 155 Supporters

= 5 supporters

Peers, Family, Other Adults

21% increase in the number of supportive ties Youth reported significant**** progress towards accomplishing their program-specific, self-defined goals Note: ****p<0.0001

Appreciating the Moment & Looking Ahead • The number of youth served – 82,884 Unique Youth and 888,415 Touchpoints Total • R2R’s value added • Community-driven • Culturally Grounded • Contextually Relevant • Reaches harder to reach youth • Youth served and other process data

70,240 standard seating 100,240 expanded seating

• Outcome data collection – using refined codes and youth and communitydefined outcomes • R2R making a contribution in the field of both CDEPs and CBPR

Thank You!

Imoyase (2022)

Capacity Building Cynthia Azali-Rojas Destiny Coaching and Consulting

Capacity Building Support During Covid-19

Facilitating Online Meetings Skills for online meeting facilitation and ways to increase engagement and participation in meetings.

Self-Care: A Community Approach Learned how personal wellness connects and contributes to community wellness.

Making Strategic Financial Decisions In A Crisis Learned about accessible tools and gained strategic advice to help navigate uncertain times through a financial lens,

April 16 All-Cohort Convening Grantees supported one another in the early weeks of the COVID-19 crisis sharing how they pivoted during lockdowns, and how they continued to support youth and their communities.

Grantee Partners

Aquil Basheer D.Litt

Roberta Shintani

Jennifer Quinones

BUILD Program

Coalition for Engaged Education

New Village Girls Academy

James Breedlove Bridge Builders Foundation

Systems Change Wins!

• Divestment in punitive measures to address youth behavior • Reduced contract compliance requirements for grantees • Upfront funding for grantmaking • Consistent budget allocations • Deidentified youth data • COVID Response Supports – MOU/Petition • Restructuring of Background Check approvals • Stronger governance within JJCC • Autonomy to develop “new measurements of success” • CCF and the evaluation consultants participate in countywide taskforce to develop better measurements

Questions?

Next JJCC Meeting January 19, 2022

Liberty Community Plaza (tentative) 14181 Telegraph Road Whittier, CA 90604 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.