Big news for young people in Wayne County. A national foundation is investing millions to help expand career and enrichment opportunities in the region.
The Wayne County Partnership, which includes Syracuse University’s School of Social Work, is set to receive funding through the Wallace Foundation’s Advancing Opportunities for Adolescents initiative. The program focuses on boosting school enrichment efforts, such as after-school and summer programs. The foundation expects to invest between six and ten million dollars in Wayne County, supporting projects like the STEADY Program, which connects high school students with local employers for real-world work experience.
“The Wayne County Partnership’s commitment to and sharp focus on increasing access to opportunity for youth in rural settings stood out to us and is one reason we invited them to participate in this initiative. The partnership’s STEADY Work program could serve as a national out-of-school time program model for cross-sector collaborators. The program not only leverages resources from several youth-serving county agencies but also offers apprenticeships that build personal, professional, and transferable skills that youth could use throughout their lives. We are excited to begin this work with them.” – Gigi Antoni, vice president of youth development, The Wallace Foundation.
Following an initial year of vision-setting and planning, Wayne County Partnership will concentrate its efforts on a range of core activities, which include:
1. Strengthening and Expanding Collaboration with Wayne County’s youth development sector, including expanding the quantity and quality of opportunities available to youth furthest from opportunity.
2. Bolstering Youth Development Practices and Programs by identifying what interests young people and piloting efforts in one or two underserved areas, strengthening programming and focusing on professional development for adults working with youth.
3. Establishing or Strengthening Relationship-Based “Navigation,” pairing each young person with a caring adult who co-creates a personalized, strengths-based plan with them and their support network. These adults will help connect adolescents to resources and opportunities that remove barriers they have and support their goals.
4. Collecting and Analyzing Data across the community to track program availability, cost, participation, and more and to support continuous improvement and cost modeling.
5. Executing a Strategic Communications Plan to build internal and external support, using compelling stories and data to promote understanding and sustainability.
6. Planning for Sustainable Funding by mapping public and private funding sources (federal, state, and local) and identifying how to address gaps and develop strategies to sustain youth development and navigation efforts beyond the life of the initiative.
7. Participating in National and Local Research to document the impact on youth outcomes, produce evidence-based tools and playbooks, and share lessons learned.
Jay Roscup, Director of Wayne County Community Schools, and longtime Co-Chair of the Wayne County Partnership, is thankful for the support from Wayne County families, schools, county government and local non-profits that comprise the Wayne Partnership.
“The Wallace AOA initiative is asking the right questions at the right time. Collaboration can make space for youth development programming. The Wayne Partnership created an ecosystem where our Community Schools efforts thrive. The cooperative intent of our partners has led to the betterment of individual programs, accurate installation of proven practices, and innovation of custom programs that fit our community.”
The Wayne County Partnership brings together more than 50 local agencies, school districts, and organizations in communities including Sodus and Palmyra. It was selected from more than 1,700 applicants nationwide.
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