Capacity Development New Hampshire’s Effective Practice September, 2006

Background Small, rural state in Northern New England NH's population is approximately 1.3 million people.  Of that, approximately 325,000 are youth age %).

Philadelphia Three attendees for initial Vision Meeting in Philadelphia  Director for Juvenile Justice Services, HHS  Program Specialist for Division for Children, Youth and Families, HHS  Administrator for WIA Youth for NH Dept. of Education on behalf of the Workforce Opportunity Council, State Workforce Investment Board

Partners Dept. Health and Human Services Juvenile Justice Foster Care – Transitional Living Behavioral Health (l/06) Dept. Education Adult Education Career and Technical Education (1/06) Special Education Vocational Rehabilitation Youth Workforce (WIA Youth)

Partners - Continued NH Employment Security Workforce Opportunity Council (State Workforce Investment Board)

Organizational Structure Interagency federally-funded partner operational group Subcommittee to State’s Youth Council (subcommittee to state Workforce Board)

Memorandum of Agreement March, 2005 Designate a representative Make affirmative efforts to resolve issues in favor of the best interest of the youth being served Meet quarterly (reality meet monthly) Share directory of program and services Training through cross training of agency personnel and sharing of training information and opportunities as appropriate.

Memorandum of Agreement – Continued Share youth-related information Maintain on-going communication (scholarships, internships, etc.) Provide referrals Assessment and testing results will be shared as appropriate Assist each other in meeting program goals and outcomes

Memorandum of Agreement – Continued Community Awareness Provide training to each other Provide advocacy for our constituents Provide joint opportunities to better serve our constituents through apprenticeships, joint funding initiatives, conferences to improve outcomes.

Capacity Development Three Areas Front line staff located throughout the state in l3 one-stop communities (NH Works) State level partners Systems – beyond scope of partners

Local Level Forum (October, 2005)  Local partner staff and contractors from throughout the state.  Bring the Philadelphia experience to the partners at local and state level.  Identify a shared need for youth in their region, develop an implementation plan (4/06), and implement plan (ll/06).  Needs varied – i.e. posters, brochures, job fairs, resource directories

State Level Partners Training  Local Forum  Local Co-Chair Meeting (2/06); resource mapping  NH Work’s Annual Conference – Getting to Know our Youth Partners (6/06). Partnering Transition Capacity Development Best Practices

State Level Partners - continued Communication  Meeting attendance has been good to excellent  s  Youth Council Meetings (2) Introduction and update as subcommittee PY07 planning  expand Youth Council membership to include Youth Vision Director-level staff  organize discussion points from the meeting for further discussion at upcoming Youth Council meetings (i.e.: goals, roles, specific tasks, process by which Youth Council will direct work of Youth Vision committee, etc.)

State Level Partners - continued Linkages with business  Meeting with apprenticeship trades and discussed gaps for both you and employers accessing apprenticeships  Funding a position to focus on apprenticeship.  NH Works more youth focused – environmentally as well as in its publications  NHES began the Youth Employment Services Program.

System NH Works Conference- Getting to Know Our Youth Partners Oversight Group for the US Dept. of Education Dropout Prevention Grant to NH  Significant capacity development on dropout prevention and recovery methodologies from US Dept. of Education and NH Dept. of Education  Expand positive behavior strategies within partner programming through training

Next Steps Developing better methods to serve neediest youth Developing stronger youth linkages with business community, economic development, apprenticeships and NH Works. Expanding DOE’s State Assigned Student Identified web system to include all partners. Expanding partnership to other federal partner organizations.