Pathways to Success by 21
Improving Educational and Employment Outcomes for
At-Risk Youth
An Application for Implementation Funds
Tri-Chairs of P21:
Jane EdmondsDirectorDepartment of Workforce Development
/David DriscollCommissionerDepartment of Education
/ John A. WagnerAssistant Secretary
Children,Youth and Families
Commissioner
Department of Transitional Assistance
Agency Partners:
Timothy R. MurphySecretaryExecutive Office of Health and Human Services
/Dr. Judith Gill ChancellorBoard of Higher Education
/Jan Motta
Executive DirectorExecutive Office of Community Colleges
Elmer BartelsCommissioner Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission
/Dr. Elizabeth Childs CommissionerDepartment of Mental Health
/ Susan LawlerDirector
Division of Career Services
Jane Tewksbury CommissionerDepartment of Youth Services
/Harry Spence CommissionerDepartment of Social Services
2
Contents of Application Package
Background/Purpose……………… 4
Mission and Goals…………………………………………………………………4
Funding Opportunity 5
Application Content ……………………………………………………………….6
Use of Funds 6
Eligible Applicants 9
Reporting Requirements 9
Required Application Contents 9
Instructions for Application Submission. 11
Evaluation of Completed Applications 11
Attachments:
A – Application Cover Sheet
B – Implementation Matrix
C – Budget
D – P21 Organizing Principles
E – P21 Organizing Principle Definitions
F – P21 Planning Team Members
G – WIA Incentive Partnership Assurance Page
H – Certification Regarding Lobbying
I – WIA Title II Contacts
J – Perkins Contacts and Providers
K – List of ABE approved vendors
Contact for More Information
Jamie Tresselt
Center for Youth Development and Education
Commonwealth Corporation
529 Main Street, Suite 110
Boston, MA 02129
Phone: 617.727.8158 ext. 2295
Fax: 617.242.7660
E-mail:
Background/Purpose
Over two years ago, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts began a process to examine ways to improve service delivery for at-risk youth by convening regional and local partners from key stakeholder agencies and organizations. This process is called Pathways to Success by 21 (P21). Both regional and state partners agreed: youth serving agencies needed to design strategies to support youth across transitions and build the capacity of existing services to better meet the needs of youth. To that end, the Department of Workforce Development awarded planning grants to the regional workforce areas to support the development of regional Strategic Action Plans. The goal of each strategic plan was to bring together representatives of the relevant youth serving agencies in the region to define three to five strategies to increase the region’s capacity to meet the needs of at-risk youth. Each Workforce Investment Board and its Youth Council facilitated an in-depth process with multiple stakeholders that resulted in a Regional Strategic Action Plan that articulates how they will work together to serve their most at-risk youth. The information from all of the plans was used by P21’s state-level Steering Committee to inform the State’s Strategic Action Plan, and to develop a set of organizing principles for future activity.
The next step in the P21 process is to distribute additional resources to the 16 regional P21 Teams to support the implementation of the strategies identified through the regional Strategic Action Plans. The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and the Department of Education (DOE) brought together Workforce Investment Act funding and United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration resources through a state Incentive Award to Massachusetts to support Regional Implementation Grants. The state partners of P21 invite one application from each of the 16 geographic workforce areas in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to undertake implementation activities under the umbrella of the Commonwealth’s Pathways to Success by 21 (P21) initiative. All applications should be submitted to Commonwealth Corporation, the grant administrator.
Mission & Goals of the P21 Initiative
The mission of P21 is to improve the capacity of the Commonwealth’s youth learning system to effectively and efficiently support the needs of at-risk youth in order to improve education and employment outcomes. The Commonwealth will increase the percentage of at-risk youth succeeding in secondary school, postsecondary education and training, and the labor market by:
s developing strategies to better assist at-risk minority, low income, foster youth, court involved youth, and disabled youth transition to adulthood
s identifying strategies to re-align state and local resources and programs to more effectively serve at-risk youth
s creating new investments from public and private sources in services and strategies that serve at-risk youth
s creating policies that ensure that the state and local commitment to prepare at-risk youth for post-secondary and employment options is effectively coordinated from the youth to the adult systems.
Funding Opportunity
The P21 Initiative is currently moving from a planning to an action phase. Of the many interventions planned at the state and regional level, some are large in scope and require involvement by multiple partners. Other next steps are smaller in scope, serving as a mini-bridge within the larger system. Although some partnership and collaboration can occur without the need for new resources, many next steps at both the regional and state level require additional funding, and/or a change in how existing dollars are spent to be successful.
Funding through this application will provide P21 Regional Teams with the opportunity to implement priority strategies from their Strategic Action Plans. The Department of Workforce Development has made $20,000 available to each Regional Team to implement one or more of their P21 strategies. In addition, the DWD and the DOE agreed to disseminate USDOL-ETA Incentive Funding[1] - currently available to Massachusetts as a result of meeting WIA Title I and Title II and Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act performance measures - through a common strategy that supports the P21 Organizing Principles and actively engages representatives of each funding source. Representatives from the Department of Education funded Adult Basic Education (ABE) providers (see Attachment I), Public Two Year Colleges with a Perkins Act Local Plan in your region (see Attachment J), Workforce Investment Boards/Youth Councils, and One-Stop Career Centers, must be involved when designing the use of these funds. Up to $40,000 is available to each P21 Regional Team to expand existing regional capacity to serve out-of-school youth by a) increasing slots for out-of-school youth in existing programs and b) engaging in sustainable system-building activities with the above-mentioned partners.
This application process is an umbrella application with multiple options for regions. Each area can choose to apply for up to $20,000 in funding to implement P21 strategies (referred to as Resource A under section “Use of Funds”) and/or up to $40,000 to creatively expand existing services for out-of-school youth (referred to as Resource B under section “Use of Funds”). If applying for both sources, we encourage an integrated approach. Resources must be spent by March 31, 2008.
The resources made available through this umbrella application are one-time resources. Please keep this in mind if your region is considering using the funds to hire new staff and/or create new programming. The application submitted by a region must be designed and agreed to by the regional P21 teams (see Attachment F). If your P21 Team is applying for Resource B (Incentive funding) and does not currently have representation from the WIA Title II DOE-funded Adult Education providers (Attachment I, K), the Perkins Act Postsecondary Local Plan career/vocational technical education providers (Attachment J), and the One-Stop Career Centers, P21 teams must reach out and engage these partners in the planning process.
Application Content
The focus of the Application and use of funding should be consistent with P21’s mission, goals, and organizing principles (see Attachment D). Each region should work with its P21 team to determine how to best pursue resources and develop an application. Regions should follow the Narrative Questions as a guide to describe the implementation activities, timeline, grant oversight, and grant amount and budget agreed to by the P21 team. It is expected that each P21 Team will review the material in Attachment D and E, which provides an overview of the statewide P21 Organizing Principles that emerged from an analysis of the work of the 16 regions. The P21 Organizing Principles summarize the critical elements to effective youth-serving models identified by regional and state partners. State partners intend to use the resources under this application process to encourage regions to strengthen existing youth models using these elements. Therefore, the review panel will be looking for clear connections to the P-21 Organizing Principles when reading the applications.
Use of Funds
Resource A: Flexible P21 Implementation Resources
Description. The Department of Workforce Development reserved $20,000 per workforce investment area from the WIA Title I Governor’s Discretionary funding to be awarded to eligible P21 teams to implement one or more of the strategies articulated by a region in its P21 Strategic Action Plan.
Amount Available and Eligibility for Grant Award. Grants up to $20,000 per region are available to regions that have submitted an approved P21 Strategic Action Plan or a Youth Transition Funders Group Plan.
Program Requirements:
· The Implementation Plan must:
o support one or more of a region’s P21 Strategies and
o support the P21 Organizing Principles and
o identify a clear implementation plan and
o include results-oriented outcomes.
· Regional P21 Team members must agree to chosen priorities. Regional P21 Teams are encouraged to have representatives from each of the P21 partner agencies (see page 2).
· No more than 5 percent of funds can be used for administrative purposes as defined by the Workforce Investment Act.
Resource B: WIA Performance Incentive Grants
Description. Resources through the state’s Incentive Funding are available through this umbrella application. These resources must be used to strengthen program linkages/services on behalf of the academic, employment skill development, youth development, job placement and post-employment support needs of out-of-school youth aged 18-24. Regional P21 Strategic Action Plans articulated a need for additional resources to support career and vocational technical education, basic skills and GED attainment, occupational skill training, and intensive case management -- especially for out-of-school youth. The P21 state team recognizes a critical need to increase the ability of DOE-funded adult basic education providers (25 percent of whose service population is older youth), Perkins Act Postsecondary Local Plan career/vocational technical education providers (including public two-year colleges and vocational technical schools), Workforce Investment Boards/Youth Councils, and One-Stop Career Centers to serve out-of-school youth. Regions can access up to $40,000 to support service delivery and sustainable system building between these four partners.
Other program resources already serve this target population: local formula funds in the youth components of the Workforce Investment Act, resources coordinated through the One-Stop Career Center system, WIA adult formula funds, state and federal resources available through the DOE-funded Adult Basic Education system, and programs funded through the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. In addition to expanding seat capacity at these programs, applications should include system-building activities that connect these resources where possible.
Amount Available and Eligibility for Grant Award. Grants up to $40,000 are available per workforce investment area. Applications must be submitted by the Local Workforce Investment Board on behalf of the regional P21 team and must have active participation and representation from WIA Title II (DOE-funded Adult Basic Education), Perkins Act post-secondary career/vocational technical education providers (see attachments), One-Stop Career Centers, and Workforce Investment Boards/Youth Councils. Massachusetts earned these funds by meeting performance standards within the WIA Title I, WIA Title II (Adult Basic Education), and Perkins Act program areas in federal program year 2004. No more than 5 percent of funds can be used for administrative purposes as defined by the Workforce Investment Act.
Program Requirements. In order to access this resource, an application must be approved in writing by the four principal program partners responsible for earning the incentive award: the local Workforce Investment Board, the local One-Stop Career Center/Title I Administrator, DOE’s Adult Basic Education’s regional representative, and a representative of a Perkins Act Postsecondary Local Plan career/vocational technical education provider within the region. While it is not mandatory that funds be allotted for any of these partners in particular, applications must specify how each of these partners will benefit from your region’s proposed design. Contact information for these representatives can be found in Attachments I and J of this application.
Grant funds may be used to:
• increase services at One-Stop Career Centers for out-of-school youth enrolled in DOE-funded ABE programs
• increase access to DOE-funded ABE programs and career/vocational technical education programs for out-of-school youth
• increase “seat” capacity of DOE-funded ABE services and career/vocational technical education for out-of-school youth
• support stronger case management for out-of-school youth in existing adult education and career/vocational technical education programs
• expand regional capacity to coordinate, case manage and refer out-of-school youth who participate in ABE, career/vocational technical education or One-Stop Career Center services to community resources
• enhance services in DOE-funded ABE programs and career/vocational technical education programs by developing and using curriculum that is relevant to and appropriate for out-of-school youth.
Service strategies should emphasize educational skills, including literacy, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), numeracy skills, or career/vocational technical education. Local programs should provide active case management of participants through the One-Stop Career Centers. Case managers can help broker and connect youth through a variety of service providers, help counsel youth on available service options and career decisions, and help participants overcome other life barriers. We encourage regions to serve youth from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and to build upon existing networks of local community service providers.
Youth who are served in a DOE-funded ABE program should be tracked using the SMARTT system; youth who are served in a One-Stop Career Center and/or through an approved WIA youth vendor should be tracked using the MOSES system. All funds awarded through this application are federal Workforce Investment Act funds and are subject to all requirements contained in relevant OMB circulars. Since LWIBs are the only grantees permitted in this solicitation, the fiscal agents for LWIBs are already aware of these OMB and U.S. Department of Labor requirements. Fiscal agents may contact CommCorp for further explanation or additional information if these requirements are not familiar. Staff of Commonwealth Corporation will provide technical assistance to teams.