Mapping Your Entry Point

Exercise X

Mapping Your Entry Point

Where do You Begin? Where You Are.

Instructions:

Step 1. Entry Point Exercise

Materials: Signs (11x17 in large font) throughout the room with major entry points listed one per sign:

•Build/expand a coordinating group.

•Create a broad youth master plan.

•Create a specific action plan to move an indicator or address a population.

•Improve system performance.

•Increase the reach of services and supports.

•Create recommendations for policy/resource alignment.

•Create a coherent set of goals and metrics.

•Collect integrated data.

•Increase public awareness or engagement.

•Involve youth.

•Validate and expose current good work.

•Put work into a large frame.

•Transform the structure and relationships with community providers in order to build community competence.

Post-It Notes

Markers

Instructions:

Step 1.Individual (5 minutes). Take a few minutes to write your name on several post-it notes and think of programs and initiatives you are either currently doing or are planning on doing in the coming year – where you had or have a mandate, mission or momentum (i.e. a moving train). Place post it notes with your name on them next to those projects and initiatives on the walls that you are currently doing or are planning to do in the coming year. Put your name next to as many as you would like. If there are additional entry points that you feel are missing, please let the facilitator know and they will add it.

Step 2AROUND THE ROOM (20 minutes)

Group by Entry Point 1(5 minutes). Choose the top entry point for your coming year or your past year and stand next to that sign. (FACILITATOR- you may have to sort to ensure there are roughly equal groups) Discuss amongst your group about what you are doing and/or are planning on undertaking- how this entry point relates to your work.Consider two key questions- how prepared are you and your organization for this moving train and what resources/information do you need? What type of skills do you need?

Facilitator’s note: Have signs posted around the room with the “entry points” words written large. Have a few extra flipchart pages made up with blank “points” so groups can cluster for initiatives that had not been anticipated.

Group Sharing (5 minutes). Share with the larger group a brief synopsis of your small group conversation. How prepared are you and your organization to achieve this initiative? What resources/information do you need? What challenges do you predict will face this initiative? What have you accomplished in the past in that particular area? What are you looking to do in the immediate future? What do you think is replicable and useful for other communities?

Group by Entry Point 2(5 minutes). Choose the second entry point for your coming year or your past year and stand next to that sign. Discuss amongst your group what you are doing and/or are planning on undertaking- how this entry point relates to your work. Consider two key questions- how prepared are you and your organization for this moving train and what resources/information do you need? What type of skills do you need?

Group Sharing (5 minutes). Share with the larger group a brief synopsis of your small group conversation. How prepared are you and your organization to achieve this initiative? What resources/information do you feel that you need? What challenges do you predict will face this initiative? What have you accomplished in the past in that particular area? What are you looking to do in the immediate future? What do you think is replicable and useful for other communities?

FACILITATOR-There are a few options for this exercise, as far as amount time spent on the exercise and the depth of the discussion. The choice you make will reflect the amount of time you have for the facilitation, the experience levels of the audience and the familiarity with Ready by 21. The timings reflected in the rest of this guide reflect the time recommended for the medium version:

Light Version- Ask participants to place their names next to the entry points they are focusing on in the coming year. Ask them what other initiatives, or ‘moving trains, are going on in their community. Engage in a discussion about what happens in a community when there are multiple strategies that don’t connect. Discuss briefly.

TALKING POINTS- Fragmented programs lead to fragmented services. This is a real diagram showing the number of different commissions and groups working to improve outcomes for youth in New York state. A scary picture. A similar picture emerges here when participants attempt to “map” their coalitions, task forces and special issue groups. But unless we change the current way that we work -- see a problem, convene a task force, create a program -- we will continue to pile up or add on programs and efforts that do not necessarily add up to the changes we want to see.

Medium Version- Focus conversation on the two small team clusters mentioned above where participants are asked to gather and discuss their 2 top entry points. Ask your groups to focus on the key questions and not just share stories. The key questions are

1-how prepared you and your organization are to undertake this work?

2-What resources/information you need?

3-What type of skill do you need?

Another important question to consider is what other types of community groups and leaders are needed to accomplish the entry point.

Expanded Version-Focus conversation on the two small team clusters mentioned above where participants are asked to gather and discuss their 2 top entry points. Ask your groups to focus on the key questions and not just share stories. The key questions are

4-how prepared you and your organization are to undertake this work?

5-What resources/information you need?

6-What type of skill do you need?

Another important question to consider is what other types of community groups and leaders are needed to accomplish the entry point. Extend the conversation to discussing what the challenges and opportunities are for engaging these various audiences. Also discuss what other initiatives and moving trains these other community stakeholders are engaged in. What are strategies for alignment and coordination amongst community change efforts?

Facilitators’ Notes:

In closing this exercise, reflect on how the key to successful implementation of the Ready by 21 Challenge– no matter the community, setting or situation– is to connect the ideas to existing initiatives, or ‘moving trains’ – wherever there is a mandate, mission, momentum or a moving train. Point out the value of connecting the Ready by 21 ideas to existing strategies and frameworks-building on strengths within a community. Use this exercise to choose what to focus on in your facilitation, whether it is the creation of a cabinet, the creation of an action agenda, etc.

This time can be shared with the introductions for the beginning of a facilitation. Explain the day and have everyone introduce themselves, then conduct this exercise. At the conclusion of the exercise, ask participants to describe their positions within their organization in one or two words. They may choose whatever word they want, but the preference is for an action verb (if they need additional guidance: catalyze, coordinate, communicate, span boundaries, create change).

This is a very important exercise and one that takes very little time. It takes what are sometimes unclear explanations of what people do, and puts those explanations into a context everyone can understand. The facilitator, if they are so inclined, can put a list of these terms on a flipchart ahead of time, and can check off which ones people mention. These job descriptions should be recorded, and referred back to throughout the facilitation.

The quality of the exercise is enhanced when participants connect the ideas of Ready by 21 from the beginning, before having learned the ideas themselves, with their own work. It demonstrates the value and strength of what they have and are working on, thereby establishing this as a starting point for their further learning about Ready by 21. This exercise also helps participants to see who is doing or has done similar work, creating targeted networking opportunities.

A key connection to make is that of the Entry Points discussion to the Blueprint for Action. Leaders need to use the Blueprint for Action and the Big Picture Approach to sharpen the focus on the whole picture of youth issues while setting specific priorities within it.

The Blueprint helps leaders think about how their work fits together so that they can increase the collective horsepower of their efforts and get better returns on their investments. The Big Picture Goals provide the critical focal point for their work. The Big Impact Strategies are interconnected and need to be focused on achieving the goals. The Big Tent Partners are the circle of actors coming together to leverage their efforts to make change happen. These partners need to take on shared responsibility for changing the odds for children and youth. They also need to support the Big Picture Coordinating Bodies asked to manage change.

These concepts are sometimes difficult to grasp by those unfamiliar with the terminology. Starting with a mandate and language that is familiar to the participant adds a helpful frame of reference that can be used as the core ideas of Ready by 21 are explored further.

Blueprint for Action

We suggest that you return to this exercise throughout the rest of the training. Ask participants if their action steps and ideas for implementing their mandates and initiatives have changed as they become more familiar with big picture thinking and the Ready by 21 framework.

Exercise Y

Principles in Practice

Understanding the Principles of Ready by 21

Instructions:

Step 1. Principle Exercise

Materials: Sheets for each participant with one of the principles listed with two 1-5 voting areas below- one asking how important the principle is and one asking how often practiced (example below).

Flip Chart and Markers

Instructions:

Step 1.Facilitator (5 minutes). Take a few minutes to explain the principles and the exercise. Make sure everyone has a sheet with a principle on it like the one above. Ask participants to spend a few moments considering their principle. Optional activity- give some participants either a scenario to consider or a blank sheet to write some reflection questions. This can serve to add some variety to the wrap-up conversation at the completion of the exercise.

Step 2.Individual (5 minutes). Take a few minutes to consider your opinion on the value of the principle you are given, and ways in which it is or is not used within your work. Think of some specific examples you can share with the group. If you are unclear on the meaning of the principle, please feel free to share that with the facilitator.

Step 3AROUND THE ROOM (15-20 minutes)

Group Sharing (15-20 minutes). FACILITATOR- Go through each principle, and have the person(s) with that principle share their thoughts on the principle and examples from their work. Have participants reflect on the principle in relation to their organization’s mission and values. Is this principle reflected? Is it talked about but not practiced? Is it practiced fully or is it lightly regarded? If you have added in the optional activity for some participants, mix in those responses with the principles dialogue.

EMPHASIZE THE WHY OR WHY NOT QUESTION. CAN THE WHY OR WHY NOT BE SUMMMED UP IN ONE WORD?

OPTIONAL- Ask others if they have additional ideas regarding the value of the principle. Some of the principles may require more discussion than others- such as building on strengths and engaging youth and families as change agents. These principles are critical yet rarely practiced in the field.

The facilitator, if they are so inclined, can put a list of the one word reasons that often come up on a flipchart ahead of time, and can check off which ones are mentioned by the group. Words could include complacency, fragmentation, barriers, communication. These one word answers should be recorded either way and referred back to throughout the facilitation.

Track scores and key response ideas on the flipchart. This exercise and the scores can be reflected upon at the end of the training.

FACILITATOR-There are a few options as to the level at which the principles and the ideas of this exercise are explored. The choice you make will reflect the amount of time you have for the facilitation, the experience levels of the audience and the familiarity with Ready by 21:

Light Version- Ask participants to focus on scoring the two questions, and come up with a one word response as to why they scored the principle the way they did. Record the scores and the one word answers. Discuss briefly.

Medium Version- Ask participants to focus on scoring the two questions, and come up with a response as to why they scored the principle the way they did. Ask for an explanation as to why and ask the participant to sum up their answer into a few words. Ask others in the group if their experience mirrors that of the responder, or if their experience is very different. Before the activity, write the common responses on a flip chart. Circle or mark words that are used in the answers. Explain the connection between these words and the American Dilemma. Record the scores and the one word answers.

Expanded Version- Ask participants to focus on scoring the two questions, and coming up with a response as to why they scored the principle the way they did. Ask for an explanation as to why and ask the participant to sum up their answer into a few words. Ask others in the group if their experience mirrors that of the responder, or if their experience is very different. Go deep in exploring the meaning of the principle- ask for specifics about programs doing either very well or not well in utilizing that particular principle.

Before the activity, write the common responses on a flip chart. Circle or mark words that are used in the answers. Explain the connection between these words and the American Dilemma.

Extend the conversation to discussing who is in the developmental box- engage the audience in what they think fills the “developmental white space”– good or bad – for young people in their community, and make observations about how coordinated mechanisms are helping or may help to address some of the most critical concerns in the future. How do families and communities play a role in implementing these principles and how can they be supported? Record the key ideas in the responses.

Facilitators’ Notes:

In closing this exercise, reflect on how the key to successful implementation of the Ready by 21 Challenge is to build a common understanding of the core principles. From that understanding, a community or organization can develop common terms and language to ensure that all stakeholders are having an apples to apples conversation about their aims. Having common language can be translated into vision and goal statements and planning frameworks that provide a youth centered way of looking at information.

This activity demonstrates the American Dilemma- a key idea in Ready by 21. The Ready by 21 challenge started as a response to the frustration that American rhetoric doesn’t match the American reality. We talk about all youth being ready, all families being supportive, and all leaders being effective. But in reality, only 4 in 10 young people are ready and 1 in 3 have the basic supports needed to be able to be ready. We may be busy trying to make things better, but we have an effectiveness gap.Young people come up high on the list of concerns of the public and policymakers alike.Youth themselves are concerned about their own preparation and ability to meet the demands of their future. But there is confusion over priorities and solutions. Is it pregnancy prevention or mentoring? Is it out-of-school or early childhood? Where should we be spending our money?

Generally, the principles are scored highly when this exercise is conducted. However, the scores reflecting how often practiced are usually far lower. This represents the deep gap in the dream vs. the reality in a much more powerful way than with statistics alone.