I hope many of you read the article in Monday’s Times-Picayune about the Inspector General’s report on the city budget process. Especially interesting (but not surprising) to me was the part about how the City of New Orleans spends considerably less for recreation funding compared to other cities. I was able to obtain a copy of the report and it was both enlightening and depressing. In many, many categories the City spent considerably more than the other cities (Toledo, Corpus Christi, Atlanta, St. Louis, Wichita, Cincinnati, Baton Rouge and Tampa) – areas like sanitation, police, “executive functions” and others. But, when it comes to parks and recreation services, New Orleans spends significantly less – $33 dollars person. The average city spends $65 – with Tampa and Baton Rouge at the high end, spending $102 and $89 respectively. As a city, we must commit to investing more in our youth!
DSS Fellowship
Congratulations to our own Dara Lum Shackelford and the Department of Social Services for being featured in The Advocate for their work towards improving the lives of children and families. DSS has called together a group of fellows from DSS staff, other agencies, and nonprofits to help improve services within DSS. We are thrilled to have Dara serve as one of the twelve Innovation in Louisiana Government Fellows for DSS and the author of one of four projects chosen for further development.
The project area Dara will be working in focuses on developing policy recommendations to improve the quality of afterschool and youth development programs.
New Website!
We are excited to launch the latest version of our website! Please explore to find out more about our work and the ways in which you can participate in the developing and maintaining of strong opportunities for the children and youth of New Orleans. We look forward to hearing from you. Be sure to visit us on facebook as well!
Summer 2009 NOLA Research
We had another successful summer on the research front! The Partnership ran focus groups at 11 summer program sites. We met with a total of 170 youth and 85 parents to learn their thoughts about summer, afterschool, and what youth success means to them. We also partnered with Christina Ryder and Associates LLC, a private research firm, to gather data about summer feeding in New Orleans. Research briefs and full reports on our findings will be available in October.
CityBusiness 2009 Innovator of the Year Award
Afterschool Partnership’s Youth Mapping Initiative, a youth-driven project to gather, collect, and update information and opportunities for youth and families in our community and neighborhoods, has received a CityBusiness 2009 Innovator of the Year Award.
We are proud to be part of this elite group of accomplished organizations, businesses, and individuals who are being recognized because they succeed by operating progressively or create unique products. CityBusiness will announce the top three innovators on September 25. Congratulations to all of the involved youth and our staff, especially Eric Jensen who has led this effort!
Private Funding Opportunities (Sep 14, 2009)
Childhood Hunger Great American Bake Sale Grant, DUE 9/30
http://tinyurl.com/2ghgpm
State Farm Youth Advisory Board Grant, DUE 10/2
http://www.statefarmyab.com/apply.php
United Health Heroes Childhood Obesity Grant, DUE 10/2
http://tinyurl.com/qhlzpz
Lowes Toolbox for Education Grant, DUE 10/16
http://www.toolboxforeducation.com/
LEGOS Fund to Support Youth Creativity, DUE 11/1
http://tinyurl.com/mby6pq
From the Executive Director’s Desk
Gina will be using this area to provide her insight into current projects, opportunities on the horizon, and ideas that are important to our work and community. Check back regularly for new entries.
First Book New Orleans
First Book-Greater New Orleans is excited to announce our next round of book grants for the 2008-2009 school year! Since the 2007 academic year, we have been able to grant over 42,600 brand new books to over 77 literacy programs (under-resourced classrooms, daycare centers, after school tutoring programs, etc.) serving 10,000 children from low-income families in the New Orleans area. Each child receives an average of 4-5 new books throughout the year to start their own personal home libraries. What makes our program special is that, often, children are the ones that choose their own books, and they choose from over a thousand titles of the most popular children’s books. Details available at www.firstbook.org/nola.
Education Reform and Expanded Learning Opportunities
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed into law on February 17, 2009 and provides Louisiana with a unique opportunity to improve how we educate and care for our children and youth. The Afterschool Partnership is currently tracking ARRA and the Federal FY2010 Budget, including new legislation and funding regulations related to time and expanded learning opportunities, education reform, child care, summer learning and the critical role of community partners in eliminating the achievement gap. We will continue to update you on state and local innovations in education, child care, and workforce development, as well as opportunities to become further involved in education reform efforts.
The Louisiana Department of Education recently released an addendum to the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Request for Proposals for programs operating from January 2010 through December 2012. The revised RFP supports the Department’s dedication to expanding quality afterschool programs throughout the state. More information about the revisions can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/np52oc
Congratulations to Dara Lum
Dara has been selected to the inaugural class of the Innovation in Louisiana Government Fellowship (ILGF). The Fellowship will drive a culture of leadership and innovation in social service delivery, to better serve our most vulnerable children and families. As a candidate, Dara will work on a project to design creative and cost-effective strategies to improve quality and access of child care for school-age children and youth. ILGF is sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Social Services in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
We are very proud of Dara and excited about the ways her involvement will support the New Orleans community.