Friday, May 28, 2010

Become YIPA's Next Promise Fellow! by Clare Ryan, YIPA's (current) Promise Fellow

It is graduation season again. As the weather changes and students all over the country prepare for summer vacation, I can’t help feeling like it is a time for change and new adventures. While I am not in school anymore, my AmeriCorp year will be ending this summer. That means a new adventure for me, but also an opportunity for someone else. I am excited to announce that YIPA is currently accepting applications for their 2010-2011 Promise Fellow!


What is a Promise Fellow?

A Promise Fellow is a member of AmeriCorp who works to uphold America’s Promise to Youth (to read more about this). There are many Promise Fellows across the State of Minnesota and the vast majority work in schools or community out-of-school time programs. A handful of us work for the Statewide Partnership Network, which means that we work in “behind the scenes” jobs with non-profits that look at the state as a whole and don’t focus on direct service. (For more on other Promise Fellow positions and the program as a whole).

What do I do as YIPA’s Promise Fellow?

As YIPA’s Promise Fellow I get to do all kinds of things. I have run and organized a conference for 60 young people, met with research leaders on best practices, created and edited this blog, traveled to Duluth, Moorhead and around the Twin Cities for conferences and trainings, and worked closely with all of YIPA’s staff members on practically every facet of the association. This is an interesting and diverse job that takes some initiative, but which offers opportunities to learn so much about the world of youth advocacy in Minnesota.

How to Apply:

Here you will find the position description and instructions on how to apply. The deadline is EXTENDED TO JUNE 25!!

Looking for job? Looking to hire?

YIPA also maintains a job posting site at www.mnyipa.org under the “jobs” tab. Since 2005, more than 250 jobs at YIPA member organizations have been advertised here. There are several jobs posted right now – Check it out! Job postings on the YIPA website are free to YIPA members. Send your job available advertisement to Christine Klejbuk, YIPA’s Membership Coordinator, 1111 Elway St., #501, St. Paul, MN 55116; fax: 651-699-6093; email:cklejbuk@tcq.net. All job advertisements must include a deadline for responses as well as an address (or phone, fax, email) to which interested individuals can respond. Job postings will automatically be pulled after the indicated response deadline. YIPA also has established a “YIPA email list for notification of new job posting” that will be sent to you when a new position has been posted on the “Jobs” section of the YIPA website. If you want to be on this targeted email list, please send your request to Chris Klejbuk at cklejbuk@tcq.net.

Friday, May 21, 2010

YIPA's Statewide Alliances by Scott Beaty, YIPA's Executive Director and Clare Ryan, YIPA's Promise Fellow

Why is YIPA a part of Minnesota-wide alliances? Because two heads are better than one. Because united we provide a powerful voice for youth in Minnesota. Because, mostly importantly, we believe in a continuum of services. Youth intervention does not stand alone, nor does it encompass the entire life of a young person. Early childhood, out-of-school time, public health, juvenile justice, education, job training, mentoring and so many others play just as vital roles in the lives of Minnesota’s children and youth. It is easy to become silos – to see the great value in our own work and lose sight of the power of our collective work. YIPA believes deeply in this collective work.

YIPA is currently a part of three main statewide alliances: The Minnesota Children’s Platform Coalition (MNCPC), the Youth Policy Alliance (YPA), and the Juvenile Justice Coalition (JJC). All three of these groups are made up of representatives from statewide organizations and agencies, all are policy-focused and support a continuum of services for children and youth.

The Minnesota Children’s Platform Coalition is broader in its representation – covering children’s and youth issues of all kinds. Recently, the MNCPC convened a working session to designate the most important issues for children and youth in Minnesota today. The outcome was a 6-question survey for the 2010 gubernatorial candidates. The survey (click here for a preview of the questions) will be distributed to all candidates this summer and responses will be posted on MNCPC participant’s websites. YIPA will make sure to post the responses on this blog as well! Responses are expected back by July 10th. We hope that this survey will illuminate the candidates’ positions on children and youth issues from education to crime prevention to early intervention to homelessness.

The Youth Policy Alliance is more focused in that it represents solely the needs of youth. YIPA is the convener and administrator of the YPA. The YPA also has an upcoming summer legislative initiative. We plan to contact key legislators and provide them with information on the rich financial, individual and community benefits of investing in youth. The YPA’s major event will take place early next spring with a Youth Rally Day at the Capitol. Check back here and at www.mnyipa.org in the coming months for further details.

The JJC “seeks to create an effective juvenile justice system in the state of Minnesota that promotes the physical, psychological, educational and vocational well-being of youth, while holding youth accountable for their actions and protecting the public safety of the community.” YIPA staff members sit on legislative, training and diversion committees for the juvenile justice coalition. These committees discuss and provide recommendations for legislative initiatives and priorities, new training opportunities for professionals in the juvenile justice world, and best practices in diversion programs.

YIPA participates in a number of other alliances in order to bring the voice of youth intervention to the table. As YIPA’s executive director, I share the youth intervention perspective with the Minnesota Council of Non-Profits Public Policy Cabinet. This group is made up of representatives from a wide range of non-profits, all of whom spend time advocating for their cause at the Capitol.

YIPA is also a member of the Midwest Society of Association Executives (MSAE) – the professional association of associations in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Since joining YIPA, our Membership Coordinator, Chris Klejbuk, has been engaged with MSAE's Membership Committee that meets to share new ideas on association membership recruitment, retention and engagement.

We are so grateful to the organizations and individuals who have put their time into making these statewide alliances successful. If any of our readers are interested in being a part of these groups or has another statewide alliance that you think YIPA should know about, please let us know!

Friday, May 14, 2010

May Member of the Month: Youth Service Bureau


The Youth Service Bureau (YSB) is one of the oldest youth intervention organizations in Minnesota. Started in 1976 in Cottage Grove and Southern Washington County, its values and approach to youth soon spread to Stillwater and beyond. Today, the Youth Service Bureau spans Washington County and parts of Western Wisconsin. The YSB’s goal is simple and vital to the wellbeing of the young people and the communities it serves: Keep kids out of the court system.


With family counseling, community justice programs and school-based programs, the YSB provides a range of options to young people who are struggling with violence, chemical dependency, mental health issues, truancy, and low-level offenses.

The YSB’s long history in no way keeps it from constantly pushing for new and better ways to serve youth. In the last few years, the YSB has teamed up with public schools and School Resource Officers to provide a unique kind of school-based program for young people with deep anger issues. This program, START: Social Skills Training and Aggression Reduction Techniques, was recently featured as a YIPA training, provided by Dr. Sheldon Braaten. Sandy Fuller, Development Director of the Youth Service Bureau, has been generous enough to share this story with us:

Pablo was like the mouse in the corner…unseen and unheard. He avoided talking to anyone and tried to disappear in the background. Yet, when someone did say something he didn’t like, he would “flip out.”


A school caseworker tried to reach out to Pablo. His only response was that everyone would be better off if he were dead.


At home, Pablo felt left out. His brother got all of the attention. No one seemed to have time for him.


School officials recommended Pablo for the START program. As part of a preliminary assessment for the program, Pablo completed the “How I Think” survey. All of his scores were in the warning range, indicating a “time bomb” about to explode.


Pablo found it hard to trust others. As he began to trust others in the START group, he also began talking to other people, including his case manager and his brother. Once he started to let his feeling show, he would actually smile and enjoy the attention from others as they recognized his accomplishments.


As graduation from START drew near, several gang members, including a fellow START participant, physically assaulted Pablo. Others feared that the fragile trust he was developing would disappear. Instead Pablo reached out to his fellow START colleagues for ways to resolve the conflict without violence. He accepted an offered apology and then moved on with his day, using his new coping skills.


At the START graduation, Pablo quickly and loudly volunteered to tell his story first. Even the group leaders were amazed that this shy young man was bursting to share his success with others.


Pablo’s mom was reluctant to attend graduation for fear that she would not understand any thing. Pablo’s brother encouraged her to come. Through the YSB intern, who translated the entire event for her, Mom told the group how proud she was of Pablo’s accomplishments and how much he changed over the past three months.

Since the START program began, disciplinary office visits for START participants have been cut in half! Many of the young people involved have gone from “warning” to “okay” on the “How I Think” scale. More schools are getting excited about this technique and School Resource Officers from other towns are sitting in on sessions to observe and learn.

Another great YSB program is for young people who have been diverted from the juvenile justice system. The YSB provides counseling, classes based on type of offense (theft prevention, fire safety etc.) and also runs community service work crews. One such crew was featured in the Stillwater Gazette this week! Here are some YSB young people cleaning graffiti off of a historic building in Stillwater.

Here at YIPA, we are so grateful for all of the amazing work that our member organizations do! They are the front lines for improving the lives of young people across Minnesota. It can be hard and sometimes unappreciated work, so we want to make sure and thank each and every one of you that has devoted your life to this work. Do you know an extraordinary organization or individual that should be highlighted here? Send your suggestions to cryan@mnyipa.org.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Unallotment Update by Scott Beaty, YIPA's Executive Director

You may have heard that the Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that the one-man, $2.7 billion budget-balancing unallotment action undertaken last year by Gov. Tim Pawlenty was unlawful. This has left Democrats saying: “I told you so!” and Republicans backpedaling. However, the reaction was richly bipartisan in another sense: Everyone is now scrambling to figure out what has to happen next and what the broader repercussions might be.

Both parties and their elected legislators have plenty of reasons to do a timely budget fix. But getting it accomplished in the few days that remain before the Legislature adjourns on May 24th may, or may not, prove possible. Here’s a quick look at some of what is being talked about at the Capitol lately.


Despite the limited scope of the court decision (whose lone point of reference was a single $5.3 million nutrition program), all parties are treating it as a de facto reversal of the entire package of Pawlenty unallotment cuts. But for practical purposes, that doesn’t mean that the whole $2.7 billion lands back on the books as added near-term deficit. The governor’s school aid shift, which accounts for two-thirds of his total cuts, can be legislatively ratified without adding any immediate spending obligations. Presuming that happens, it appears that Pawlenty’s estimate of the other cuts put back in play — about $700 million — is close to the mark.

It breaks down roughly this way:

• The $1.2 billion K-12 payment shift can and likely will be codified by the Legislature; even prior to the decision, it was already part of the House omnibus K-12 finance bill.
• The $600 million property tax recognition shift that comprised the last third of Pawlenty’s $1.8 billion shift package was really an administrative rules change that permanently moved up the date when districts can begin drawing upon property tax receipts.
• Another $200 million consists of other payment delays and executive orders that were not unallotments. These include the proceeds from actions such as canceling the tax reciprocityagreement with Wisconsin and delaying the payment of some tax refunds.

The items listed above come to roughly $2 billion, leaving another $700 million or so in unallotment cuts for the Legislature to ratify or to solve through new cuts to other parts of the budget or by raising revenue (taxes). On Monday the Legislature quickly passed a bill that would raise taxes on the wealthy but on Tuesday afternoon Pawlenty vetoed the bill. Whether the Legislature has the stomach to revisit new cuts is anyone’s guess at this point but I just can’t see them going back and cutting additional programs and services at this time. However, if they end up in a special session to work this out, anything is possible. Stay tuned!


Scott

Friday, May 7, 2010

Join Us for Social Skills Training and Aggression Reduction Techniques! by Jessi Strinmoen, YIPA's Director of Services

Over the past several years YIPA has been building a wonderful partnership with the Behavioral Institute on Children and Adolescents (BICA).


Dr. Sheldon Braaten is the founder and Executive Director of the Behavioral Institute for Children and Adolescents and has been a great ally to YIPA. Among many other accomplishments he initiated the International Child and Adolescent conference in 1982, which continues as a biennial event. Dr. Braaten coordinated the development of transdisciplinary training models for Indiana and Minnesota, which continue to provide a foundation for training of teachers and school teams. His current research and training interests include skill-based assessment and curriculum-based interventions. He also pursues interests in public policies related to practices in education, mental health and juvenile justice and their implications for improving outcomes for all at risk students who are struggling at home, in schools and the community. His full bio can be found here.

The partnership between BICA and YIPA continues next week in Saint Paul with 2-days of Social Skills Training and Aggression Reduction Techniques. There is still time to register for this exciting opportunity to learn from a nationally recognized expert in aggression and adolescent behavior!

This 2-day training workshop will examine the scope of youth aggression in schools, homes, the community and institutions. It will provide participants with background and rationale for teaching pro-social skills. The format includes lecture, demonstration, participation and implementation planning.

Participants will learn:

A model for understanding aggression

Elements in the ecology of aggression

The social skills curriculum

Strategies for teaching moral reasoning

How to run training groups

How to deal with resistance

How to enhance generalization of learned skills

If you attend, you will also receive a free copy of the book Aggression Replacement Training® by Arnold Goldstein, Barry Glick, and John C. Gibbs, to continue your practice of aggression reduction throughout your career. On amazon.com, one reviewer said,

I picked up this book expecting it to be somewhat dry and dull. I was wrong. As the parent of a child with violent tendencies, I found things to help me. As a Social Work student planning on specializing in kids like mine, I found it a book I'll be glad to have for a long time. I have recommended it to teachers and administrators, counselors and other professionals as well. I'm seriously considering taking some more classes in education so that I could learn how to do this in school programs. I'm currently searching to find more information on this program and possibly attend their training.

This book is a keeper :)

To register for this training click here. The training will be May 11: 9:00-4:00 (Registration 8:30-9:00)
 and May 12: 8:45-3:45
at Metropolitan State University
 Lib Room 302


700 East 7th Street St. Paul


$165 YIPA Members/$185 Non-YIPA Members

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