School-Age & Adolescent Youth Development

The Family & Children First Council’s youth development efforts are collaborations among schools, families, and community partners to develop healthy communities that lead to the academic success, safety, and well-being of youth to enable them to transition into productive and responsible citizens.

We support two major initiatives for young people from kindergarten to high-school graduation:

Family and Civic Engagement (FCE)
MyCom – My Commitment, My Community

Through these efforts, the Family & Children First Council is helping coordinate resources, opportunities and partnerships for families and young people throughout Cuyahoga County. This includes youth development work in neighborhoods through MyCom, and strategies to address student success through Family and Civic Engagement (FCE).

Family and Civic Engagement (FCE)’s History
All schools districts are required through House Bill 1 to develop a Family and Civic Engagement Plan. HB 1 establishes family and civic engagement requirements for Ohio’s schools, families and communities. Together, schools, families and communities work to ensure all children have the supports needed to graduate from high school prepared for additional educational experiences, the workforce and healthy lifestyles. Ohio’s goal is to have high-performing, district-based family and civic engagement teams that work with county Family and Children First Councils (FCFCs) to systematically connect all children, youth and families who are in need to school- and community-based services and programs.

21st Century Learning Centers (CCLC) Family and Civic Engagement in Schools Initiative
One component of House Bill 1 was the establishment of a learning community with 25 county Family and Children First Councils, Educational Service Centers, and school districts. Educational Service Center (ESC) of Cuyahoga County and the Family & Children First Council (FCFC) of Cuyahoga County were selected for this “21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) Family and Civic Engagement in Schools Initiative”. FCFC and ESC are partnering with United Way 2-1-1 and seven school districts, including Bedford, Brooklyn, Cleveland Heights-University Heights, Cleveland Metropolitan, Maple Heights, Parma, and Warrensville.

The purpose of this initiative is to align systems, services and plans to meet the intentions of HB1, Family and Civic Engagement and in turn increase student achievement and well-being. ODE hopes to benefit from these recipients and learn from their real-world experiences and take advantage of established, effective practices. This initiative will support comprehensive planning efforts at the school, district, and county levels and document local promising and evidenced-based practices for family and civic engagement strategies that address student success. The county team will also help ODE identify professional development and technical assistance needed to support effective state-wide implementation of family and civic engagement in schools.

FCE Networks
Cuyahoga County ESC and FCFC developed technical support for the 24 districts not included in the 21st Century Learning Centers (CCLC) Family and Civic Engagement in Schools Initiative. The FCE Networks are opportunities for districts to learn about the Family and Civic Engagement process, as well as to share resources and information. This is currently being conducted. The Family and Children First Council has engaged the local Ohio State Extension, Neighborhood Leadership Institute, and Starting Point to assist with Out of School Time, Youth and Parent Engagement on this project. Cuyahoga County ESC and FCFC will also partner with United Way’s 211 – First Call for Help.

Next Steps for HB1
These collaborative efforts by local partners will become the Child Wellbeing Plan for Cuyahoga County, and help support the positive growth of school-age youth through a shared planning model.

On June 30, 2010, FCE plans are due to the Family & Children First Council (FCFC) of Cuyahoga County. Plans should be sent to:

Robin R. Martin
Executive Director
Family & Children First Council
1801 St. Clair Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Phone: 216-698-2875
Fax: 216-698-2870
rmartin@cuyahogacounty.us

Additional resources about Family and Civic Engagement can be found at the Educational Service Center of Cuyahoga County or the Ohio Department of Education. General questions or inquiries can be directed to Denise Pietrzak, Family & Children First Council, at dpietrzak@cuyahogacounty.us.

MyCom's History
MyCom is a network of people who believe youth development is a direct path to healthy, safe communities for everyone. We build strengths in young people and their neighborhoods by connecting existing programs and resources, and funding opportunities for positive growth. We also encourage all sectors of society to take responsibility for children’s development and transition into productive adulthood.

Visit MyCom's site at www.mycom.net to learn more.

In 2006, the Cleveland Foundation undertook research to identify and evaluate existing programs and services for youth in Greater Cleveland. Based on its findings, the foundation convened many key community partners to create an effective system to support our young people. The Cuyahoga County Commissioners stepped up early and in a big way, with $3.4 million and a commitment to manage day-to-day operations of MyCom through its Family and Children First Council.

Today, this youth movement - MyCom - aims to inspire and prepare Greater Cleveland’s young people, kindergarten through graduation, to reach their full potential and become good citizens. It exposes kids to a variety of activities and experiences that allow them to explore new interests and learn new skills. It connects them to a network of caring and committed adults - teachers, mentors, employers, and others - who offer guidance and encouragement. MyCom prepares Greater Cleveland’s young people to enter early adulthood with the ability to foster healthy relationships throughout their lives and the skills to compete in a global economy.

There are 6 components of the MyCom that support the goals of the Family & Children First Council Child WellBeing Plan. The components are: Advocacy, Transitions, Out of School Time, Neighborhood Capacity, Youth Engagement and Youth Employment. These components are also in line with other County initiatives such as System of Care and Healthy Communities.

Advocacy
Voices for Ohio’s Children has been identified as the lead agency in the area of Advocacy. Voices works with various partners to provide MyCom with advocacy, communications materials, media relations and training. They develop an administrative and budget advocacy agenda and timeline. Voices works with various programs and the selected neighborhoods to identify stories for storybanking.

Transitions
The Cleveland Public Library has been identified as the lead agency for Transitions. The first phase will focus on the transition from childcare, Head Start or Universal Pre-K to Kindergarten. The Cleveland Public Library will include the Cuyahoga County Library’s Kindergarten Kit as a part of that Transition process. In addition to the kit, parents will receive a checklist and support to ensure their kindergarteners success. Future transitions will include 3rd grade, 6th grade, 9th grade (High School) and post secondary - recognizing post secondary can be college or trade school.

Out-of-School Time
Starting Point has been identified as the lead agency to develop the repository of services, identify gaps and barriers to services and provide technical assistance to struggling programs. In the early stages, the plan focuses on activities for youth when they are not in school such as recreation, tutoring, leadership and civic opportunities, job training and employment readiness. A resource and referral service for afterschool and summer youth programs is now available to the public by calling 216-575-0061.

Neighborhood Capacity
Neighborhood Leadership Institute has been identified as the lead agency for Neighborhood Capacity. MyCom is currently in 8 neighborhoods: Central, Midwest (Cudell), Mt. Pleasant, Parma, St. Clair/Superior, Shaker Heights, Slavic Village, and West Park.

Youth Engagement
The Partnership for Safer Cleveland has been identified as the lead agency for youth engagement. Partnership facilitates the engagement of a diverse group of youth leaders from Cuyahoga County to be involved in the planning, implementation, communications, outreach, and evaluation of MyCom. Partnership plans and initiates strategies for various levels of youth involvement and leadership. Partnership is responsible for the recruitment, orientation, training, and support of youth leaders. In addition, Partnership provides training for Lead Agencies and as well as capacity building for these agencies that includes supporting youth in their decision making processes. Special training will be given that will promote the development of equitable partnerships among youth and organizations. MyCom has taken special care that there are a number of ways to gather input from the young people and to actively involve them in all aspects of this movement.

Youth Employment
While the lead agency for Youth Employment has not been identified, an emphasis for this component is summer employment, year-round employment, career development and exploration. The Cleveland Foundation, County and City partners, businesses, and Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) have worked together to leverage dollars for summer youth employment.

Our partners:

Funders:
Board of County Commissioners
Charter One*
* For Out-of-School-Time/Starting Point
City of Cleveland
Cleveland Foundation
Family & Children First Council
Saint Luke’s Foundation
Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland
Third Federal Foundation

Agencies:
Cleveland Public Library
Kent State University
Neighborhood Leadership Institute
Partnership for a Safer Cleveland
Starting Point
Voices for Ohio’s Children

Neighborhood Partners:
CENTRAL
MIDWEST (CUDELL)
MT. PLEASANT
PARMA
ST. CLAIR-SUPERIOR
SHAKER HEIGHTS
SLAVIC VILLAGE
WEST PARK

Learn more about our partners. 　

Quick MyCom links:

Families:
Search for youth programs in our Positive Activities database
Find a youth council
Donate to make opportunities available for children
Volunteer
Success stories
Subscribe to our newsletter

Providers:
Complete this form to add your youth programming to our Positive Activities database
Subscribe to our newsletter

Partners:
Partner resources