Youth Development Workgroup.

The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) hosted a Youth Development Workgroup (Workgroup) that included representatives from community-based organizations providing youth development programs, including expanded learning, mentoring, school-age child care, wrap-around supports, and integrated student support advisors.  The Workgroup also included representatives from the DCYF, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and people with lived experience in state systems.  

The Workgroup defined youth development providers and programs as those that include mentoring, expanded learning or afterschool/summer programs, school-aged child care, and other whole child supports that ensure the comprehensive needs of young people are addressed.  Youth development programs focus on holistic outcomes by complementing school-day academics, promoting social and emotional well-being, and supporting access to postsecondary and career pathways.  While youth development providers or programs may not provide basic needs services such as shelter or food outside of program time, they often function as a key referral resource to help young people and families navigate those additional services. 

The Workgroup provided recommendations to the Legislature including:

• creating a youth development advisory council in the DCYF;
• creating a youth development state structure; and
• providing funding to youth development providers.

DCYF Regions.

The DCYF has a regional structure with six regions across the state as follows:

• Region 1 includes Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Lincoln, Spokane, Adams, Whitman, Garfield, and Asotin counties.
• Region 2 includes Kittitas, Yakima, Klickitat, Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla, and Columbia counties.
• Region 3 includes San Juan Island, Island, Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish counties.
• Region 4 includes King County.
• Region 5 includes Pierce and Kitsap counties.
• Region 6 includes Clallam, Jefferson, Grays Harbor, Mason, Thurston, Pacific, Lewis, Wahkiakim, Cowlitz, Clark, and Skamania counties.

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) must develop and implement a grant program that provides grant funding to youth development programs in the state that provide:

• learning acceleration;
• social-emotional learning;
• mentorship;
• connection to nonschool-based resources;
• support related to postsecondary access and career pathways;
• arts programming including, but not limited to, the performing arts, visual arts, literature, fine arts, craft arts, creative writing, architecture, and music; or
• cultural programming.

A youth development program is defined as a program for youth that focuses on holistic outcomes by complementing school-day academics, promotes social and emotional well-being, and supports access to postsecondary career pathways.  Youth development programs may not provide basic needs services such as shelter or food outside of program time, but they can function as a referral resource to help young people and families identify and navigate those services.  A youth development program may include mentoring, expanded learning opportunities, afterschool or summer programs, school-aged child care, or other child supports that address the comprehensive needs of young people.  

Expanded learning opportunities are defined as a structured learning environment that occurs outside the traditional school day through before school, after school, and summer programs.  Expanded learning opportunities offer a safe place for students where education can be supported and supplemented. 

In designing the grant program, Commerce must engage with and consider feedback from the following groups with representation from all six of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) regions of the state:

• youth ages 14 through 26;
• people with lived experience providing or receiving services from a youth development program;
• youth development program providers serving local communities and operating statewide;
• youth development program providers serving local communities and not operating statewide; and
• tribes within Washington.

The design of the grant program for youth development programs must include the following components:

• equity in size and type of organizations receiving the grants, geographic distribution of grant funding throughout all six DCYF regions of the state, and distribution of grant funding to urban, suburban, and rural areas;
• prioritization of grants supporting students from historically marginalized communities;
• distribution of grants to nonprofit entities, entities sponsored by a nonprofit organization, tribes within Washington, and city or county parks and recreation entities;
• the prohibition of grant distribution to school districts;
• distribution of grant funding for the full fiscal biennium;
• an outcome framework for positive youth outcomes, including program attendance;
• a requirement to include youth with physical and developmental disabilities;
• a process for providing training regarding youth behavioral health and trauma-informed service delivery; and
• a requirement to encourage parent and family engagement.

To the extent possible, the DCYF shall include youth, who are compensated for their time, in reviewing grant applications.