New Ways to Work

Foster Youth Pathways to Employment Home

About YTAT

Frameworks & Guides

Meeting and News

YTAT Network Members

Tools

Table of Contents

Community Services and Support
Workforce and Career Development

Community Services and Support
The Youth Transition Action Team Guidebook The YTAT Guidebook: Leveraging Community Resources to Ensure Successful Transitions for Foster Youth is the product of the hard work and dedication of many involved in the creation and implementation of this initiative since 2004, This book serves as a guide for systems change in counties across the state of California. It contains information and guidance intended to help Youth Transition Action Teams in California establish practices to better serve foster youth, and to support their successful transition as they move from the foster care system to adult life. This how-to guide brings frameworks, tools, materials, strategies, and approaches to communities as they pursue the development of comprehensive, local youth transition system. The Youth Transition Action Team Guidebook (PDF 5.8 MB)
All Youth - One System: Elements of a Comprehensive Youth-Serving System This framework guides partners in implementing the five key elements of a comprehensive youth-serving system. Graphic (PDF 9 mb) Narrative Framework (PDF 56 kb) Assessment (PDF 112 kb) Workplan (PDF 297 KB)
Youth Transition Action Teams Core Functions This framework illustrates the four functions describing the roles and actions of Transition Action Teams as they build successful transitions for youth in foster care. Graphic Framework (PDF 284 kb) Narrative Framework-Core Functions Narrative Framework-OperationalFunctions Assessment-Core Functions (PDF 288 kb) Assessment- Improving Program Practice (PDF 152 kb)
Stages of Building Comprehensive Youth Transition Systems This framework guides the five-stage process of enhancing community capacity to build a comprehensive youth-transition system for young people emancipating from foster care Graphic Framework (PDF 2 mb) Narrative Framework
Workforce and Career Development
A Guide to Career Development Opportunities in California's High SchoolsThe Guide to Career Development Opportunities offered in California’s High Schools provides information about the range of career development opportunities that may exist at any given school site. The guide is aimed specifically at foster youth, caregivers, ILP Coordinators, Social Workers, and others who advocate on behalf of foster youth and their need to be more fully prepared for a positive transition to adulthood. The guidebook offers suggestions about questions to ask and provides useful tools for mapping the career development program offerings in any school or district as well as a Career Goal Worksheet to be used with foster youth in developing a plan for achieving their goals.
Career Development Continuum Career Development is most effective when youth are provided a sequenced continuum of activities and experiences that address career and college awareness, exploration, and preparation. This is accomplished through a series of classroom activities, workplace exposures, and community experiences over time. The Career Development narrative and framework, provide an overview of the options for developing a sequenced set of experiences that will assist youth in finding success in college, career, and life. Career Development Overview: http://www.newwaystowork.org/documents/CareerDevelopmentContinuumOverviewJUNE2008.pdf Graphic Framework: http://www.newwaystowork.org/documents/CareerDevelopmentContinuum.pdf

Career Preparation Resource Mapping Tool
This tool has been used by communities in creating a resource map of partners who can provide support and opportunity for young people to gain meaningful career preparation experiences in a given community. http://www.newwaystowork.org/documents/ytatdocuments/CareerPreparationResourceMapTool.pdf

Supporting Foster Youth in Connecting to Workforce Development Programs
A content call hosted by New Ways to Work and the California Child Welfare Co-Investment Partnership in April, 2009 designed to inform individuals working with foster youth about the potential summer opportunities that were made available as a result of President Obama’s stimulus package. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocated 1.2 billion dollars to support youth workforce programs under the Workforce Investment Act, including summer employment.

PowerPoint Presentation on Preparing Foster Youth for Summer Jobs:
http://www.newwaystowork.org/documents/ytatdocuments/ConnectingFYtoSummerEmployment.pdf

Pathways to Success
A forum for discussion and action to create better pathways to connect foster youth to career development and employment opportunities
In October, New Ways to Work hosted two Foster Youth Regional Forums focused on increasing awareness and access of foster youth to career development opportunities and reflecting on the 2009 foster youth summer jobs experience. Both events allowed for the sharing of resources, networking, and partnership building among those advocating on the behalf of foster youth across the state. Participants made commitments to small tests of change that could have far-reaching impacts for foster youth preparing to transition. Below are links to materials and power point presentations from the forums.

Thank you to our co-sponsors:

Casey Family Programs
California Youth Connection
California Dept. of Education
Child and Family Policy Institute of California
Foster Youth Education and Career Network
Foster Youth Career Development and Employment Taskforce
California Career Resource Network
California Workforce Association

October 28th Power Point: Connecting Foster Youth to Career Development Opportunities
October 29th Power Point: Reflecting on the Foster Youth Summer Jobs Experience
Effective Career Guidance Resources from the California Career Resource Network

California ILP Institute, April 2008
Career Development, Quality Work-Based Learning and Preparing Youth for Successful Employment

PowerPoint Presentation
http://www.newwaystowork.org/documents/ytatdocuments/CAILPInstituteApril 2008.ppt

Tool: What Helped to Prepare You?
http://www.newwaystowork.org/documents/ytatdocuments/YTATILPInstitute08tool.pdf

Foster Youth Career Development and Employment Summit
On January 8th and 9th, 2008, more than 300 foster youth, former foster youth, caretakers, community-based organizations, employers, and professionals from child welfare, workforce development, education, and probation from across California came together in Sacramento to address employment and career development issues and forge solutions for the nearly 85,000 young people in foster care in California. Sponsored by Casey Family Programs, New Ways to Work, and the Child and Family Policy Institute of California (CFPIC), the summit was the first statewide gathering of its kind.

The Summit culminated with a hearing at the State Capitol, where the sponsoring partners, local practitioners from around the state, and current and former foster youth shared priority actions with members and staff of the State Assembly and Senate. http://www.newwaystowork.org/documents/ytatdocuments/FYCDESummitSUMMARY.pdf

The following resource materials were compiled to support practitioners in their work with foster youth to improve their career development and employment outcomes:

Section One: Focus Area 1: Prioritize Career Development and Employment for Every Foster Youth. (PDF 932 kb)

Section Two: Focus Area 2: Systematically Connect Youth to Education and Workforce Development Programs. (PDF 1.3 mb)

Section Three: Focus Area 3: Support Emancipating and Emancipated Youth in their Transition to Adulthood. (PDF 1.2 mb)

Section Four: Provide Work Experience and Job Opportunities that Lead to Economic Success.
(PDF 3.9 mb)

Section Five: Career Development Resource Materials (PDF 1.6 mb)

Section Six: California Foster Care Legislation (PDF 580 kb)

Complete Resource Packet (PDF 6.7 mb)

http://www.newwaystowork.org/documents/ytatdocuments/FYCDEResourceMaterials2008.pdf

2007 Foster Youth Focus Series
These tools were developed for the Foster Youth Focus Series Session One.
FocusSeriesActionPlannngTool.pdf (PDF 880 kb)
YTATFocusSession1ActionPlanningInstructions.pdf (PDF 460 kb)

California 2006 Regional Forums Power Point Presentation Creating Successful Employment Opportunities for Transitioning Foster Youth

Quality Work-Based Learning (QWBL) Quality Elements
This framework helps to describe the elements necessary to build experiences for young people that most effectively promote the attainment of knowledge and skills in academic, workplace, and personal arenas. http://www.newwaystowork.org/mastertools/Frameworks%20and%20Charts/QWBL/QWBLElements.pdf

Growing Quality Work-Based Learning
This framework helps a community visualize and identify its stage of development in the system-building process. It also provides a road map and guide to the systems-improvement process. It is a powerful tool for self-exploration and raising awareness, effective for both small and large groups.

http://www.newwaystowork.org/mastertools/Frameworks%20and%20Charts/QWBL/GrowingStages.pdf

Quality Work-Based Learning Toolkit (California) The QWBL Toolkit for California demonstrates how easy it is for employers, labor partners, educators and School-to-Career staff to create high quality, safe, and legal work-based learning experiences for students engaged in School-to-Career activities. The complete toolkit contains Can Do Guides for employers and labor partners, as well as a complete guide for educators and School-to-Career staff. The toolkit also provides a set of specific factsheets, tools, and resources to help clarify issues and support quality work-based learning practices. http://www.newwaystowork.org/mastertools/guidebooks%20and%20toolkits/sl_complete.pdf