At the three Regional Youth Forums, state teams were led by a facilitator through the following process that was designed to move them to the creation of a preliminary state action plan and next steps in working together as an on-going collaborative team to serve the neediest youth:
Vision Overview: Participants had an opportunity to review and comment on the New Youth Vision and to determine if there were general connections between their agency's vision and the New Youth Vision.
What Exists "Stuff List" & How Are They Connected:
State teams brainstormed of their state's agencies, organizations, programs, projects, people, initiatives, etc. that are involved in preparing their neediest youth in today's "demand-driven" economy and discussed if and how these youth-serving agencies, programs, projects, etc., are connected and what would be the benefit of organizing these youth-serving institutions into a coherent youth system.
What Collaboration Could Look Like: Teams discussed possible areas of collaboration and what collaboration could look like if state agencies were working together to support the neediest youth in the state.
Crosswalk of State Investments: Teams identified key initiatives and programs that exist for the neediest youth in their state detailing the types of services and activities that fall under the initiatives and the programs, what partners they work with, and the desired results/outcomes. The teams also determined how the work is connected and where there were significant overlaps or gaps and opportunities for collaboration.
Organizing to Get the Work Done: Teams learned to identify the functions of work that need to be accomplished (leadership, planning and implementation), and to identify the right people who can address those functions needing attention.
Preliminary Action Planning: Using the work done thus far, the state teams began work on completing an "Initial Action Planning Tool" by focusing on the "Opportunities for Collaboration" that were identified during the Crosswalk of Statewide Investment activity. The process concluded with state teams planning their next meeting including the date, location, agenda, goals and objectives.
