This is an explanation of our Pilot Project that brings diverse youth service practitioners together to reduce poverty in York Region through a Learning Community process.

1. Streetjibe Linking youth poverty solutions Practitioner Learning Community Project Street Kids International Overview Presentation Brent MacKinnon

2. The Context York Region Landscape

3. York Region’s size and transport issues limit access to services

4. 54% of homeless in York Region are youth under 25 – 1999 Crosslinks

5. 44,000: The number fed by York Region’s food banks in 2004-05.

6. Youth poverty in Canada is growing

7. Our Point of View Value in working together

8. Strengthening how we work is inextricably linked to community capacity building

9. Silo thinking limits our capacity to effectively work together Constant search for New funding Funder Requirements Evaluation Results Meet Service Mandate & Agency Mission

10. Opportunities to learn from each other are missed

11. All service domains have unique skills & knowledge to share Treatment Education Outreach Residential Health Practitioner Learning Community

12. Innovation can grow from a network of diverse workers

13. Our 3 year pilot project aims to increase worker & program effectiveness By

14. Increasing staff capacity to plan, evaluate & implement services In

15. A Learning Community Made up of workers from diverse sectors

16. What are Learning Communities? A Learning Community is made up of groups of people who share a passion for something they know how to do and interact regularly to learn how to do it better.

17. Workers learn from each other and infuse learnings within their Agency Apply new engagement skills Worker effectiveness Is increased Share experience & Knowledge

18. Adds capacity to organizations, constituents & communities Networks Staff Programs Governance

19. By learning from our tacit knowledge, we are strengthened

20. Practitioners outcomes (and organizations and community) Are

21. Improved access to needed services

22. Increased evaluation skills for practitioners & program effectiveness

23. Better bridges for expertise to flow between organizations & staff

24. New engagement strategies & skills to deliver your services to/with youth

25. Increased evidence of growing best practices across sectors

26. A learning community - a cost effective tool for capacity building

27. Proven research on resilience & asset models, drive our thinking An analysis of 40 years of research found the best predictor of successful change are two factors: 1) engagement in meaningful relationships 2) engagement in meaningful activities 83% of change involves these two factors 17% is a result of technique

28. Youth will have more access to relevant programs & skilled workers

29. Street Kids International Capacity Building in York Region & Around the World

30. There is a York Region base of established partnerships

31. Expertise in capacity building & engaging partnerships span 19 yrs.

32. Our Plan

33. Streetjibe is front line youth workers meeting regularly to learn from each other and applying that learning in their programs. They share these new learnings within the youth service community so youth experiencing poverty will have increased access to effective and relevant programs.

34. Our learning community can make systemic changes in youth work

35. Increase effectiveness by learning together & applying new skills

36. Year I - establish a learning community of 18 – 24 practitioners Treatment Education Outreach Residential Health Practitioner Learning Community

37. Partnerships are created with agencies from designated locations

38. The first phase will launch the Project in select communities Phase 1

39. The second phase will expand the Project Region wide Phase 2 Phase 1

40. The third phase will broaden & foster sustainability Phase 3 Phase 2 Phase 1

42. Activities & key themes con’t Workshops & 1:1 coaching Integrating new skills & strategies into current practice; Utilizing ICT tools to enhance practice & increase effectiveness

43. We learn from each others expertise; Street Kids provide committed and experienced support: Skills & resources we bring: - Training & facilitation - Expertise & new engagement skills - Materials - Food & transportation

44. First Year – time commitments Jan. – Sept. (9 months) 8 half day workshops 2 hours on site coaching per month Off site participation – 65 % On site participation – 35 %

45. Working together we can increase our strengths & resilience to end youth poverty Thank You Street Kids International

46. References: Canadian Council on Social Development: The Progress of Canada’s Children & Youth - www.ccsd.ca Social Watch: http://www.socialwatch.org/en/fichasPais/35.html Media Reports: Below the Line Series: (via York Region Food Network) http:// www.yrfn.ca/media.htm Youth Community Mapping Program: Street Kids International & Community Resource & Learning Room http:// halt.civiblog.org /blog York Region Youth Summit 2001 Report Planning For Tomorrow – Towards a Sustainable Region Presentation: York Region - http://www.region.york.on.ca/default.htm