In our last newsletter, we discussed the nature of Eckerd Family Foundation as a "spend down" foundation. We continue to refine the details of our actual closing at which time all foundation assets will be fully deployed or committed.

To briefly recap and to affirm our past guidance, the foundation will make its last grant awards in June 2012. In the months ahead, our top priority is to bring to conclusion our existing work in the three focal areas of foster care, juvenile justice and education. After June 2012, the foundation will satisfy the applicable regulatory filings and formally close upon the completion of those requirements.

It is our hope that the impact of the foundation will be felt for years to come through our commitment to systemic change. One of our long-standing goals and measures of success is to support sustainable programs, interventions and strategies that can ultimately be integrated into government or private budgets. While the effects of the economy have been very frustrating to that purpose and have forced difficult and painful decisions, we are reminded that those organizations demonstrating cost-effective, verifiable youth outcomes are best positioned to weather these especially challenging times. Many of our grantees have worked very hard toward that goal and we are very proud of their work and grateful for their trust.

In June, one of our long-standing grantees, Computer Mentors Group, was awarded a $1 million federal grant to offer juvenile offenders the opportunity to learn computer job skills while also providing rebuilt computers to area residents. About 15 projects nationally received Civic Justice Corps grants. Well done!

The Cby25® Initiative was requested by Administration for Children and Families to present at the National Youth in Transition Database Technical Assistance meeting held in early August in Washington, D.C. More than 45 states were represented. Cby25 Initiative presented on Florida's unique approach to using peers and social media to keep the baseline youth engaged. They were also highlighted for their ongoing survey/data collection with youth beginning at age 13.

Finally, in this issue, we offer additional updates from our grantees, including the Connected by 25 Community Report, recent grant awards and the progress of some of our continuing priorities. We invite you to contact us with your comments.

Sincerely,
Joe Clark

Foster Care: Connected by 25 Reports to the Tampa-Area Community

Approximately 75 representatives of educational, justice, foster care and community service organizations met on May 17 at the Hillsborough Education Foundation to hear the report to the community presented by Connected by 25 Hillsborough.

The event was held to report on the progress of Connected by 25 Hillsborough, thank the partners who made the outcomes possible and commit continued support for the initiative's future success. Speakers Mary Ellen Elia, superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools; Jeff Rainey, president and CEO of Hillsborough Kids, Inc.; The Honorable Tracy Sheehan, 13th Judicial Circuit, Hillsborough County and Diane Zambito, executive director of the Connected by 25 Initiative, presented both personal and outcome-based evaluations of the program's success. Perhaps one of the most touching moments was the personal story of Linda Lee a Connected by 25 "graduate" who is now a student at American International University. We invite you to learn more about the program's history and outcomes by clicking here to read the full Report to the Community. Our web site also has copies of two documents from the Youth Transition Funders Group, "Lessons Learned from the Foster Care Work Group" and "Investing in Youth Transitioning from Foster Care."

Somewhat closer to home, we've also posted a recent op/ed piece that ran in The Tampa Tribune. Titled "America's Economic Success Rests on the Backs of Our Youth," the article discusses the pitfalls associated with ignoring the 20 percent of America's youth who are at risk of disconnection from their schools, communities and families because they are close to or dropping out of high school, involved with the juvenile justice system or already in the foster care system. We've been pleased with the positive response we've received to the article and believe it reinforces our message that we must continue to support initiatives like Connected by 25 if we are to make a meaningful and lasting difference in the lives of these youth.

The Quality Parenting Initiative in Florida: Where We Are Now

Last year, we published a description of the Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) a joint project of Eckerd Family Foundation, Youth Law Center, Florida Department of Children and Families and several Community Based Care Agencies (CBCs). The project sought to improve recruitment and retention of excellent foster families by "rebranding" foster care.

A negative image of foster families is pervasive throughout our culture. Only by changing that image and aligning it more closely with the reality of foster parenting can we attract and retain the families that children need. To change that image, all members of the child welfare community (including case workers, investigators, support workers, management, foster parents, youth, attorneys and parents) must reach consensus on what foster parents are expected to do and then communicate that consensus internally and externally.

That consensus is the foster care "brand." Because a brand is only effective if it keeps its implicit promise, foster care systems must also change to support and reward excellent foster parenting. It is then that the brand statement becomes a reality.

In each participating CBC, foster parents, youth, birth parents and paid professionals met to discuss expectations and barriers. At first, foster parents were reluctant to participate because they were accustomed to playing only a token role in developing policy. However, once they were fully engaged, all participants were surprised by the level of consensus on standards for foster parents and impressed by how much foster parents were routinely doing to nurture children and their families.

The groups realized that the major barrier to recruitment and retention of foster families was not the rate of reimbursement or even the absence of services, but the lack of respect foster parents experience. In many ways the process became the product, as the conversations themselves improved relationships between foster parents and paid professionals and increased their respect for one another.

As important as these relationships are, without concrete change they were not enough. The three initial CBCs, as well as the four that joined in the second round and the eight that joined later, all identified policies and practices that stood in the way of effective parenting. Not surprisingly, most of these were common to all the CBCs. Each identified several issues that could be resolved in 90 days and began a plan to change practice. In addition, several statewide policy changes were made to allow foster parents to better connect children with the community.

Participating CBCs have shown measurable change on critical outcome measures like the number of moves from home to home, successful reunifications and decreased use of group care. More significant to the participants is the culture change, as several have said, "We'll never go back to the old way of doing business. Our staff and foster parents would never allow it." Most important of all, children and families are benefitting from the loving care of expert parents who not only love them, but are also strengthening their ties with birth families and the community.

Inspired by presentations from participants in Florida, California and its County Welfare Directors' Association are now partnering with the Youth Law Center to implement QPI in eight counties with more to follow next year. The Stuart Foundation, Walter S. Johnson Foundation and David P. Gold Foundation are following the lead of the Eckerd Family Foundation and supporting the initial stages of the process.

Delaware Youth Opportunities Initiative Supports Youth Aging Out of Foster Care

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Contrary to popular belief, a juvenile arrest, even for a minor, one-time event, can keep youth from careers in nursing and law enforcement, among other professions. Several years ago, a unique community collaboration was established in Brevard County to examine ways to reduce the high number of youth being arrested and/or detained for misdemeanors and minor offenses.

This collaboration, Civil Citation of Brevard County, involves the Brevard County sheriff, local police chiefs, the chief judge and representatives of the state attorney's office, public defender's office, Department of Juvenile Justice, Brevard Public Schools and Crosswinds Youth Services, a not-for-profit organization based in Cocoa whose mission is to create opportunities for youth to succeed.

With the assistance of a two-year grant from Eckerd Family Foundation, Crosswinds serves as lead agency for the program, which is designed to offer law enforcement officers the option of issuing eligible youth under the age of 18 a civil citation instead of arresting them. In turn, youth must complete an individualized, meaningful program of community service related to their offense and receive counseling and other services as indicated.

Civil Citation intervenes early with children and teenagers whose offenses are less serious, holding them immediately accountable and providing them with timely, highly individualized services. As a result, issues affecting their behaviors are addressed quickly, family functioning is improved, victims see youth experience immediate consequences, young people can turn mistakes into lessons learned and public safety is strengthened by preventing future offenses.

Measurable and significant outcomes have already been achieved in Brevard County. Between Oct. 1, 2009 and June 30, 2011, 441 youth were served. Of this number, 96 percent did not have a charge for at least one year after receiving a Civil Citation. More than 90 percent of families surveyed say that Civil Citation had a positive impact on their lives.

The Hillsborough County Juvenile Justice Task Force, chaired by Commissioner Kevin Beckner, has completed its work and will soon issue its final report. Its purpose was to better understand the composition of the juvenile justice system in Hillsborough County and to offer recommendations leading to better outcomes for youth and families.

Throughout its work, the Task Force was guided by principles rooted in public safety, accountability and affordability. That is, the safety of youth and citizens would remain the number one priority, youth should be held accountable for their actions and all recommendations would be focused on creating economic efficiencies and cost-efficient alternatives.

Members of the group embraced the premise that public safety is best served by effectively addressing issues that bring young people into the juvenile justice system and to promote interventions and strategies that reconnect youth with education and vocational opportunities. The Task Force drew from many sources including the exhaustive work of the Blueprint Commission, appointed by Governor Charlie Crist, which urged the implementation of proven strategies and verifiable, cost-effective youth outcomes as benchmarks of success. That report was issued in 2008 and is a resource relied upon by advocates, legislators and public officials.

The work of the Task Force is timely and comports with the vision articulated by Florida's Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice, Wansley Walters, who has stated that Florida's juvenile justice system should possess the following qualities:

• a system that doesn't wait for an arrest to help the child
• a system that doesn't widen the net but strengthens the safety net
• a system we could imagine our own children passing through
• a system that protects public safety while providing care to protect children's spirits.

Among the Task Force's recommendations are the expansion of civil citation as a prearrest diversion and periodic, formal, independent evaluations of civil citation to assess effectiveness in ensuring public safety and achieving verifiable youth outcomes. The group also urges increased reliance on actual data from all programs and agencies to guide policy decisions. That includes information on the appropriateness and effectiveness of services and whether services produce verifiable outcomes and cost effectiveness. More effective communication with the public is also a priority so that the juvenile justice system reflects the resolve of the community as a partner in these efforts.

The Eckerd Family Foundation was proud to underwrite some of the costs for the facilitation of the work group meetings and background research that served to help inform the members of the Task Force throughout their extensive review of reports on best practices and the experiences of other communities in Florida and throughout the country.