DCAYA has been busy over the last year – here are a few of the things we’ve been working on. For more information on these and other activities, see the “Our Work” section.

• Promulgated DCAYA’s first formal policy agenda – our Positive Agenda for Youth. The policy agenda articulates DCAYA’s 2007-2008 priorities. [read it here]

• Persuaded District of Columbia Councilmember Tommy Wells not to introduce legislation that would have punished parents for curfew violations by their children by having such families reported to the Child and Family Services Agency for suspected neglect. DCAYA succeeded in convincing Councilmember Wells that the legislation would overburden CFSA and would do nothing to address the root causes of curfew violation. [read more here and here]

• Co-hosted with the Youth Education Alliance and the Fair Budget Coalition a forum for youth and youth-engaged organizations on the District of Columbia school reorganization proposal. The event focused on the potential impact of the reorganization on older students. Our event was among the best-attended among numerous community forums held on the plan. [read more]

• Organized a Disconnected Youth Forum attended by 175 youth and young adults, youth-engaged organizations, philanthropic leaders, District agency staff, and public officials. Initiated by DCAYA, the forum was cosponsored by the Office of the Mayor, the DC Children’s Trust Fund, and the DC KIDS COUNT Collaborative for Children and Families. Mayor Adrian Fenty provided a keynote speech. The recommendations from youth and youth-engaged organizations that came out of the forum were summarized and presented to Mayor Fenty for action. [read more]

• Co-publishing with The Urban Institute a data book on the District’s older youth, with a focus on communicating the value of youth-serving organizations.

• Launched a public awareness campaign to raise the visibility among District parents and residents of the out-of-school-time sector’s contributions to the community. The campaign included a rally at the District Building to call upon the Mayor and the Council of the District of Columbia to increase investments to out-of-school time programming as complementary to the school reform effort. [read more here and here]

• Organized trainings in policy advocacy and community organizing principles and practices for youth participants of DCAYA member organizations. [read more]

• Testified seven times to committees of the Council of the District of Columbia as they considered vital public policy, including funding allocations for youth development, youth employment, and youth homelessness. DCAYA identified and prepared youth witnesses for each hearing.

Past Achievements

• Convened a successful press conference to protest anti-youth emergency crime legislation. [read more]

• Organized a youth-led forum for leading candidates in the Mayoral elections. [read more]

• Waged a successful campaign to persuade the District of Columbia to issue an official clarification that proposed Child Development Facility Regulations would not apply to school-age out-of-school time (OST) programs.

• Influenced the DC City Council’s decisions about youth service policies and funding.

• Contributed to the development of the District’s multi-million dollar proposal to the Wallace Foundation to create a system of quality out-of-school-time programs for middle-school youth.

• Participated on the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, Families, and Elder’s task force on implementation of the Mayor’s Effective Youth Development Strategy.