Integrated Youth Services Project

Purpose and Approach:

The Integrated Youth Services Project (IYSP) was initiated and funded by the William Penn Foundation. Through this project, Fels is engaging more than two dozen youth service agencies and advocates in the City of Philadelphia. Philadelphia does not currently have an inclusive and collaborative plan of action to guide the development and delivery of youth out-of-school time activities. The goal of the IYSP is to investigate and provide recommendations on sustainable funding and quality management of a system of coordinated youth services for individuals aged 5-24 years. The project involves a network of interested groups and stakeholders which make up a steering committee, including: City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Safe and Sound, Philadelphia Youth Network, the United Way of South Eastern Pennsylvania, the School District of Philadelphia, Congreso de Latinos Unidos, and the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition. 

In April 2007, the Fels Institute team conducted an assessment of current youth services systems in Philadelphia which included representatives from seventeen Philadelphia organizations. The team held in-depth interviews focusing on the current status of the following capacities:

• Communication (partnerships, idea development, transparency)
• Financing (cost-effectiveness, funding connected to outcomes)
• Flexibility (ability to adapt to changing priorities and available funding)
• Governance (accountability, political neutrality)
• Information (utilization of current information tied to outcomes)
• Quality Assurance/Outcomes (best-practices, identifiable results)
• Research and Evaluation (improvement based on evaluation)
• Strategic Planning  (targeting priorities, planning for future developments)

Results and Publications:

In September 2007, the project team presented the data from these interviews to the policy partners. Based on feedback from this meeting, upcoming activities will include developing a shared vision and goals for a youth-services system, creating working groups to explore collaborations and sustainable funding, and conducting a national reconnaissance to examine how similar systems function in other large cities. Now, the Fels Institute will build upon the initial assessment and meetings by providing recommendations focusing on five key issues.

Investigating how different funding streams support youth services and how through joint efforts, sustainability can be enhanced. Several types of analyses are involved, including tracking total revenues and total expenditures, tracking major funding streams, and assessing how a single provider is impacted by multiple funding sources. The Fels Institute is developing a report to be published in Spring 2008 entitled “Promoting Sustainable Funding and Financial Accountability” which will address approaches to promote the advancement of sustainable and responsible funding practices for youth services in Philadelphia.

Aligning priorities by determining the specific population to which services should be directed. Service priorities may include those children most at risk, ages of children, and/or children with a history of juvenile delinquency and truancy.

Facilitating collaboration between stakeholders and creating beneficial relationships sustainable over time.

Sharing information across agencies and using it to make more informed decisions, specifically related to data, formats, and common definitions.

Designing and building standards of accountability across a diverse system of government, intermediaries, and nonprofit boards.

The Fels team will brief IYSP stakeholders on these issues and ask them to prioritize efforts to ensure practical implementation of recommendations. The goal is for recommended strategies to be adopted by the incoming Philadelphia Mayoral administration in early 2008.

For more information, contact Allison Brummel, Director of Projects, at brummel@sas.upenn.edu.