The Human Services Workforce Initiative is conducted by Cornerstones for Kids in partnership with key national and state organizations in the fields of child welfare, juvenile justice, child care, youth development and employment services. These organizations, and the projects that they are engaged in, include:

ALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
www.alliance1.org

About the Organization
The Alliance for Children and Families is a national membership association of more than 350 nonprofit human service providers that supply an array of community-based programs and services to all generations. Motivated by a vision of a healthy society and strong communities, the Alliance operates under the mission of strengthening the capacities of North America’s nonprofit child- and family-serving organizations to serve and to advocate for children, families, and communities. The Alliance seeks out and fosters participation and collaboration among its member agencies and with other organizations in order to strengthen the nonprofit sector as a whole, and in particular the human service field.

About the Organization’s Project
The Alliance for Children and Families has received a grant to develop a private sector child welfare workforce emphasis at its Child Welfare Leadership Conference. This portion of the conference will feature national experts in the non-profit child welfare field. These experts will issue a keynote address and lead activities related to workforce development at the conference. The conference content will be made widely available, with the ultimate goal of achieving higher performance and better results in the child welfare field. The Alliance will also produce a report based on this portion of the conference. 

AMERICAN PUBLIC HUMAN SERVICES ASSOCIATION
www.aphsa.org

About the Organization
The American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), founded in 1930, is a nonprofit, bipartisan organization of state and local human service agencies and individuals who work in or are interested in public human service programs. Our mission is to develop and promote policies and practices that improve the health and well-being of families, children, and adults. APHSA educates Congress, the media, and the general public on social policies and practices and helps state and local public human service agencies achieve their desired outcomes in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, child care, child support, Medicaid, food stamps, child welfare, and other program areas and issues that affect families, the elderly, and people who are economically disadvantaged.

About the Organization’s Project
The American Public Human Services Association has received a grant to provide on-site consultation to some participants as a part of its 2006 Organizational Effectiveness Institute: Building the 21st Century Workforce, and to evaluate the impact of the institute alone and in combination with consultation. Comprised of three national seminars, two national conference calls, and one-on-one consulting sessions, the institute assists human services executives in performing an in-depth assessment of their agency's current workforce capacity and in developing a comprehensive change plan. APHSA will issue a report which will describe the extent to which participants have been able to implement the strategies developed in their change plans and the recommendations for change developed during the institute.

BOSTON AFTER SCHOOL & BEYOND
www.bostonbeyond.org 

About the Organization
Boston After School & Beyond (Boston Beyond) is a partnership of philanthropic, government and nonprofit organizations focused on ensuring long-lasting, high-quality out-of-school time opportunities for all of Boston’s young people. Boston Beyond was formed in 2004 as the successor to two key initiatives building the out-of-school time system in Boston: the private donors’ collaborative known as Boston’s After-School for All Partnership and the public sector effort known as the Mayor’s 2:00-to-6:00 After-School Initiative. 

About the Organization’s Project
Boston After School and Beyond has received a grant to create the infrastructure for its Youth Development Associate (YDA) credential project as part of a continuum of professional development opportunities that bridge the domains of after-school education, youth development, and school-age care. This will include: clearly defining what practitioners need to know and do to be successful youth workers and resources for children and youth; developing a statewide YDA certificate that provides basic training for working with children and youth; determining an assessment process; and establishing quality control mechanisms for approving training content and delivery of non-credit courses. 

CENTER FOR THE CHILD CARE WORKFORCE
www.ccw.org

About the Organization
The Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW) is a project of the American Federation of Teachers Education Foundation (AFTEF). The organization’s mission is to improve the quality of early care and education for all children by promoting policy, research and organizing that ensure that the early care and education workforce is well-educated, receives better compensation and a voice in their workplace.

The Center for the Child Care Workforce merged with the American Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation – the nonprofit arm of the American Federation of Teachers – in 2002. The merger both broadens the scope of CCW’s work and expands the capacity of each entity to create a unified voice for the early care and education workforce. These entities jointly champion high-quality early care and education for young children that ensure good jobs for early care and education.

About the Organization’s Project
The Center for the Child Care Workforce will review the content, availability and outcomes of technology-based programs that provide professional training and education to the early childhood education workforce. CCW will conduct a national scan of these programs, describe the structure, design, delivery and instructional approaches of these programs, and provide evidence of their effectiveness. CCW will identify successful outreach approaches, barriers to participation, and program assessments, and then produce a report summarizing these findings, a resource document that can be used by those interested in developing materials for early childhood educators, and a toolkit for use by the early childhood workforce in order to identify and evaluate their technology-based professional development options.

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY
www.cssp.org 

About the Organization
The Center for the Study of Social Policy was established in 1979 with the goal of providing public policy analysis and technical assistance to states and localities, in a way that blended high academic standards with direct responsiveness to the needs of policymakers and practitioners. The Center's work is concentrated in the areas of family and children's services; income supports, neighborhood-based services, education reform, family support, disability and health care policy, and long term care for the elderly. In all of its work, the Center emphasizes several common themes: (1) an approach based on outcomes accountability; (2) community service strategies that reach across categorical boundaries and are community owned; (3) new forms of state/local governance; (4) more flexible financing strategies, linked to results; and (5) attention to the human resources and other capacity-building needs required for human services systems to perform effectively. The common purpose of these is to help states and localities implement strategies that create opportunities to strengthen families and ensure that children grow up healthy, safe, successful in school, and ready for productive adulthood. 

About the Organization’s Project
The Center on the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) has received a grant to continue its work in promoting strategies to improving the human services workforce by: providing human resources peer-based technical assistance; developing self-assessment tools that can be used in many jurisdictions; disseminating information about human resources management best practices to human services administrators; researching and publishing Hired for Good. 

CHILD CARE SERVICES ASSOCIATION
www.childcareservices.org 

About the Organization
Child Care Services Association (CCSA) is a non-profit, United Way agency committed to ensuring the affordability, accessibility and quality of child care. Through research, services and advocacy, CCSA works to improve the child care system in the communities of Durham, Orange and Wake counties, throughout the state of North Carolina and across the United States. In addition to local services, CCSA administers the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Project, which provides college scholarships and health insurance assistance for child care providers and programs, and the Child Care WAGE$® Project, which provides salary stipends to child care workers based on education and retention. 

About the Organization’s Project
With its grant, the Child Care Services Association will enrich its capacity to expand the work of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Technical Assistance and Quality Assurance Center (the Center). The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Project, now operating in 23 states, is an umbrella for a variety of scholarships that allow a diverse population working in the field to receive a college education. The Child Care WAGE$® Project, operating in five states, provides graduated salary supplements to early childhood workers based on educational achievement. Moving forward, the Center will identify and secure new sources of funding for new projects; refine and expand its quality assurance activities; provide training and technical assistance for existing projects; increase the visibility of T.E.A.C.H. and WAGE$; support the National Advisory Committee; and begin to develop a T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Alliance of states with existing programs. 

CHILDREN AND FAMILY FUTURES
www.cffutures.org 

About the Organization
Children and Family Futures is a non-profit firm providing technical assistance and training, strategic planning, evaluation and development of effectiveness measures. CFF provides services to government agencies, community based organizations, and schools. The mission of Children and Family Futures is to improve the lives of families affected by substance use disorders. With federal funding, CFF serves as the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare. 

About the Organization’s Project
Children and Family Futures (CFF) has received a grant to examine the employment and effectiveness of workers with life experience but no professional credentials in each of five human services fields. The project will develop a framework for describing models of staffing based on personal experience. The project will also collect data demonstrating the effectiveness of these models and examine the dynamics of the use of workers with life experience in each of the human services areas. CFF will produce a report describing its findings and offering recommendations.

CHILDREN’S DEFENSE FUND
www.childrensdefense.org 

About the Organization
The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. CDF pays particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick or into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. 

About the Organization’s Project
The Children’s Defense Fund and Children’s Rights are working together to develop and promote federal policy options targeted at improving three key aspects of the child welfare workforce: workforce development, funding, and accountability. CDF and Children’s Rights will develop a workforce improvement framework, and short and long-term legislative proposals with input from stakeholders and workforce experts. They will prepare background and educational materials about the need for these proposed policy changes and communicate with policy makers about the challenges facing the child welfare workforce and opportunities for improvements. 

CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
www.childrensrights.org 

About the Organization
Children’s Rights is one of the country’s leading child advocacy organizations, an independent watchdog holding state-run child welfare agencies accountable for providing quality services to endangered children. Founded by Marcia Robinson Lowry, a nationally recognized expert in child welfare reform, Children’s Rights began as a project of the American Civil Liberties Union, and became an independent non-profit organization in 1995. The organization uses legal advocacy, research and policy analysis to ensure improved policies and practices, and public education to promote and protect children’s rights. Its goal is to ensure that every child who is abused or neglected, invisible and voiceless, receives the treatment and care he or she needs, and grows up in a permanent and loving home. The action agenda includes (1) exposing what happens to children who are abused and neglected; (2) utilizing the power of the courts to compel government systems to fulfill their legal obligations to children; (3) educating the public on why child welfare systems fail and how they can be fixed; (4) researching issues that have a direct impact on the lives of children to find practical solutions to the most pressing problems facing child welfare systems; and (5) collaborating with child welfare advocates, professionals and policymakers to advance a common agenda and improve the lives of vulnerable children. 

About the Organization’s Projects
Children’s Rights and the Children’s Defense Fund are working together to develop and promote federal policy options targeted at improving three key aspects of the child welfare workforce: workforce development, funding, and accountability. CDF and Children’s Rights will develop a workforce improvement framework, and short and long-term legislative proposals with input from stakeholders and workforce experts. They will prepare background and educational materials about the need for these proposed policy changes, and communicate with policy makers about the challenges facing the child welfare workforce and opportunities for improvements. Additionally, Children’s Rights and the National Center for Youth Law are working together to examine efforts to strengthen the child welfare workforce through class action litigation. Through interviews with litigators and key informants and review of monitoring reports and other documents, Children’s Rights and the National Center for Youth Law will analyze workforce issues that are the focus of ongoing class action litigation, the outcomes of such litigation, and contributing factors impacting their implementation. They will prepare two documents summarizing their findings: one aimed at legal services organizations and the other designed for a broader audience, including child welfare professionals, policy makers, and others. 

CPS HUMAN RESOURCE SERVICES
www.cps.ca.gov 

About the Organization
CPS Human Resource Services (CPS) is a governmental agency committed to improving human resources in the public sector.  As a self-supporting public agency offering a full range of human resource products and services, our highly qualified, professional staff provides practical solutions for all levels of government, school districts, colleges and universities, and nonprofit organizations throughout the United States and Canada. Based in Sacramento, CA, with regional offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Georgia, New York City and Wisconsin, CPS has provided testing and human resource management services to public agencies for more than 70 years. Our highly qualified network of consultants includes former state and local government human resource executives. 

About the Organization’s Project
CPS Human Resource Services has received a grant to identify and develop best practices in human resources management in several of the human services workforces. In child welfare, CPS HRS will develop and test tool kits on workforce recruitment, retention, and turnover for use by child welfare agencies. In juvenile justice, the organization will assess the role of human resources practices in facilitating or impeding the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. Across the whole human services workforce, CPS HRS will report on best practices in strategic partnerships between human services agencies and their human resources departments. Finally, CPS HRS will report on Professional Employer Organizations, to identify the major providers, their services, and the benefits and limits of these services for small community-based human services organizations. 

CRIME AND JUSTICE INSTITUTE
www.cjinstitute.org 

About the Organization
CJI is improving public safety and human service delivery nationwide with our creative, collaborative approaches to today's most pressing and complex social and public safety problems. CJI envisions juvenile justice, criminal justice and social welfare systems that are fair, humane, results-driven and cost-effective. Through its work, CJI seeks to contribute to the revitalization and empowerment of urban communities, and to assist court-involved youth and other vulnerable populations in realizing their potential to lead civil, productive and satisfying live.

CJI is committed to:

• Research-based system reform and organizational development.
• Implementation of evidence-based practice for fair, effective juvenile and criminal justice systems.
• Collaborative and strengths-based approaches to problem solving.
  

We are a national leader in developing results-oriented strategies and in empowering agencies and communities to implement systemic system change.  Our other work includes developing issue papers and policy briefs, conducting research and program evaluation, and facilitating forums and focus groups to initiate public dialogue. Applying our research skills and practical experience, we also provide technical assistance in juvenile justice reform, corrections, community partnership-building, and other public safety arenas.  The Crime and Justice Institute operates as a division of Community Resources for Justice, Inc. 

About the Organization’s Project
The Crime and Justice Institute (CJI) will assess the state of the juvenile justice workforce and the impact of efforts to reform the juvenile justice system on workforce issues. CJI will examine the current state of the juvenile justice workforce, with detailed descriptions of several jurisdictions and of emerging efforts to recruit and retain workers. Additionally, CJI, in conjunction with C4K and other Human Services Workforce Initiative (HSWI) grantees, will place juvenile justice issues within the larger context of the human services workforce, and will develop a paper identifying the workforce implications of juvenile justice reform efforts, placing particular emphasis on the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. 

FORUM FOR YOUTH INVESTMENT
www.forumforyouthinvestment.org 

About the Organization
The Forum for Youth Investment is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping communities and the nation make sure all young people are Ready by 21™: ready for college, work and life. This goal requires that young people have the supports, opportunities and services needed to prosper and contribute where they live, learn, work, play and make a difference. The Forum provides youth and adult leaders with the information, technical assistance, training, network support and partnership opportunities needed to increase the quality and quantity of youth investment and youth involvement.

About the Organization’s Project
With its grant, the Forum for Youth Investment will support the ongoing work of developing the Next Generation Youth Work Coalition (Next Gen). Thus far, Next Gen has initiated the process of engaging national, state and local networks in gathering information about the youth work workforce. The next phase of this effort will focus on continued engagement of the field, including developing a short policy brief that summarizes and integrates findings from several projects surveying this workforce. Additionally, Next Gen will convene a group of key stakeholders in the areas of both afterschool and youth development programming to develop the basis of a youth work policy agenda. 

HARVARD FAMILY RESEARCH PROJECT
www.hfrp.org 

About the Organization
HFRP strives to increase the effectiveness of public and private organizations and communities as they promote more effective educational practices, programs, and policies for disadvantaged children and youth. In its relationships with national, state, and local partners, HFRP fosters a sustainable learning process, one that relies on the collection, analysis, synthesis, and application of information to guide problem-solving and strategic decision-making. HFRP's new concept, Complementary Learning, is rooted in the belief that for children and youth to be successful, learning supports that reach beyond school must be arrayed around them. These supports must be linked and should work toward consistent learning and developmental outcomes for children from birth through adolescence. HFRP was founded in 1983 at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) by its director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D. 

About the Organization’s Project
Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) has received a grant to examine evidence of the relationship between workforce issues and service outcomes. HFRP will develop preliminary models of the relationships among individual worker characteristics, organizational supports, and labor market characteristics and policies, and the ways these can affect worker performance, service quality and outcomes. HFRP will use these models to determine the strength of the case for the hypothesis that workforce issues affect outcomes; the most strategic future priorities; and proven and promising practices to strengthen the performance of the human services workforce. HFRP will produce a report with findings and recommendations for future research and suggestions about promising workforce development practices. 

NATIONAL AFTERSCHOOL ASSOCIATION
www.naaweb.org 

About the Organization
The National AfterSchool Association, formerly the National School-Age Care Alliance, was founded in 1987. NAA is a professional association with a membership component -- membership includes more than 7,000 practitioners, policy makers, and administrators representing all public, private, and community-based sectors of afterschool and out-of-school time programs, as well as school-age and afterschool programs on military bases,both domestic and international. As the leading voice of the afterschool profession, NAA and the organization's 35 state affiliates are dedicated to the development, education, and care of children and youth during their out-of-school hours. 

About the Organization’s Project
The National AfterSchool Association (NAA) has received a grant to identify innovative salary, compensation, and benefits packages to develop the after-school workforce. NAA will additionally gather information to examine the current state of this workforce. NAA will establish a working group engaged in workforce development initiatives to identify and document innovations. NAA will additionally gather information on current salaries, benefits, mobility rates, and other demographics. These data, combined with currently available data on the workforce, will be connected with information on program and provider type, geographic area, and the like to produce a comprehensive picture of the current workforce. These efforts will provide a thorough assessment of what is currently available and what could be made available to attract and retain high quality practitioners in the after-school field. 

NATIONAL CENTER FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Teachers College, Columbia University
http://ccf.tc.columbia.edu 

About the Organization
The National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) advances the policy, education, and development of children and their families. Housed at Teachers College, Columbia University, the Center produces and applies interdisciplinary research to improve practice and to raise public awareness of social issues that affect the well-being of America's children and families. To achieve these goals, the Center presently focuses its work in five related thematic areas, each of which addresses the prevention of social problems: early care and education; families; school transitions and readiness; systems/governance; and neighborhood/community. 

About the Organization’s Project
The National Center for Children and Families, Teachers College, Columbia University has received a grant to collect, analyze, and synthesize information on the early childhood education workforce (ECE). Working with an advisory team of experienced professionals, CCF will conduct a comprehensive review of the research literature on the ECE workforce; complete an extensive review of current practices, programs, and policies that address ECE workforce issues; produce a distillation of key issues; and develop a set of policy recommendations that could be enacted to alleviate critical ECE workforce issues. The data from these efforts will be combined and presented in a comprehensive report and a shorter policy brief. 

NATIONAL CENTER FOR YOUTH LAW
www.youthlaw.org 

About the Organization
Founded in 1970, the National Center for Youth Law is a non-profit organization that uses the law to improve the lives of poor children. NCYL works to ensure that these children have the resources, support, and opportunities they need for a healthy and productive future. NCYL focuses its work in four areas: Safety, Stability, and Well-Being of Abused and Neglected Children; Quality Health and Mental Health Care; Financial Stability for Low-Income Families and Children; and Juvenile Justice. 

About the Organization’s Project
The National Center for Youth Law and Children’s Rights are working together to examine efforts to strengthen the child welfare workforce through class action litigation. Through interviews with litigators and key informants and review of monitoring reports and other documents, Children’s Rights and the National Center for Youth Law will analyze workforce issues that are the focus of ongoing class action litigation, the outcomes of such litigation, and contributing factors impacting their implementation. They will prepare two documents summarizing their findings: one aimed at legal services organizations and the other designed for a broader audience, including child welfare professionals, policy makers, and others. 

NATIONAL COLLABORATION FOR YOUTH
www.nassembly.org 

About the Organization
The National Collaboration for Youth (NCY), a 30-year old organization, is a coalition of the National Human Services Assembly member organizations that have a significant interest in youth development. Members of the National Collaboration for Youth include more than fifty national, non-profit, youth development organizations. The mission of NCY is to provide a united voice as advocates for youth to improve the conditions of young people in America, and to help young people reach their full potential.Collectively, the member organizations of the National Collaboration for Youth: serve more than 40 million young people; employ over 100,000 paid staff; utilize more than six million volunteers; and have a physical presence in virtually every community in America .  

About the Organization’s Project
The National Youth Development Learning Network (The Network) has received a grant to collect, analyze, and disseminate promising practices in the recruitment and retention of front line youth workers. The Network will contact national youth organizations and survey other organizations and research efforts to identify promising approaches to achieve a diverse, well-trained, and stable youth workforce. The Network will then bring a number of staff together to explore strategies that have been identified, and will disseminate a series of reports, newsletters, and training materials that profile the promising practices identified in the discovery and symposium processes. 

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON CRIME AND DELINQUENCY
www.nccd-crc.org 

About the Organization
The oldest criminal justice research organization in America, NCCD promotes effective, humane, fair, and economically sound solutions to family, community, and justice problems. NCCD conducts research, promotes reform initiatives, and seeks to work with individuals, public and private organizations, and the media to prevent and reduce crime and delinquency. 

About the Organization’s Project
The National Council on Crime & Delinquency Research Center (NCCD) has received a grant to conduct a national survey of former human services workers to identify factors affecting staff turnover. NCCD will then analyze the survey responses in order to understand career paths in human services and identify factors that can contribute to staff turnover. Additionally, NCCD will examine the relationship between staff turnover and child and adolescent outcomes in juvenile justice and child welfare. NCCD will examine the impact of a Texas law that increased the salaries of state juvenile justice workers, focusing on whether there is a relationship between salary increases, staff turnover, and client outcomes. Additionally, NCCD will examine California’s child welfare system using SafeMeasures software, to determine if there is an impact of service delivery on client outcomes. 

NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON OUT-OF-SCHOOL-TIME
Wellesley Centers for Women
www.niost.org 

About the Organization
For 30 years, the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College, has successfully brought national attention to the importance of children’s out-of-school time, influenced policy, increased standards and professional recognition, and spearheaded community action aimed at improving the availability, quality and viability of programs serving children and youth. NIOST’s varied initiatives have moved the field forward using three paths: Research, Evaluation and Consultation; Policy Development and Public Awareness; and Training and Curriculum Development. 

About the Organization’s Project
The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) has received a grant to investigate the value of the Youth Development Associate (YDA) certification as a strategy to combat poor working conditions, lack of career mobility, and low wages in the after-school and youth work fields. YDA emerged as a promising strategy from the preliminary work of several groups. Before YDA is piloted, NIOST will research existing credentials in these fields to explore their value. NIOST will report its findings in a paper that documents the institutions that offer certification programs, the structure and staffing of these programs, their institutional connections, their student demographics, the effects of the credential on workforce issues and on the quality of workers, and the supports required and received by workers to complete the certification. 

PUBLIC ALLIES
www.publicallies.org

About the Organization
Public Allies advances diverse young leaders to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation. Since 1992, Public Allies has built a powerful model for identifying, training and supporting talented and diverse young adults to lead positive community change. Through a signature AmeriCorps programs, young people, ages 18 to 30, serve in full-time apprenticeships creating improving and expanding services at local nonprofit organizations, and participate in a rigorous leadership development program that combines weekly training, coaching, team projects and reflection. Public Allies continues to invest in the skills, networks and initiative of program graduates through a lifetime of structured programs, grants, and networking opportunities.

About the Organization’s Project
Public Allies will partner with the Alliance for Children and Families on a project dedicated to creating and/or strengthening pathways into nonprofit human services careers for young people. Public Allies will conduct in-depth interviews with 32 member organizations, and then produce a report describing human service career opportunities, staff and who nonprofits typically serve. They will also produce a report based on the results of a series of focus groups with high school and college graduates to identify strategies to capture the attention of graduates and motivate them to consider careers in the nonprofit human services, and will assess the best practices of other organizations engaged in recruiting young people to the human services workforce and the effectiveness of these practices in a third document. Finally, Public Allies will create a model program – including marketing, recruitment, placement and human resource management strategies - to attract young people to the field of nonprofit child and family services.

PUBLIC/PRIVATE VENTURES
www.ppv.org 

About the Organization
Public/Private Ventures is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the effectiveness of social policies, programs and community initiatives, especially as they affect youth and young adults. In carrying out this mission, P/PV works with philanthropies, the public and business sectors, and nonprofit organizations. P/PV's staff is composed of policy leaders in various fields; evaluators and researchers in disciplines ranging from economics to ethnography; and experienced practitioners from the nonprofit, public, business and philanthropic sectors. P/PV's work addresses a wide range of critical social issues, and involves a varied group of sectors and institutions. This diversity provides us with the perspective and experience to assist policymakers, funders and communities in setting priorities and identifying realistic opportunities for advancing promising or proven policies and practices. 

About the Organization’s Project
Public/Private Ventures will examine frontline staff in the employment and training workforce in three cities in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of workforce development workers in diverse localities. P/PV’s research will focus on understanding the variety of positions that constitute the employment and training workforce; the job descriptions for these positions, including requirements and salaries; the backgrounds and experiences of the workers that fill these positions; the challenges that organizations face in recruiting and retaining qualified staff; the training needs of this workforce; and the training available for this workforce. P/PV will produce a report that synthesizes the findings and lessons learned across the three cities, offering an analysis of the field, including a brief history and description of its current structure. 

QUALITY CONSULTING GROUP, LLC 

About the Organization
Building better service systems for children and families is the mission of Quality Consulting Group, LLC (QCG), a management consultant and professional services organization formed out of numerous years of individual and collective professional experiences in the public and private sectors. QCG’s partners average over 30 plus years experience as state and county administrators and executive directors/CEO’s with private, non profit agencies. QCG provides consultation and training to public and private organizations in such areas as: program design, program evaluation, national accreditation, strategic planning, regulatory compliance, Head Start reviews, supervision and management. QCG is currently involved with Cornerstone for Kids, Inc. in studying accreditation and workforce development issues. They are producing a series of products that review accreditation standards and their role and relationship to a stable workforce in the following human services: child welfare, juvenile justice, early care and childhood education, and youth development. 

About the Organization’s Project
The Quality Consulting Group will examine accreditation standards and processes in the human services workforces of child welfare, juvenile justice, early care and education, and youth development. They will produce a format for evaluating accreditation standards in these fields; assess accreditation processes; and compare the effect of accreditation on workforce issues by surveying accredited and non-accredited agencies and organizations. Quality Consulting will issue two reports – the first, a comprehensive assessment of accreditation and its impact on workforce issues, and the second, which will offer recommendations for adjusting the accreditation process to better support a comprehensive workforce development agenda. 

SCHOOL’S OUT LOWCOUNTRY
www.cf-lowcountry.org

About the Organization
School’s Out Lowcountry, an initiative of the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, was created in 2002 as the result of a study of out-of-school time in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Its primary goal is to create a high quality, effective community youth development system in Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper Counties that 1) is supported and championed by the local community and other organizations, 2) provides high quality out-of-school programs for children and youth, 3) makes available professional development opportunities to youth workers, 4) offers technical assistance to help out-of-school agencies operate effective programs, and 5) positively effects the development of every child and youth participating in out-of-school programs. The Community Foundation of the Lowcountry will coordinate the efforts of community, county, regional, state, and national organizations to create sustainable out-of-school programs for children, youth, and their families. 

About the Organization’s Project
The Community Foundation of the Lowcountry (CFL) has received a grant to create professional development opportunities to enhance the understanding and skills of the local youth development workforce. This is part of the foundation’s School’s Out Lowcountry (SOL) initiative, which seeks to create a community youth development system in the four-county Lowcountry area. The professional development programs will include a workshop series, leadership institutes, and individual technical assistance and coaching. CFL will produce a report that describes the process of building a culture of professional development for youth workers in rural settings. 

THE AFTER-SCHOOL CORPORATION
www.tascorp.org

About the Organization
The After-School Corporation (TASC) was created in 1998 with a generous challenge grant from George Soros' Open Society Institute to enhance the quality, availability, and sustainability of after-school programs. TASC provides grants, training, and technical assistance to more than 130 community-based organizations in New York, to run programs in schools from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. every day school is in session. With the help of our supporters and partners, TASC works to ensure that every child will have access to free, quality after-school programs by 2010.

About the Organization’s Project
The After-School Corporation has received a grant to investigate after-school program staffing practices, such as hiring and compensation, professional development and training, supervision, and planning, that lead to positive youth outcomes for participants. Building on the extensive database collected for its ongoing evaluation of 107 New York City public schools that receive 21st Century Community Learning Center grants, TASC, in collaboration with Policy Studies Associates, will identify the ten highest performing and ten lowest performing after-school projects, conduct field research at these sites, and analyze these data to determine what, if any, relationship exists between organizational practices and youth outcomes. TASC will produce a report that describes the organizational features and practices that are common to programs that promote positive youth outcomes.

THE FAMILY INITIATIVE OF LEGAL MOMENTUM
www.legalmomentum.org

About the Organization
Legal Momentum advances the rights of women and girls by using the power of the law and creating innovative public policy. Legal Momentum aspires to grow in its role as the leading national legal advocate for expanding the rights and opportunities of women and girls. The organization identifies, analyzes and shapes solutions for emerging challenges and areas of greatest need by applying our expertise and the highest professionalism in law and communications. Its work focuses on three broad initiatives: economic justice, freedom from gender-based violence and equality under the law.

About the Organization’s Project
Legal Momentum has received a grant to develop and expand its workforce development component for early care and education, and its initiative to reframe child care as an economic issue. Legal Momentum will build the economic case for enhanced public investment in quality early care and education. The organization will invest in developing its message, working with the media, producing an electronic newsletter and Web site. Additionally, Legal Momentum will hold roundtables in three cities focused on improving early care and education through workforce development, and will then develop public education issues campaigns in three to five places. It will develop and execute a national conference and continue to build a broad coalition of support around this issue.

THE URBAN INSTITUTE
www.urban.org 

About the Organization
The Urban Institute is a private, non-profit policy and research organization in Washington, DC, established in 1968 to investigate social and economic issues confronting the U.S. and government policies and programs designed to address them. Through work that includes broad conceptual studies, program evaluations, and administrative and technical assistance, Institute researchers and consultants make data and findings available to the public and to public officials concerned with formulating and implementing more efficient and effective government policy. As a consequence, the Institute has become internationally known and respected as an objective and nonpartisan source of information and analysis for informed policy deliberation and debate.  The Child Welfare Research Program, housed within the Urban Institute, closely monitors federal and state child welfare policies, assesses how policies are translated into practice, identifies important emerging issues, and conducts timely, rigorous, and practical studies to help inform the public policy debate. 

About the Organization’s Project
The Urban Institute has received a grant to conduct a half-day conference to discuss the research agenda needed to address key child welfare workforce issues as part of the Human Services Workforce Initiative. The convening will identify key child welfare workforce issues; consider which are already being addressed or researched; prioritize workforce issues that need additional research; and construct a research agenda for fulfilling these research needs. Following the meeting, the Urban Institute will produce a summary report and draft research agenda.  

Visit the Workforce Planning Portal

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