Subchapter VI. Youth Development Plan.
§ 2–1581. Youth Development Plan.
The Mayor shall oversee the implementation of District’s Youth Development Plan, which has been designed to:
(1) Increase the quality of coordination and collaboration among all stakeholders to deliver city-funded youth services;
(2) Advance the positive youth development philosophy and policy approach;
(3) Effectively implement youth violence prevention and intervention strategies;
(4) Provide for consistent and sustained investment in the city’s youth guided by positive youth development; and
(5) Directly impact upon challenges affecting adolescent youth and disconnected youth.
§ 2–1582. Strategy update.
(a) The Mayor, within 30 days of the adoption of the budget, shall disseminate the budget and implementation strategy for the Youth Development Plan for each fiscal year (“youth development report”). Copies of the youth development report shall be transmitted to each member of the Council and posted on the District government’s website. This report shall summarize the successes and difficulties of the previous year’s strategy and any new youth development initiatives that are to be included in the plan for the upcoming year.
(b) The youth development report shall also include qualitative and quantitative outcome measures and performance measures (“measures”) for each implemented initiative (“measures”). Outcome measures and performance measures for other initiatives shall be developed as soon as practicable. The Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, Families and Elders and the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice shall develop these measures upon advice from the Youth Development Plan Executive Working Group established under § 2-1585.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term “Qualitative and quantitative outcome measures and performance measures” means indicators of progress toward achieving the citywide goals established in the Children’s Budget Report and ensuring that youth development programs are provided effectively and efficiently.
§ 2–1583. Realignment of funding priorities.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any reprogramming of money that relates to the funding of the Youth Development Plan’s budget or the Children’s Budget shall conform with the citywide goals for children and youth identified in the Children’s Budget Report. The city-wide goals for children and youth are:
(1) Children are ready for school.
(2) Children and youth succeed in school;
(3) Children and youth practice healthy behaviors;
(4) Children and youth engage in meaningful activities;
(5) Children and youth live in healthy, stable, and supportive families; and
(6) All youth make a successful transition to adulthood.
(b) Reprogrammed funds may only be allocated to meet the one of the following specific goals for which such funding was made.
§ 2–1584. Funding priorities.
(a) In fiscal year 2007, the youth development plan shall be funded by a $1 million allocation to the Office of the City Administrator to be used as follows:
(1) An amount of $600,000 for gang intervention services, including the Violence Intervention Partnership to reduce youth violence in communities east of the Anacostia River through innovative law enforcement, conflict resolution, and intervention and prevention strategies through a collaborative effort by community leaders, law enforcement officers, government agencies, faith-based institutions, community-based organizations, educators, and youth outreach workers.
(2) An amount of $300,000 for girls leadership and violence prevention programs, including a program to study violence among female youth and implement programs to address this issue; and
(3) An amount of $100,000 for youth worker training in positive youth development principles and methods.
(b) The Mayor shall designate additional resources for the Youth Development Plan from agencies that will provide services and support for the Plan’s initiatives, subject to the provisions of § 2-1583 and applicable laws and regulations.
§ 2–1585. Executive Working Group.
(a) There is established a Youth Development Plan Executive Working Group (“Working Group”), that shall advise its chair on the youth development plan. The chair of the Working Group shall be the Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, Families and Elders (“chair”). The other members of the Executive working group shall include:
(1) Current members of the Youth Development Plan’s executive steering committee, including the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and, the Superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools, the City Administrator, and the President of the District of Columbia Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation;
(2) The Director of the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services;
(3) A member of the Council, as designated the Council Chairman;
(4) Adolescent youths, to be selected by the chair of the Executive Working Group as follows:
(A) A member of the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council,
(B) A system-involved youth who may be a youth who is legally a ward of, or committed to the care of the District of Columbia, or who is under the care of, the Department of Mental Health, and
(C) At least one youth who resides in the District;
(5) At least one representative from the Department of Parks and Recreation, as selected by the chair;
(6) At least one representative from the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services, as selected by the chair;
(7) At least one representative from the Child and Family Services Agency, as selected by the chair;
(8) At least one representative from the Metropolitan Police Department, as selected by the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety & Justice;
(9) Representatives from other governmental agencies and instrumentalities as selected by the chair; and
(10) At least 2 District residents who have demonstrated an interest in youth violence or youth development in the District.
(b) The operations of the Working Group shall be subject to the discretion of the chair; provided, that Working Group shall meet at least twice a year. The chair of the Working Group shall work to ensure that the Group receives meaningful, informed feedback and input from its youth members.
