Investing in Indiana’s Youth: The Power of the Youth Worker Well-Being Grants
By Tami Silverman, President & CEO of Indiana Youth Institute
Youth workers play critical roles in shaping the lives of Indiana’s children. Even as the landscape of youth work continues to evolve, these dedicated individuals continue to show up as mentors, educators, and advocates. Ensuring the best outcomes for our youth requires that we prioritize the well-being of those committing themselves to this vital work.
That is the goal of the Youth Worker Well-Being Project – a collaborative effort aimed at enhancing the lives of Indiana’s youth workers to enable them to better serve our youth. By focusing on improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), as well as fostering trauma-informed workplaces, this initiative aims to create environments where youth workers feel valued, supported, and empowered.
The significance of this project cannot be overstated. When youth workers are well-supported and equipped with the resources they need, they can more effectively engage with young people, leading to better outcomes for all involved. With this in mind, the Youth Worker Well-Being Project is offering grants to youth-serving organizations in Indiana to pilot and implement strategies that promote DEIB and trauma-informed practices in their workplaces.
Youth-serving organizations may apply for either or both of the following:
Up to $20,000 for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives, and
Up to $10,000 for trauma-informed organization efforts.
Grant applications can be found and are due on April 15, 2024.
To learn more about this grant opportunity and read the rest of the March column, click here.
Register Today for our Advancing Equity Summit!
You are invited to join us virtually on Tuesday, May 7 for the 2024 Advancing Equity Summit. This year, we are highlighting the topic of “healthy kids” and your power as youth workers to protect, inspire, and transform their lives.
Join us for this interactive virtual event. In recognition of your extraordinary work, no cost registration will be provided to all Indiana youth-serving professionals.
IYI’s Advancing Equity Summit
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
9:00 AM – 3:30 PM EST
Virtual
Register Here
Webinar Alert: Advancing College Opportunity with Common App
Join our webinar on March 21 at noon EST, to explore connections to 1,000+ colleges globally, including 35 in Indiana.
Attendees will leave the webinar knowing how to:
- Use data to understand the college application pipeline equity gap as it relates to socioeconomic status and other demographics
- Discuss equity-based initiatives to remove barriers in the application process, particularly for students belonging to historically underrepresented or marginalized communities
- Identify where to access free advising tools and resources to support college application completion
Webinar – Advancing College Opportunity with Common App
March 21, 2024
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET
Register Here
Conferences
April 3 | SCAN REGION 6 Summit
Register here
May 7 | IYI’s Advancing Equity Summit
Register here
June 5 | SCAN REGION 3 Summit
Save the Date
Webinars
March 21 | Webinar – Advancing College Opportunity with Common App
Register Here
Youth Worker Cafés
March 20 | Indiana Youth Institute’s 2024 State of the Child – Muncie
Register Here
March 21 | Indiana Youth Institute’s 2024 State of the Child – Marion County
Register Here
April 2 | CWCAP: Proclamation and State of the Child Luncheon- White/Carroll Counties
Register Here
April 3 | Indiana Youth Institute’s 2024 State of the Child- Lake, Porter, LaPorte Counties
Register Here
April 9 | Indiana Youth Institute’s 2024 State of the Child- Grant County
Register Here
April 10 | Indiana Youth Institute’s 2024 State of the Child – Tipton County
Register Here
April 26 | Indiana Youth Institute’s 2024 State of the Child – Elkhart County
Register Here
May 1 | Indiana Youth Institute’s 2024 State of the Child – Bartholomew Co.
Register Here
For a full list of events, visit our Events Calendar at iyi.org.
Emerging Leaders of Color Fellowship Information Session
The Youth Worker Well-Being Project is excited to announce recruitment begins in April for the inaugural Emerging Leaders of Color Fellowship.
Join us Thursday, April 25 at 12 P.M. ET for a virtual informational session to gain insights into the fellowship’s development for emerging leaders of color, including its impact and significance in fostering diverse leadership representation, as well as application requirements, program components, session topics, dates, and timelines.
Additional in-person regional events will be scheduled for early April. Keep up-to-date with the latest details at youthworkerwellbeing.org/events.
Investing in emerging leaders of color is key to ensuring youth agencies increase and sustain progress toward being welcoming and inclusive workplaces and closing equity gaps in leadership.
The Indiana Youth Worker Well-Being Project Emerging Leaders of Color Fellowship will identify emerging leaders of color, help them build on their existing leadership skills, and the types of community networks required to lead and grow an effective youth-serving organizations.
Learn more about the fellowship and register for the informational session at youthworkerwellbeing.org.
The Importance of Early Childhood Education
Early childhood education lays the foundation for a child’s future development and success. During these formative years, children acquire cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills that serve as building blocks for their lifelong learning journey. Quality early education programs foster academic readiness and cultivate essential life skills such as problem-solving, communication, and collaboration.
According to Brighter Futures Indiana, “Children’s brains develop faster from birth to age 5 than any other time in their lives. In fact, 90% of brain development occurs before a child enters kindergarten.”
In order to help Indiana youth achieve kindergarten readiness, The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) provides Indiana Early Learning Standards. The standards are to set common language and expectations for all staff working in early childcare and education.
- Indiana’s Early Learning Standards
- Indiana’s Early Learning Standards (Spanish Translation)
The IDOE recently launched The Early Learning Framework which can be found in the “Collections” page of the Indiana Learning Lab. According to the IDOE, the “Early Learning Framework is a resource for educators and other early childhood professionals to support and enhance children’s learning and development while using the standards. The information can be used to support a child’s development at different levels of learning and promotes fluid movement between developmental stages.”
- Click here for an overview of the IDOE Early Learning Frameworks.
- Click here for the IDEO’s video on Early Learning Curriculum Support & Guidance
Investing in early childhood education yields long-term benefits, including higher academic achievement, better job prospects, and improved societal well-being, making it an essential component of any comprehensive education system.
College and Career Program Navigator:
IYI’s College & Career Program Navigator pulls programs from across the state into one easy to access spot.
Quality resources and connections to programs to ensure youth-serving professionals and organizations have the tools to support Indiana youth in pursuing their post-secondary educational journey, are available here.
As We Celebrate Women’s History Month, Let’s Take a Look at How Our Hoosier Girls Are Doing.
The 2023 Indiana Girl Report establishes a foundation for understanding key issues affecting the quality of life for girls. It also offers a roadmap for cultivating supportive environments and developing resources for girls to help them navigate through topics often considered taboo, including mental health, sexual dating violence, gender bias, bullying, and more.
The report highlights how girls in Indiana face a number of considerable challenges, including:
- When it comes to experiencing bullying, girls in Indiana are more than twice as likely as boys to become victims of traditional bullying and three times as likely to become victims of cyberbullying.
- From 2015 to 2021, the rate of physical and sexual dating violence among girls in Indiana has increased, while the prevalence among boys has decreased. 17% of high school girls reported having experienced sexual dating violence in 2021 – 5x the rate of boys.
- In 2021, girls in Indiana were admitted for hospital inpatient care at more than three times the rate of boys.
- Girls in poverty are more likely to experience poor health, have lower educational attainment, and be involved in the juvenile justice system.
- Girls of color are disproportionately affected by poverty, teen pregnancy, and sexual assault.
- LGBTQ+ girls face unique challenges, such as discrimination and violence.
- Girls with disabilities are also disproportionately affected by poverty, teen pregnancy, and sexual assault.
To expand on the findings above, download the report, click here!
IYI’s Knowledge Center
Need data or research for a grant application, report, or program development? Explore IYI’s Data Hub for specific youth-related topics or dive deeper into your community’s data.
To help you explore the well-being of Indiana youth, data are categorized by topics and subtopics. All you have to do is select a topic to see available indicators. Some topics represent the experiences of children and families, and others are about the characteristics of kids and youth.
Reach out to your regional Outreach Manager to learn more about IYI resources!
Janna Bromm
Director of Field Operations
260-415-5175 or jbromm@iyi.org
Marilyn Sink
Outreach Manager, Southeast Region
812-989-4704 or msink@iyi.org
Yalonda Brown
Senior Outreach Manager, West Central Region
317-667-9239 or ybrown@iyi.org
Heather Savage
Outreach Manager, Central Region
317- 490-0375 or hsavage@iyi.org
Jennifer Lombard
Senior Outreach Manager, North Central Region
765-748-4148 or jlombard@iyi.org
Chelsea Naylor
Outreach Manager, Northwest Region
317-396-2707 or cnaylor@iyi.org
Dawn Huff
Outreach Manager, East Central Region
317-396-2740 or dhuff@iyi.org
Joe Shrode
Senior Outreach Manager, Southwest Region
812-345-2549 or jshrode@iyi.org
Kevin Showalter
Outreach Manager, Northeast Region
260-417-6436 or kshowalter@iyi.org
Interested in joining the IYI team? Find our current job openings at iyi.org/work-at-iyi!
