Fiscal Note
No appropriation is required at this time. Implementation of certain recommendations may require an appropriation in the future, subject to approval by the Common Council.
Title
Supporting the Mayor in accepting the President's My Brother's Keeper challenge on behalf of Madison, Wisconsin.
Body
WHEREAS, the President of the United States has issued a call to action to cities across the country to implement a coherent cradle-to-college-and-career strategy for improving the life outcomes of all young people to ensure that they can reach their full potential, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or the circumstances into which they are born; and
WHEREAS, this challenge specifically calls for addressing persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color (including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and Hmong Americans) and ensuring that all young people can reach their full potential; and
WHEREAS, young men are not the only concern, but are indeed the largest group with the largest persistent opportunity gap; and
WHEREAS, the President's challenge calls for communities to focus a collective strategy on not less than two of these six items:
· All children enter school cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally prepared;
· All children read at grade level by third grade;
· All young people graduate from high school;
· All young people complete post-secondary education or training;
· All youth out of school are employed; and
· All young people are safe from violent crime.
WHEREAS, the City of Madison and several city partners and other local organizations are currently working to improve the tragic reality that in Madison, boys of color are appreciably less likely to have success in any of these measures than their white counterparts; and
WHEREAS, the City has a leadership role to play within the community to convene organizations, identify effective strategies, and promote collaboration in an efforts to accomplish our shared goal of improving life outcomes for young people in a measurable way;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Common Council supports the Mayor in accepting the President's My Brother's Keeper challenge on behalf of Madison, Wisconsin.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Common Council supports the Mayor in directing his staff to take the following next steps as outlined in the President's challenge:
1) Immediately convene a Local Action Summit with key public and private sector stakeholders to assess needs, determine priorities, and decide what combination of the six stated objectives they will or are currently working to address.
2) Create a working group of pertinent government stakeholders to scour existing local policies, programs, and practices in search of ways to introduce or expand on existing efforts to better serve the needs of the community's youth. The working group should assess the impact of both existing and proposed programs. Within 120 days of accepting the President's Challenge, this body should produce a report with recommendations for action on Madison's selected areas of focus, standards for tracking and sharing data across other public agencies and community partners, and structural recommendations for institutionalizing the effort until goals are reached.
3) Within 180 days of accepting the President's Challenge, convene key partners to publicly launch a plan of action for accomplishing selected goals based on the results of our policy review. It should include a protocol for tracking data, benchmarks and timelines for review to ensure the transparent assessment of progress towards goals, and the open examination and retooling of ineffective strategies. Include a blueprint for resourcing our efforts which outlines plans to use or redirect existing resources, new public or private sector commitments, and specific areas where additional commitments, investment, or partnership could help our community reach its My Brother's Keeper goals and help potential new partners target their involvement.