Collaboration Council Wins Bid to Help Youth and Young Adults Succeed

Goal is to get everyone "Ready by 21, Credentialed by 26"

The Forum for Youth Investment, a nonprofit “action tank” based in Washington, DC chose Montgomery County, Maryland as one of four communities nationwide to participate in the Ready by 21, Credentialed by 26 Challenge. The selected communities will develop goals and plans to increase supports for older youth, with an emphasis on helping more low-income, minority and first-generation college-goers obtain postsecondary credentials with labor market value.

Montgomery County – along with Broward County, Fla.; El Dorado County, Calif.; and Sonoma County, Calif. – will carry out the Challenge by implementing the Forum’s Ready by 21® strategies, which help communities around the country improve the odds that all of their youths will be “ready for college, work and life.” Those strategies include aligning and coordinating the work of all of the “stakeholders” in the community (including public, private and nonprofit agencies), agreeing on specific goals for all children and youth, establishing measurable outcomes to gauge progress toward those goals, and using data to adopt effective policies and practices.

“The opportunity to apply for the Credentialed by 26 Challenge was brought to us by the Governor’s Office for Children,” according to Carol Walsh, Executive Director of the Collaboration Council. “We are putting together a core team that includes the Department of Health and Human Services, Montgomery County Public Schools, higher education, workforce development and business. With the valued support of the Forum located in Takoma Park, we plan to make a key contribution to our County’s commitment to ensuring that all our young people succeed in life.”

Call to Action

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