Runaway and Homeless Youth: Changing the Discourse by Legitimizing Youth Voice

Schweitzer, Donald Dale

doi:10.15760/etd.292

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…They are the ones who focus on the mission" (p. 5) and that they assist organizations (when they participate in governance structures) to make effective decisions. A youth voice study with runaway and homeless youth revealed that the highest priority for improving services was to expand the role of clients in services, articulated as "youth voice" (Schweitzer, 2011) in how services are designed, implemented and evaluated. Early research on the role of educational leaders in enabling student voice has been found important for closing the achievement gap (Mitra, Serriere, & Stoicovy, 2012).…”

Section: Accountability Practices and Service User Voicementioning

confidence: 99%

In Defense of Culturally-Specific Organizations: Understanding the Rationale and the Evidence

Curry-Stevens¹,

Muthanna²

2016

AASoci

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Racial disparities abound in human services, with communities of color facing grave impediments to positive progress. Mainstream institutions move painstakingly slowly on reforms-movement too slow to offer this generation prospects for real hope in equity. This paper builds the rationale for expanding funding for culturally-specific organizations, detailing the ways that the literature and the tacit knowledge of culturally-specific organizations improve outcomes for clients and communities of color. The article identifies the service benefits in terms of client outcomes, accountability practices, community benefits, cultural affirmation and inclusion, building community and political capital, and lessening investments in white-centric services. We also identify methods for funding bodies to invest in culturally-specific organizations, and consider the accountability practices that might stimulate mainstream organizations to make gains in racial equity. KeywordsCulturally-Specific Organizations, Ethnic Agencies, Racial Disparities, Racial Equity, Dangerous Allies Setting the ContextAs institutions consider how to move forward with the eradication of institutional racism and racial disparities, communities of color and minority ethnic groups are waiting-sometimes patiently and sometimes not. In Multnomah County (in Oregon, USA), the Coalition of Communities of Color, an alliance of over 25 culturallyspecific community based organizations, is pressing for an alternative: equitable funding for culturally-specific organizations in order to improve the service outcomes for communities of color who have been waiting for A. Curry-Stevens, J. S. Muthanna 68 racial equity for generations.In this region, communities of color have spent the last ten years building an advocacy-based, multi-sector, multi-racial coalition to identify and advance collective interests. In 2003, their organizing and collective voice led to the redirection of approximately 25% of the County's anti-poverty funds to culturally-specific organizations to meet the needs of children of color. The effort was successful in reaching children of color-as 66% of the service users within these anti-poverty programs were children of color, compared to less than 20% before this effort, when outreach had primarily reached white families (Curry-Stevens, Cross-Hemmer, & Coalition of Communities of Color, 2010). And still, rising poverty and rising disparities within poverty cause grave challenges for the region. In response, the Coalition of Communities of Color has added research to their organizing efforts, and expanded their policy advocacy practices, including creating a policy agenda that has been effectively gaining attention. One of these efforts is to build more support for the provision of culturally specific organizations to deliver services to communities of color.Data from the Coalition of Communities of Color reports show that, today, the stakes are high. In almost all areas of life, communities of color face deep and, in numerous instances, w...

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Section: Accountability Practices and Service User Voicementioning

confidence: 99%