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In this issue:
Letter from the President and CEO
Trust Held Citywide Youth Development Conference in December
The Trust Trains Two Key Groups Working with Youth: School Resource Officers and DPR's Roving Leaders
More Scholarships Awarded This Year Through Expanded Opportunity Scholarship Program
The Trust Celebrated "Lights On Afterschool!" with Youth and Council Members
How We Spent Our Summer
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 Despite challenging times, the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation is optimistic about our role in providing support for quality youth-serving programs in the city this year. We are pleased to start the new year with a wave of new board members, and we thank our outgoing board members for their dedication to the children of the District. We continue to improve services and opportunities for children and youth in the District. Between our Summer Grant Competition and our ongoing partnerships with DC agencies, we look forward to our work with providers to help them design better programs for our youth so they can remain fully engaged and develop into confident, productive adults. It's more important than ever that this work continue.
Sincerely,
Ellen London
 In December, the Trust hosted our second annual Youth Development Conference for youth and family agencies. During the day-long conference, organizations shared strategies on strengthening programs to better serve youth and targeting services to the needs of their communities and their youth. The conference, Building the Future for the District's Youth, provided organizations with the resources and best practices to help them strengthen their approach to working with youth. This year's conference was a great success and we thank all the organizations and agencies for participating and enriching the conversations.
 The Trust is committed to advancing youth development and trains city workers who work with youth directly on this important concept. We recently led a number of "Advancing Youth Development" trainings intended to support a uniform culture of positive youth development among the adults who work with young people. With the support of the Carter and Melissa Cafritz Foundation, the Trust trained 120 School Resource Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department on the basic principles of positive youth development.
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| Carter Cafritz, center, at the MPD training session |
The Trust also provided a training for the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) Youth Development Division's Roving Leaders. Roving Leaders form a team at DPR that works one-on-one with targeted teens in an effort to prevent violence among youth. Through this work, the Trust's youth development training helped these city agencies infuse the youth development approach into their work with youth in the District.
The Trust awarded 1,014 new scholarships for the 2011-12 school year as part of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), bringing the total number of scholarships to 1,615. OSP was restored and expanded in April 2011, and since then, the Trust has opened enrollment for more than double the roughly 400 scholarships awarded annually since 2005-06. The OSP provides low-income parents residing in the District with scholarships for children to attend K-12 private schools in the District. The scholarships, which award up to $12,000 for students in grades 9-12 and $8,000 for students in grades K-8, cover most or all of families' costs in tuition, transportation and school fees. Students accepted into the program attend the program's 53 participating private schools.
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In October, we hosted the 12th annual Lights On Afterschool in DC to raise awareness about the need for after-school programs that keep children safe, help working families, improve attendance and high school completion as well as inspire learning. The DC event was one of more than 7,500 occurring nationally that highlighted the need for after-school programs. The local event featured students who participate in after-school programs in the District. As part of our Lights On Afterschool celebration, 30 children ages 5 through 12 danced and performed spoken word and poetry for Mayor Vincent Gray, Council Chair Kwame Brown and DC government staff to convey the importance of after-school programs. |
DC Council Chairman
Kwame Brown |
 We had a great summer, and we appreciate the work of all of our partners in making our programs a success. Last summer, the Trust partnered with the DC Department of Employment Services (DOES) to offer grants to local organizations working with youth participating in the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). The Trust also spent the summer engaging youth all around DC with fun and innovative events. In August, we co-sponsored two Tennis Play Days at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center and Banneker Recreation Center. Funded in part by the Trust and the United States Tennis Association and hosted by the Department of Parks and Recreation, these day-long events gave more than 400 kids the opportunity to play tennis and have fun with other kids in a safe environment.
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