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Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesYouth Development Group's Shared Database to Drive Collaboration

Youth Development Group's Shared Database to Drive Collaboration

A conglomerate of civic organizations that has been looking at ways to bolster support systems for the territory’s youth on Friday focused on creating a clearing house of information to pinpoint critical needs, which could include everything from physical resources to data collection.

Friday’s meeting was facilitated by the Youth Development Group, which is tasked with advising the government’s Children and Families Council on issues relating to the welfare of young residents ranging from ages 9 to 24. The group, which includes approximately 30 different organizations that work with local youth and their families, has so far looked at strategies to increase collaboration and Friday’s meeting went a step further as participants spoke about setting up a specific system for gathering and sharing information.

Young representatives from the Legislature’s Youth Advisory Council also attended.

What the system will look like – whether it’s a web page or program or Internet discussion group – is still being developed, but the main idea is that the agencies will have somewhere to post what they have, what they need and what could help them to better serve their clients.

That way, said Youth Development Group head Scott Bradley, the agencies could finally have the data needed to see what they’re missing and what gaps exist.

“The big assumption for these agencies is … that we don’t have enough resources to meet the needs of the people we serve. That’s a core assumption,” said Frank Schneiger, the moderator of Friday’s meeting. “And the heart of this is going to be the message that many don’t have the time and the capacity to gather the information needed to back this up, and one of the keys here is for us to figure out how to do that.”

Schneiger added that a shared database will give the agencies a way to trade information about events, tips on best practices, what works within an agency or organization and what doesn’t, and what programs are available within the community to serve specific populations. Represented at the meeting were organizations ranging from My Brother’s Workshop, which works with young men in their mid-teens to early 20s, to Kidscope, which deals with abused youth.

The information database could also house basic information for each agency, such as how much staff each one has and what each needs.

“Right now, a lot of us are duplicating services and there could be parts of another organization that I could use or resources that I could tap into and vice versa,” said Vaughn Walywn, an outreach coordinator for Human Services’ Division of Juvenile Justice. “If we have a database, everyone can have access to it and then if you need help in a particular area, you just go on there and find it.”

Walwyn said, for example, his department used to have a division that would develop preventative strategies for keeping young men and women out of trouble with the law. Since that division has been taken out of Human Services, he and his colleagues are now focused on what to do with youth that “are already in trouble,” and a shared database could give them access to an agency that could step in and do the early prevention work.

During the meeting Friday, the group also looked at what information they needed to gather, what tools they would be using and how to resolve privacy issues.

In areas where data is needed, Rotarian and Practice Peace Initiative organizer Shaun Pennington also pointed out the need for more current information, which would help agencies develop policies, make decisions and keep the community more aware of what is going on with the youth.

“This is useable information for the agencies,” Schneiger added later. “These are not studies, but rather current information that the organizations need to do their work.”

Another issue brought up by Pennington was the need for more communication between the agencies, specifically about the positive things an organization is doing. The Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation, for example, has more than 30 youth programs operating in the territory and little is known about them, even when the department advertises in advance.

“Having this database will also make this kind of information easily available to everyone, so we know what’s going on,” Pennington said.

Adding to the discussion, Sports, Parks and Recreation Assistant Commissioner Stanley Smith said there is a need for more parents to get involved in pushing students to participate in sports and summer programs, such as the basketball camps currently ongoing at Alvin McBean ballpark.

Collaboration between the agencies, participants said, could also help to get a network of individuals together that could do everything from transporting students to and from events and programs when parents are not available.

“By the end of this, I really see having a collaborative effort between volunteer organizations and government agencies that would allow everyone to work on the same page,” Smith added after the meeting.

Friday’s conference was part of the strategic plan which arose from the Rotary Practice Peace Summt held in February at the University of the Virgin Islands. The services conference was sponsored by Rotary St. Thomas II and Rotary Sunrise.

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