The Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston and its Partners, United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Emmanuel Gospel Center, and Boston TenPoint Coalition, are working with the community to strengthen the system of services for high-risk youth in Boston. This process is supported by the Boston Capacity Tank of the BMA through a three-year Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) grant through September, 2005. From January to September 2005, the Partners have convened a public process to include all those who work with high-risk youth in the City of Boston. More than 130 representatives of youth-serving agencies are participating in monthly meetings held at Reggie Lewis: Community-based providers, Faith-based providers, Public service providers, Church groups and ministries, Community businesses, other services.

 A complete list of Participants and Attendees
 Our Partners

Consultants have been retained to work with the Network participants (volunteers from community and faith based organizations) to complete the following Phase 1 deliverables:

Priority Group 1:    Gaps in Youth Services
The objective of this group is to identify the gaps in services for high risk youth in the City of Boston. Once identified, this data will serve as a catalyst to encourage effective partnerships, a clear continuum of coordinated services among providers, and an atmosphere of shared and mutual respect among community providers. High risk youth will be productively engaged, driven, and well adjusted.

Priority Group 2:    City-Wide Youth Goals
The objective is to identify and set common city-wide, measurable goals for high risk youth development in Boston. Once identified, these goals will lead to the development of shared minimum program standards for all high risk youth programming, to which all providers can be held accountable, and against which programs can be assessed and evaluated. Stakeholders will propose and consider these goals for agreement, based on the review of a comprehensive needs assessment for high-risk youth in Boston, which will examine their status according to several key measurable indicators.

Priority Group 3:    Youth Jobs
The objective of the jobs group is to increase jobs for high-risk youth, by highlighting best practices for employers and providers. Initially, the Jobs group expects to offer some training to increase the awareness of best practices for employers and best practices for youth job training programs. Employers and programs will then be able increasingly to demonstrate best practices, which we hope will help stimulate increased funding and in-kind support for the youth job network. In the long-term we hope to improve youth job placement and job retention.