Toward Interagency Collaboration: The Role of Children’s Cabinets

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
8:30 AM – 10:30 AM

Suffolk Law School
Sargent Hall at 120 Tremont Street, Boston

Presented by the:  

Full-service Schools Roundtable
Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy

Join us for the release of a policy brief and a discussion other states' efforts to increase collaboration between agencies to improve services for children through the creation of children's cabinets.

Session Overview

The Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy and the Full-service Schools Roundtable are pleased to partner to host a public event on June 10th to accompany the release of a policy brief titled Toward Interagency Collaboration: The Role of Children’s Cabinets. In October 2008, Governor Patrick signed an executive order establishing the Child and Youth Readiness Cabinet – a state leadership team focused on streamlining state efforts to improve services for children, youth and families. The Readiness Cabinet is jointly chaired by Paul Reville, Secretary of Education, and Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and includes the state secretaries of Administration and Finance, Housing and Economic Development, Labor and Workforce Development, Public Safety and the Child Advocate.

In order to inform the work of the Readiness Cabinet, the Rennie Center has produced a policy brief that examines established children’s cabinets in other states. The policy brief has two principle purposes. First, it is designed to inform the general public about the purpose of children’s cabinets and to highlight the potential role that non-government stakeholders (such as parents, youth leaders, advocacy groups, and service providers) might play as the Governor’s Child and Youth Readiness Cabinet begins their work in Massachusetts. Second, it is written to contribute to the policy dialogue about how to increase the level of collaboration among state departments and agencies that serve Massachusetts children, youth and families by putting forth examples of structures and strategies being used by other states’ children’s cabinets to carry out their work.

The event will begin with a presentation of the policy brief, followed by a moderated panel discussion. The event will conclude with an opportunity for audience members to ask questions of the panelists.

Research Presentation
Lisa Famularo, Ph.D., Research Director, Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy 

Moderated Panel Discussion

• Jarrett Barrios, President, Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation
• Kathleen Betts, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Children, Youth and Families, Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS)
• Michele Brooks, Boston Public Schools, Office of Family Engagement
• Natasha Gonzalez, Member, Governor's Youth Council; Student, Hampshire College
• Patrick Johnson, Member, Governor's Youth Council; Student, Suffolk University
• Tom Weber, Deputy Chief of Staff, Executive Office of Education
  

Moderator
Richard Weissbourd, Child and Family Psychologist; Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Graduate School of Education

About the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy

The Rennie Center's mission is to develop a public agenda that informs and promotes significant improvement of public education in Massachusetts. Our work is motivated by a vision of an education system that creates the opportunity to educate every child to be successful in life, citizenship, employment and life-long learning. Applying nonpartisan, independent research, and civic engagement, the Center is creating a civil space to foster thoughtful public discourse to inform and shape effective policy.

About Full-service Schools Roundtable

Established in 2000, the Full-service Schools Roundtable (the Roundtable) is a city-wide coalition working to advance the healthy development and academic success of Boston students through integrated school-community partnerships.  Building on the work of several successful initiatives in Boston, the Roundtable has worked to bring the full-service school model to scale in Boston - and Massachusetts - through convenings, training and technical assistance, commissioning studies and sharing resources.