SOWA is seeking participants for a focus group that will help with revisions for the Washington State Core Competencies for Child and Youth Development Professionals.
The goal of this project is to update the Washington State Core Competencies for Child and Youth Development Professionals so that they align to current national and state frameworks, best practices, and provider voice and expertise. We will be working with Jen Siaca Curry from Change Impact as our consultant to complete a review of national standards, synthesize input from provider focus groups, and provide summary recommendations to DCYF.
We are looking for a diverse and representative group to support this process. Focus group members would be expected to attend 1 meeting, which are scheduled for the following dates and times:
- 12/14/21 from 11 am – 12 pm
- 12/15/21 from 12 pm – 1 pm
- 12/16/21 from 3 pm – 4 pm
- 12/16/21 from 5 pm – 6 pm
- 12/20/21 from 10 am – 11 am
- 1/5/22 from 10 am – 11 am
Focus group members will each receive a $50 stipend for participation. We would like to have a wide variety of school-age and youth development representation as we move forward with this work, including:
- Licensed and non-licensed providers
- Smaller, single site providers
- POC led/POC serving providers
- Larger, multi-site providers
- Regional representatives from across the state
If you or someone else from your organization is interested and available, please fill out this Microsoft form by 11/29/21. We will review all responses and select up to 80 members based on the above representation criteria. Please expect a confirmation of your participation by 12/3/21 and of course feel free to reach out to Kelly Riffer (kriffer@schoolsoutwashington.org) or Sheely Mauck (smauck@schoolsoutwashington.org) if you have any questions in the meantime.