Where are the gaps and overlaps in youth services in Austin?

The Youth Services Mapping (YSM) System will serve the community as a planning resource for aligning and improving services for children and youth.

When the Ready by 21 Coalition in Austin was first formed, members said that our community needed a web-based tool to identify and address gaps and overlaps in services and support for youth.

The Coalition’s YSM team worked with a local software developer, who built a system prototype which was piloted in 2007.  The YSM prototype and pilot concentrated on services available to high school stage youth.

In 2007, the Austin Independent School District was awarded a four-year grant to prevent violence and substance abuse among students, funded through the federal Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative.  Through AISD grant project, called “Austin Community Collaborative Ensuring Student Success” or ACCESS, the YSM prototype will be rebuilt to improve its interface and functionality, and to expand the system beyond high school to show services to children and youth, by school and by zip code, from elementary school age through high school and young adulthood.

Ready by 21 Austin and the YSM system developers will be creating the new system in 2008.  They will need input from youth service providers and educators to make the system as useful as possible.

If your organization provides youth services in Travis County, you may volunteer to provide feedback and input for the new system.  Start by taking this survey  and be sure to provide your contact information.