Nebraska and New Mexico Embark on 100-Day Challenges for Young People

Sites in Nebras­ka and New Mex­i­co that par­tic­i­pate in the Casey Foun­da­tion’s Jim Casey Youth Oppor­tu­ni­ties Ini­tia­tive recent­ly embarked on a com­mu­ni­ty-dri­ven, 100-day sprint to devel­op solu­tions aimed ensur­ing edu­ca­tion­al suc­cess and eco­nom­ic secu­ri­ty for young peo­ple in or who have expe­ri­enced fos­ter care.

Called the 100-Day Chal­lenge, the project is designed to stim­u­late intense col­lab­o­ra­tion, inno­va­tion and action across com­mu­ni­ties to achieve an ambi­tious goal in 100 days. The chal­lenge is a cre­ative approach, pio­neered by the Rapid Results Insti­tute (RRI), that engages com­mu­ni­ties and deci­sion-mak­ers to moti­vate invest­ment in bold ideas and cre­ative ways to trans­form think­ing and sys­tems for the bet­ter. RRI has sup­port­ed orga­ni­za­tions and com­mu­ni­ties around the world in plan­ning and exe­cut­ing these challenges.

“We’ve seen the impact of 100-Day Chal­lenges around the coun­try and we’re excit­ed to offer this oppor­tu­ni­ty for those who have iden­ti­fied real needs that must to be addressed,” said San­dra Gas­ca-Gon­za­lez, direc­tor of the Jim Casey Ini­tia­tive. ​“We are thrilled that two Jim Casey sites are launch­ing 100-Day Chal­lenges to meet the needs of youth in their state.”

A Place 4 Me, the Jim Casey Ini­tia­tive site in Ohio, was the first site to test dri­ve the mod­el, as part of a U.S. Depart­ment of Hous­ing and Urban Devel­op­ment ini­tia­tive. A Place 4 Me exceed­ed its goal of find­ing hous­ing for 100 home­less youths in 100 days, prov­ing that this short-term inten­sive approach can cre­ate long-term benefits.

Dur­ing their 100-day jour­ney, New Mex­i­co Child Advo­ca­cy Net­works (NMCAN) and Nebras­ka Chil­dren and Fam­i­lies Foun­da­tion (Nebras­ka Chil­dren) will dri­ve toward these goals:

• NMCAN will focus on elim­i­nat­ing edu­ca­tion­al achieve­ment gaps among young peo­ple who have expe­ri­enced fos­ter care and the juve­nile jus­tice system.
• Nebras­ka Chil­dren will bring a new focus to Sarpy Coun­ty by deep­en­ing the rela­tion­ship between state and fed­er­al eco­nom­ic assis­tance, youth/​family providers and finan­cial insti­tu­tions to cre­ate and strength­en effec­tive strate­gies to alle­vi­ate poverty.

The 100-Day Chal­lenge fol­lows the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion’s focus on results. By sup­port­ing these Jim Casey Ini­tia­tive sites in launch­ing their com­mu­ni­ty-based 100-Day Chal­lenges, the Casey Foun­da­tion aims to inspire col­lab­o­ra­tion among pub­lic and pri­vate sec­tors and new strategies.