Strengthening Youth Policy in the States
The Forum for Youth Investment (the Forum) and the National Conference
of State Legislatures (NCSL) have launched a two-year partnership to
provide state legislators and other policy makers the tools and supports
necessary to strengthen their youth policies and programs.
This joint initiative will help policy makers address such questions as:
• How can state efforts be better aligned, more effective and more efficient?
• How can states effectively involve young people in decision making?
• How can states balance concerns about youth problems (gang violence,
teen pregnancy, drug abuse, etc.) with a focus on youth’s positive potential
(volunteering, succeeding in school, preparing for employment, etc.)?
What Activities Will this Initiative Undertake?
• Policy maker institutes
• Publications and audio-conferences
• Technical assistance
Moving Youth Policy Forward: Lessons Learned
Web-Assisted Audio-Conference April 10, 2006
Policy makers across the country have stepped up their efforts to address key
challenges facing our young people. Looking for a better way of coordinating and
aligning the range of policies and programs that exist to support young people, these
policy makers have offered up policy prescriptions with an aim to getting youth Ready
by 21: Ready for College, Work, and Life in the states of Kentucky and
Connecticut. Learn how these policy makers are advancing legislation to bring
together the key players across departments and agencies to better align efforts for
children and youth.
Speakers:
• Representative Ken Green (D), Connecticut
• Liz Brown, Legislative Director, Connecticut Commission on Children
• Senator Katie Kratz Stine (R), Kentucky
• TJ Delahanty, Director, Kentucky Youth Development Partnership
• Erin Duncan, Legislative Director, Office of Congressman Tom Osborne, Nebraska
Moderated by:
Karen Pittman, Executive Director, Forum for Youth Investment
This audio-conference series is co-hosted by:
National Conference of State Legislatures and the Forum for Youth Investment
Representative Kenneth P. Green (D)
Connecticut
State Representative Kenneth P. Green (D-Hartford) was elected to represent the First
General Assembly District in the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1994. He serves on
three Legislative committees: Housing (as Chair), Human Services, and Judiciary. Rep.
Green is a past Chairman of Connecticut's Legislative Black and Puerto Rican Caucus. Rep.
Green is a social worker at the Polaris School of the Capitol Region Education Council, and
showed his special concern for the youth of his community by his past involvement with the
"Always on Saturday" program. This program of the Hartford Action Plan on Infant Health is
designed to expose young males to information on sexuality, bolster their self-esteem, and
help them gain positive decision-making skills.
Rep. Green created and for many years sponsored the "Youth Prevention Summit," a biannual event bringing young people together to discuss current issues affecting their lives.
Prior to beginning his current job in 1982, Rep. Green held positions with the Department of
Children and Families in Hartford, the Private Industry Council, Connecticut Halfway House,
Inc. and the Department of Corrections. Rep. Green is a graduate of Hartford Public High
School and received a B.A. from the School of Social Sciences at Hampshire College in 1975. He earned a Master of
Social Work degree from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in 1979. Rep. Green is a lifelong Hartford
resident with strong ties to the community. He is married, the father of three children and has three grandchildren. He is a
member of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, a member of the Blue Hills Civic Association, a member of the Greater Hartford
Alliance of Black Social Workers, and belongs to the NAACP. Rep. Green is a former organizer for ONE/CHANE. He was
a coordinator for the Jesse Jackson Campaign to Rebuild America. He is a former member of the Hartford Democratic
Town Committee.
Elizabeth Crichton Brown, Legislative Director
Connecticut Commission on Children
Elizabeth Crichton Brown serves as Director of Government Relations for the Connecticut
Commission on Children. Ms. Brown brings more than 20 years of policy and legislative
experience to her position and is responsible for developing and promoting public policies that
enhance the welfare of families and children. In her capacity, she has played a leadership role in
winning passage of innovative state policies on school readiness, fatherhood, mental health,
welfare to work, child care, lead paint poisoning, anti bullying, after school and civic capacity
building.
Ms. Brown served six years as a State Representative from the 74th District in Waterbury, and
won numerous awards for her leadership on environmental and civil rights issues. As Vice
President of the Connecticut Institute for Municipal Studies for five years, Ms. Brown helped win
passage of the nationally recognized Neighborhood Revitalization Zone Legislation that
empowered low-income communities to become critical stakeholders in their neighborhood’s
future. In addition, she played a leadership role in forming Connecticut’s After School Network and legislation to form
the After School Policy Board in Connecticut to expand after school opportunities for children and youth in
Connecticut.
She serves on the Child Day Care Council, State TANF Council; the Executive Board of the States’ Fatherhood
Council and several other community boards. She is a co-founder of the statewide nonprofit Good Jobs! United
Action, a collaboration of grassroots organizations and churches dedicated to ensuring access to good paying jobs for
urban residents. Also, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Universal Health Care Foundation and Girls’ Inc. of
Waterbury, Connecticut.
Senator Katie Kratz Stine (R)
Kentucky
Senator Katie Kratz Stine (R), Kentucky Legislature
Service: House 1995–98; Senate 1999–Present; President Pro Tem–2005
Attorney/Homemaker. Episcopalian. University of Cincinnati, B.S.; Northern KY University Chase
College of Law, J.D. KY Bar Assoc. Ft Thomas Weekday Religious Education Program Board.
Junior League of Cincinnati. Episcopal Church Women. Ft. Thomas Garden Club. Daughters of the
American Revolution. Homemakers Club. Named Taxpayers Best Friend by Kentucky Taxpayers
United. Named Guardian of Small Business by National Federation of Independent Businesses.
Received Friend of Physical Therapy Award from Kentucky Physical Therapists Association.
Named Friend of the Merit Shop by Association of Builders and Contractors. Named Friend of
Tobacco Farmers by Burley Tobacco Cooperative. Received highest rating in the Senate by
Kentucky Forward, a group representing small businesses in 2000.
TJ Delahanty, Director
Kentucky Youth Development Partnership
TJ Delahanty is an Extension Associate with the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension
Service 4-H Youth Development Program office in Lexington, KY. He lives in Louisville with his wife
Caroline and 17-year-old son Jamal. He works in Frankfort where he is the Director of the Kentucky
Youth Development Partnership, which is a federally funded 4-H project that promotes collaboration
and positive youth development at the state and local levels for the past five years.
Born and raised in Louisville KY, TJ has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of
Louisville and Masters in Public Policy from Rutgers University. TJ has nearly twenty years
experience working in the youth development field internationally, in Washington, D.C. and in
Kentucky. His most recent experience in Kentucky has been with state government and the
cooperative extension service. TJ is a past president of the Kentucky Community Development
Society, a Board member of the Americana Community Center in Louisville, and Chair of the
Membership and recruitment committee of the Kentucky Coalition for School Age Child Care.
Erin Duncan, Legislative Director for
Rep. Thomas Osborne, Nebraska
Erin Duncan serves as the Legislative Director for U.S. Representative Tom Osborne (R, Nebraska, Third
District). In this role, she handles issues ranging from education and labor to transportation. In addition, she staffs
the Congressman on both the Education and the Workforce Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee. A native Nebraskan, Duncan received her bachelor's degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University in
Lincoln, Nebraska, and her master's degree from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Prior to her service with
Representative Osborne, she worked as a Legislative Assistant for former U.S. Representative Bill Barrett (R,
Nebraska, Third District) and as an English instructor at Iowa State.
Moving Youth Policy Forward: Lessons Learned
Web-Assisted Audio-Conference April 10, 2006
Speakers Contact Information:
Senator Katie Kratz Stine (R), Kentucky
21 Fairway Drive
Southgate, KY 41071
Capitol Annex, Room 204
Frankfort, KY 40601
T: 502.564.3120
TJ Delahanty, Extension Associate
4-H Youth Development
1491 Twilight Trail,
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-8497
T: 502.227.7722
F: 502.227.1721
tjdelahanty@kychildnow.org
Rep. Kenneth P. Green (D), Connecticut
Legislative Office Building, Room 4045
Hartford, CT 06106-1591
860.240.8585, 1.800.842.8267,
Kenneth.Green@cga.ct.gov
Elizabeth C. Brown
Legislative Director
Connecticut Commission on Children
18-20 Trinity Street, Hartford, CT 06106
T: 860-240-0042
Elizabeth.Brown@cga.ct.gov
Erin Duncan
Legislative Director
Office of the Honorable Tom Osborne
507 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
T: 202.986.6028
F: 202.225.6435
Erin.Duncan@mail.house.gov
Host Contact Information:
Karen Pittman, Executive Director
The Forum for Youth Investment
7064 Eastern Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20012-2031
T: 202.207.3333
F: 202.207.3329
Karen@forumforyouthinvestment.org
www.forumfyi.org
Elizabeth Gaines, Program Manager
The Forum for Youth Investment
T: 202.207.3333
Elizabeth@forumforyouthinvestment.org
www.forumfyi.org
Stephanie Walton, Senior Policy Analyst
National Conference of State Legislatures
7700 East First Place
Denver, CO 80230
T: 303.364.7700
F: 303.364.7800
stephanie.walton@ncsl.org
www.ncsl.org