Testimony: Office on Youth Outcomes and Grants Establishment Act of 2016
Senior Policy Attorney Damon King testified before the DC Council’s Committee on Education regarding the proposed “Office on Youth Outcomes and Grants Establishment Act of 2016.” The legislation would create two entities, an Office on Youth Outcomes and Grants under the Mayor and a Commission on Youth Outcomes and Grants made up of relevant government officials and outside stakeholders, to share several policy making and strategic planning duties regarding out-of-school time (OST) programming.
In his testimony, Damon expresses broad support of the legislation, which contains elements believed to be important in creating an externally accountable and adaptable system. Additionally, Damon stated:
In light of the many positive elements of the bill, I would encourage the Committee to use the time we have today, as well as the period leading up to a potential mark-up of this bill, to fine-tune elements regarding both the internal structure of the Commission and the respective roles and expectations of the Office and the Commission. Although we believe that creating two entities that can check and balance each other is fundamentally the right approach, one of the risks involved in such a structure is that if roles and interactions, both within each body and between them, are not clearly defined, the policymaking and strategic planning process can break down or move too slowly to be meaningful.
Click below to read his full testimony.