RAND Community Conference on Early Childhood and Youth

For the past decade, RAND has hosted an annual community conference on early childhood and youth as part of the November 2000 Development Agreement with the City of Santa Monica that enabled the construction of RAND's headquarters campus. Past conference topics have addressed bullying and peer victimization among children, intervention programs for children exposed to violence, how parenting behavior and preschool programs affect school readiness, early learning standards through play, results from early childhood intervention programs, possible effects of California's budget crisis on early childhood investments, transforming early childhood community systems, and effects of toxic stress on early learning and social-emotional development.

This year's annual conference focused on the results of recent data collection and analysis about early childhood and after-school programs in Santa Monica and youth wellbeing and their implications for public policy and program changes. It featured a briefing by RAND researchers Lynn Karoly, Ph.D., Ashley Pierson, and Gail Zellman, Ph.D. on their study of early childhood and after-school programs in Santa Monica, a demonstration by City of Santa Monica staff Natasha Guest Kingscote and Behrang Abadi of the interactive website for the 2014 Santa Monica Youth Wellbeing Report Card, and a panel moderated by VaLecia Adams Kellum, Ph.D., Executive Director, St. Joseph Center, comprised of the leaders of the three major public institutions, Rod Gould, City Manager of Santa Monica, Sandy Lyon, Superintendent, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, and Chui L. Tsang, Ph.D., President/Superintendent, Santa Monica College, about how these studies and data can help inform future public policy changes. Closing remarks were provided by the Honorable Richard Bloom, California State Assembly, 50th District.

The audio record of the conference provides a complete audio archive of the conference as well as selected photographs. The research report referenced in Chapter 2 can be accessed and downloaded (at no charge) from the RAND website. An interactive version of the City of Santa Monica's 2014 Youth Wellbeing Report Card, referenced in Chapter 3, is available at the www.santamonicayouth.net.