Setting the Foundation for the Next 10 Years: ACS Completes the Little Rock Master Plan for Children, Youth, and Families

On June 7th, Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC, (ACS) successfully presented Little Rock’s Master Plan for Children, Youth, and Families to the city’s Board of Directors. For the past 18 months, ACS has helped the city of Little Rock, Ark., develop a Master Plan for Children, Youth, and Families that will guide City departments and its community partners to provide programs for at-risk youth. — That work was highlighted in a recent article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

“It’s important work,” City Manager Bruce Moore was quoted as saying. “I think it’s going to have a significant, positive impact on our city as we go forward.”

To create the new Master Plan for Children, Youth, and Families, the city of Little Rock turned to Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC (ACS). ACS joined with local partners, Philander Smith College’s Social Justice Institute and the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, as part of a consultant team to lead national best practice research, facilitation of local stakeholders, robust community outreach, and development of the Master Plan.

The three-year Master Plan for Children, Youth, and Families builds off an investment in positive youth development in the early 1990s by city leaders, called Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment, or “PIT”, funding.

The Master Plan provides the foundation for the next 10 years of programming for children and youth. When implemented, the Master Plan will create services that are more data-driven – paying attention to numbers and program success rates, for example – in meeting the needs of youths, increase the quality of programs, enhance communication about programs and services, focus on the future workforce and skills needed, and prioritize children and youths by giving them a more intentional voice in the programs and city leadership.

As a result of the Master Plan, Little Rock fully expects to create safer and healthier communities for families, and increase educational, employment and wellness opportunities for children and youth. ACS was honored to be part of the Master Plan process for the past 16 months, convening and working with local stakeholders in the city of Little Rock. You can view the Master Plan here.

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