City’s Office of Community Care and Empowerment outlines youth strategic plan after 4,300-survey response effort

The City of Dallas Office of Community Care and Empowerment (OCCE) briefed the Workforce Education and Equity Committee on May 12 on a draft youth strategic plan that the office said draws on more than 4,300 youth survey responses, a November convening of community organizations and a recent youth summit.

Jessica Galishaw, director of OCCE, told the committee the city is defining “youth” broadly for this plan as ages 14 to 24 and that the draft plan is organized around three priorities: (1) youth safety and resilience, (2) youth opportunity and economic mobility and (3) youth civic infrastructure and engagement. Galishaw said the city intends to act as an anchor convener — not the primary direct service provider — coordinating “anchor institutions” such as schools, nonprofits and transit agencies.

Why it matters: OCCE officials said the draft plan seeks to align city programs and partner resources with youth priorities identified in the survey and through community engagement. The office emphasized a data-driven approach that will prioritize programs where the city’s convening role adds value.

Survey findings and program data: Galishaw presented several headline findings she said emerged from the youth survey and recent outreach. Among them: more than half of respondents reported they have been directly or indirectly impacted by poverty (55 percent); 57 percent said accessible public transportation is important; and most respondents hear about civic and political issues via social media, though a large portion also said they learn from school. The presentation also noted that the majority of surveyed youth live in households with income under $50,000.

Planned next steps and timeline: OCCE said it has compiled a draft strategic plan with departmental and community partner inputs and will seek further feedback from the Workforce Education and Equity Committee, the Youth Commission and the College Advisory Commission before moving toward a final approval this summer. The office also said it will reconvene the Dallas Youth Collaborative to translate priorities into operational goals and metrics.

Council feedback: Committee members asked about the survey’s representativeness and geographic spread. Galishaw said the survey was not a statistically validated random sample but that the outreach team intentionally collected responses across Dallas through in-person engagement (for example, at high school events) and community partners. She said some geographic identifiers were incomplete in the dataset but that the city can follow up with additional mapping by school to identify over- and under-represented populations. Council members also encouraged OCCE to share the data with anchor partners and to follow up on how partners will use the findings.

Ending: Galishaw said the city will incorporate committee feedback and the results of the youth summit into the draft plan and return with a more detailed plan and metrics for council consideration in the summer.