Nov 16, 2015

Heartland Alliance National Initiatives on Poverty & Economic Opportunity;

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) changes the ways in which states and communities provide employment services to youth through the public workforce system. These older and out-of-school youth will likely face additional barriers to employment and have different service needs when compared with younger and in school youth. To effectively meet the employment needs of out-of-school youth, states and communities will need to change the type, intensity, and scope of the employment services they offer under WIOA. There are lessons that workforce boards and their partners can learn from prior efforts to enhance and expand youth summer jobs programming to better serve at-risk, older, and out-of-school youth as well as community-based programs targeting youth who face serious and significant barriers to employment. This brief draws on some of those lessons to offer practical program design recommendations for enhancing WIOA youth services to better accommodate older and out-of-school youth.

Nov 01, 2015

Washington State Department of Social & Health Services;

Young People Disengaged from School and Work in South King County. This report examines the characteristics and experiences of "Opportunity Youth," defined as young people ages 16-24 who are not engaged in work or school. We summarize the experiences of Opportunity Youth with DSHS service histories who attended school in the Road Map region of south King County. We find that many face immediate barriers that may prevent them from engaging in work or school, including parenting responsibilities, incarceration, disabilities, and homelessness. Opportunity Youth have interacted with multiple systems, including criminal justice, behavioral health, child welfare, and public assistance. There are opportunities to better connect these systems to education and the workforce so that at-risk students are supported and those who do become Opportunity Youth are provided pathways to reengagement.

Oct 20, 2015

Heartland Alliance National Initiatives on Poverty & Economic Opportunity;

The passage and implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) has the potential to catalyze efforts in local communities and states to address the employment needs and interests of a greater share of adults and youth facing barriers to employment and to develop a more comprehensive and aligned public workforce system to meet these jobseekers' needs. Realizing these goals, however, will require concerted and deliberate efforts by local communities and states acting in partnership with a number of stakeholders and public systems. Leveraging the local and state planning processes and other opportunities embedded in WIOA, this brief aims to provide stakeholders with ideas and actionable recommendations for helping to ensure that the public workforce system under WIOA increases employment and economic opportunity for jobseekers facing barriers to employment.

Aug 01, 2015

Jobs for the Future;

More than 6 million young people in the United States are out of school, out of work, and, often it seems, out of luck. That's 17 percent of Americans between the ages of 16 and 24. This population includes dropouts and high school graduates, former foster children and juveniles in court custody; youth caring for siblings and teens cycling in and out of low-wage jobs. Once known as "disconnected," they are increasingly called "opportunity youth." Despite growing up in difficult circumstances--they represent a large opportunity for investing in our nations workforce and our future. This brief focuses on strategies for strengthening education and employment pathways that prepare opportunity youth for jobs that can lead to productive careers. It is part of a series from JFF's conference Bridging the Gap: Postsecondary Pathways for Underprepared Learners

Apr 01, 2015

W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research;

An estimated 6.7 million individuals in the United States are between the ages of 16 and 24 and are not employed, not in school, and have not earned a postsecondary credential. An acronym that is applied to these individuals is NEET (not employed or in education and training). A more hopeful appellation is opportunity youth (OY). This article is based on a recent policy paper that reviews policies targeted at OY and examines the extent to which sectoral initiatives, which operate on the demand side of the labor market, can help to facilitate pathways into productive careers.

Dec 01, 2014

American Youth Policy Forum;

What happens to youth in foster care when they turn 18? Many face unprecedented challenges like homelessness, lack of financial resources, difficulty accessing educational opportunities, and unemployment. In this issue brief, The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) document these challenges and opportunities in three distinct yet overlapping areas of need: (1) Sustainable Social Capital; (2) Permanency Supports; and (3) Postsecondary Opportunities. For each area of need, the authors define the challenges youth face and identify promising programs and policies that are in place to help them transition from foster care to a healthy, successful adult life.

Dec 01, 2014

IZA World of Labor;

Reducing youth unemployment and generating more and better youth employment opportunities are key policy challenges worldwide. Active labor market programs for disadvantaged youth may be an effective tool in such cases, but the results have often been disappointing in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The key to a successful youth intervention program is comprehensiveness, comprising multiple targeted components, including job-search assistance, counseling, training, and placement services. Such programs can be expensive, however, which underscores the need to focus on education policy and earlier interventions in the education system.

Jul 01, 2014

National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD);

We present highlights from state NYTD reports submitted in FFY 2013, including information on independent living services provided to youth and the outcomes of 19- year-olds in NYTD Cohort 1.

Jun 10, 2014

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP);

This brief focuses on education of boys and young men of color and was prepared for the, "Investing in Boys and Young Men of Color: The Promise and Opportunity," briefing held on June 11, 2014 in Washington, DC. The brief includes data providing the national context, promising program models, and strategies for moving forward.

May 22, 2014

Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP);

In 2011 the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, commenced an effort to draw attention to the urgent and unmet needs of one of the more vulnerable populations in our society: youth in foster care who are expectant or parenting their children. These young families face significant challenges to becoming healthy, stable and successful for both parents and their children. They also present policymakers and child welfare administrators with an opportunity to design a comprehensive set of policies and programs to reduce the poor and costly outcomes that these families too often experience and to instead positively support these two generations to thrive. As more states extend foster care beyond age 18, child welfare agencies will face an increase in the number of expectant and parenting youth in their system. This guide presents elements of a policy agenda for addressing the health, safety, permanency, educational, housing and financial needs of both the expectant and parenting youth and their children. It is based on CSSP's experience working for the past two years with four jurisdictions (New York City, Washington DC, Knox County, Tennessee and the State of Washington) to support their efforts to improve outcomes for these young families. The policy recommendations in this guide build on the on-the ground experiences of the four sites and are also informed by the advice CSSP received from a group of national experts on expectant and parenting youth in foster care. This publication is an update of a set of draft recommendations that CSSP published in 2011.

Mar 01, 2014

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP);

For far too long, the academic achievement levels of African American students have been lower than average, despite an abundance of research on the topic and examples of best practices in communities across the nation. This memorandum was developed to advance the critical mission of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.

Jan 01, 2014

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP);

Issue brief on disconnected youth.

Dec 11, 2013

National League of Cities;

Research shows that many out-of-school youth want to return to school, but are uncertain how to do so and are fearful they will not succeed once they get there. Helping these young people find alternative pathways to graduation – and productive and promising futures – is a critical challenge facing municipal leaders today. Fortunately, a growing number of cities are leading the way with innovative strategies that provide multiple routes to graduation for all students. These efforts include the establishment of one-stop "reengagement centers" for high school dropouts. The centers offer a range of services such as individual academic assessments, opportunities to explore different education options and referrals to appropriate schools or other credential programs.

Jul 01, 2013

Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University;

The summer job market for teens in both Massachusetts and the U.S. over the past five years has been quite depressed, with record low summer employment rates for the nation's teens being set in the past three years (2010-2012).1 The teen summer employment rate in Massachusetts fell from 67% in 1999 to only 36% in 2012, a decline of 31 percentage points (Chart 1). Black and Hispanic teens, especially those residing in low income families and from high poverty neighborhoods, have experienced the greatest difficulties in finding employment in the summer. Lack of job opportunities reduces teens' exposure to the world of work and their ability to acquire both basic employability skills (attendance, team work, communicating with other workers and customers) and occupational skills. Being jobless all summer also increases their risk of social isolation (staying at home), hanging out on the street, and exposure to or participation in urban violence and delinquent behavior.

Feb 01, 2013

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP);

This issue brief presents findings from a scan of issues facing boys and men of color in education, health, and pathways to employment. Drawing on discussions, surveys, and interviews with experts and practitioners, the paper identifies 8 pressing concerns and gives accompanying recommendations. Areas that emerge as having great potential for impact are: reforming harsh school discipline, early interventions for dropout prevention, trauma-based mental health interventions, and career training programs.

Mar 31, 2012

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP);

In March 2012, Grad Nation campaign released its report on the progress of the nation's public schools in improving graduation rates and movement toward achieving the goal of a 4-year cohort graduation rate of 90 percent by 2020. It revealed that from 2001 to 2009, the graduation rate increased from 72 percent to 75 percent, an average of less than .5 percentage points a year. During that same period of time, nearly a half million young people dropped out of school annually. High school reform and graduation accountability efforts are critical to stemming the disconnection of youth from our public education system. However, until these innovations and reforms are imbedded at scale in our districts, we must pay commensurate attention to the needs of the millions of youth who are dropping out and falling outside of the education and labor market mainstreams.

Jan 01, 2012

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP);

Out-of-school, or disconnected, youth are generally defined as young people between the ages of 16 – 24 that lack a high school diploma and are not enrolled in school and are detached from work. There are 6.7 million young people in this age cohort that are out of school and out of work. Of that number, 3.4 million are chronic, defined as never in school or work after 16 years of age and 3.3 million are under-attached, defined as a lack of progression through college or into a job. 1 Out-of-school males of color are more likely to be unemployed and live in poverty than their white counterparts. In addition, this population faces a likelihood of increased interactions with the juvenile and criminal justice systems.It is against this backdrop that this roundtable discussion was convened. We assembled local and national policy leaders, practitioners, advocates, and researchers around the education and employment of out-of-school males of color. Throughout the day, roundtable participants offered thought-provoking comments and responses to the questions that were posed around barriers, solutions, and creating public will to address the challenges faced by this population. However, in some cases the participants offered more obvious statements about the needs and challenges of out-of-school males of color– which will require bold and immediate solutions at the federal, state, and local levels. This paper is a summary of the notes and key themes that emerged during the roundtable discussion. The roundtable participants and the notes provide additional content knowledge in framing the education and employment policies and practices for out-of-school males of color.

Jul 01, 2011

American Youth Policy Forum;

This paper provides a description of the youth population that is disconnected from education and the workforce and describes a set of key considerations for improving outcomes for this population. Programmatic examples that demonstrate how effective supports for youth look in practice are discussed. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for serving youth at the federal, state and local levels

Jan 06, 2010

Youth Transition Funders Group (YTFG);

This guide is designed to help foundations identify investment opportunities that will have the greatest value in advancing efforts to increase graduation rates. There are many different approaches to increase the graduation rate, ranging from early learning opportunities to youth employment programs. Although members of YTFG make investments all along this continuum, our collaborative work has been to stem the tide of young people flowing out of our high schools without a diploma. The recommendations in this guide are based on our collective experiences as we work to increase the graduation rates of struggling students and those who fall off track to graduation.

Jan 01, 2009

National Youth Employment Coalition;

In 2008, the National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) convened teams of local and state leaders representing 13 communities in 10 states for cross-site meetings focused on developing expertise and building capacity to re-engage youth who are struggling in or have dropped out of high school and to connect them to education and career opportunities. This document provides a distillation of the major themes discussed in the NYEC Learning Exchanges.