Opportunity Youth: Disenfranchised Young People

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Disconnected Youth: A Look at 16 to 24 Year Olds Who Are Not Working or In School James Heckman and others assert that investments in early childhood can, in part, serve as a protective factor against poor outcomes, especially when coupled with investments during the elementary school years. 57 Other research has focused on the benefits of intervening at an older age when young people are at risk of or are already experiencing negative outcomes. 58 And still other research has begun to examine the effects of a system of interventions that targets youth throughout their early life, from the infant years to young adulthood. 59 Youth might benefit from interventions during all stages of their early life, particularly if they begin to exhibit markers of risk such as low school performance. Interventions can also focus on particular institutions or systems, such as the family, community, schools, and job training programs. These interventions may help to address some of the reasons why youth are not working or in school. First, interventions in the family at all stages could benefit disconnected youth. 60 Many of the disconnected youth in the analysis are parenting. Adequate child care may be one way in which to assist these youth in becoming connected to school or work and remain connected. Further, given the possibility that disconnection is intergenerational, early parenting classes or home-based interventions could provide a buffer for the children of disconnected youth from experiencing negative outcomes later in their lives. In the community, interventions could focus on assisting youth with disabilities since they make up a large share of the disconnected youth population. Such supportive services might include mental health care. Young disconnected single mothers could benefit from the involvement of their children’s fathers. Responsible fatherhood programs seek to engage fathers in assisting with childrearing and child support, which may in turn enable mothers to secure child care and other assistance so they can work or attend school. Other community interventions could involve programs that encourage young women to delay childbearing, as parenting appears to be strongly associated with disconnection among females. Finally, school and job training programs that provide wraparound services—counseling, child care, transportation, assistance with attaining a high school diploma, and preparation for the workforce—may help to reengage youth. A number of interventions have been designed in recent years that seek to address multiple aspects of a youth’s circumstances. 61 In addition, sexual education in schools may help to encourage sexual avoidance and teen pregnancy. 62 However, as shown in this report, disconnected youth make up a diverse group and no one intervention is likely to be a panacea. 57 James J. Heckman and Dimitriy V. Masterov, The Productivity of Investing in Young Children, 2007. 58 See, Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt, A Collective Responsibility, A Collective Work: Supporting the Path to Positive Life Outcomes for Youth in Economically Distressed Communities, Center for Law and Social Policy, May 2008; and Heather Koball et al., Synthesis of Research and Resources to Support at-Risk Youth. 59 The Harlem Children’s Zone in New York is one such model that provides wrap-around services for children of all ages. Services include parenting courses, community services, educational programs at HCZ charters schools, and foster care prevention services, among other services. 60 For an overview of federal programs and policies to assist vulnerable youth across several domains, including workforce development, education, juvenile justice and delinquency prevention, social services, public health, and national and community service, see CRS Report RL33975, Vulnerable Youth: Background and Policies. 61 See for example, John Bridgeland and Tess Mason-Elder, National Roadmap for Opportunity Youth, Civic Enterprises, September 2012; Nancy Martin and Samuel Halperin, “Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth,” American Youth Policy Forum, 2006; National League of Cities, “Beyond City Limits: Cross-System Collaboration to Reengage Disconnected Youth,” 2007; and U.S. Government Accountability Office, Disconnected Youth: Federal Action Could Address Some of the Challenges Faced by Local Programs That Reconnect Youth Education and Employment, GAO-08-313, February 2008. 62 For further discussion, see CRS Report RL34756, Nonmarital Childbearing: Trends, Reasons, and Public Policy Interventions, by Carmen Solomon-Fears. Congressional Research Service 36
Disconnected Youth: A Look at 16 to 24 Year Olds Who Are Not Working or In School Author Contact Information Adrienne L. Fernandes-Alcantara Specialist in Social Policy afernandes@crs.loc.gov, 7-9005 Acknowledgments Thomas Gabe, former CRS Specialist in Social Policy, was the original co-author of this report. Gene Falk, Carmen Solomon-Fears, Melinda Gish, Karen Spar, Jeffrey J. Kuenzi, and Rebecca R. Skinner provided helpful comments and insights. Congressional Research Service 37
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success stories all around the coun
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meaningful, and community-enhancing
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they will be on the way to a hopefu
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In 2006 the Commonwealth Youth Prog
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Participation," this spectrum ident
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who exhibit other problem behaviors
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Notes _____________________________
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MDRC Working Paper What Works for D
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Overview This paper was commissione
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Acknowledgments We are grateful to
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• Programs share some common impl
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Public Schools The public school sy
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In 2014, the company offering the G
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their education and move up the car
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terest in city-level Reengagement C
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social development, mental health,
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tials. 36 These numbers indicate th
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focus on recruiting young people wh
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they were considering pursuing. 49
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evaluation of CEPS also found that
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Behavioral Interventions Many menta
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• Strong links among education, t
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participation, and many communities
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y the end of the reporting period.
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these disincentives, however, a num
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programs specifically target the mo
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Appendix Selected Evaluations of Pr
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Findings expected in 2016 Findings
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Page 104 and 105: About MDRC MDRC is a nonprofit, non
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