| Reconnecting Our Youth |
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| Why We Need to Act | |||
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* More than 5.4 million youth (ages 16 – 24) are not in school and do not have a job |
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* 32% of American students never graduate from high school |
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* Only half of all students of color graduate high school |
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* The death rate for persons with less than 12 years of education is 2.5 times higher than for those with 13 years of education or more |
Youth Dialogue with the Co-chairs of Presidential Campaigns
In September 2004, CFY sponsored the only event in which senior Republican and Democratic campaign officials interacted with disconnected youth in a live and totally unscripted way. We engaged Bush campaign co-chair, Governor Marc Racicot, and Kerry campaign co-chair, Governor Jeanne Shaheen, in a dialogue with youth about issues of critical importance to young people to get the candidate’s perspective on those issues. Moderated by Robert Siegel of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, this panel discussion was attended by over 200 youth and 150 advocates and policy makers. Young people addressed the campaign representatives directly with questions that got at the dimensions and complexity of their issues. It was a tremendous learning opportunity for the youth and provided an opening for CFY to follow up with the administration with specific recommendations. For more detail click here.
Memo to the White House from a Coalition of Voices from the Field
The CFY-sponsored Memo to the White House on Reconnecting Our Youth was sent to the President, the Office of the First Lady, and all governors in January 2005. The Memo asked the President to use his bully pulpit to elevate the issue of disconnected youth and outlined some immediate steps that could be undertaken in the Congressional reauthorization process and administratively, within the administration to accomplish this. In fact, the President’s State of the Union Address in February cited the need to provide options to young people, in particular young men, to combat apathy, gangs, and violence. The President announced that the First Lady would be focusing national attention on this issue. The Memo had the endorsement of over 250 organizations from across the country. The Memo with recommendations and links to background papers is available here.
Meetings, Roundtables and Forums
In an effort to keep the issue of disconnected youth resonating, the Campaign for Youth, both collectively and as individual organizations, has sponsored several meetings, roundtables and taken advantage of other forums to disseminate a consistent message to policymakers in, and out, of government. To view some of the activities, click here.
Congressional Staff Presentations and Activities
click here.
CFY Recommendations on Katrina
The Hurricane Katrina tragedy raised the concerns of the entire Steering Committee about the fate of youth who were quite vulnerable before the hurricane hit and were in even greater danger of being ignored after the disaster, as they are dispersed to other communities. The Campaign for Youth issued a series of recommendations and members of the steering committee have been quite active in engaging youth in the rebuilding process. To read recommendations click here.
CFY Press Release on Graduation Rate Debate
In April 2006, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) issued a research report to “dispel” the High School Graduation “myth.” In effect, the report challenged the methodologies used in other well-known reports that arrived at the conclusion that high schools across the country were failing to graduate large numbers of students. This fueled a debate among the researchers. The Campaign for Youth weighed in on the debate to emphasize that regardless of methodology the drop out rates for poor and minority youth are far beyond the realm of acceptability. Press release can be viewed here.
AYPF Dropout Recovery Discussion Group
Campaign for Youth members participated in a series of forums hosted by member organization, the American Youth Policy Forum, focused on dropout recovery, innovations in policy and practice. Practitioners, policy makers, researchers, and educators from across the country joined in these sessions and a report capturing the findings and recommendations is forthcoming.
