A few years ago I attended a Forum for Youth Investment luncheon with policy analysts and funders -- all agreed the U.S. was behind the times because we lack any kind of national, coordinated youth policy. In March 2005 Connect for Kids and the Forum fielded a poll that asked if coordinating services for young people made sense--of course the answer was a resounding "yes."

A 2003 White House Task Force report found that programs working to meet the needs of young people are spread across 12 federal departments and agencies with little communication or coordination among them. Currently, there are federal funding streams designed to meet varying needs of youth – afterschool programs, job training, mental health, etc. – but they are administered in silos, independent of one another.

The Federal Youth Coordination Act (H.R. 856/S. 409) could change all that. FYCA would establish a very high-level national Federal Youth Development Council to enable the federal government to coordinate the existing resources of different federal agencies. FYCA has good support from Republicans and Democrats, but time is running out in this Congressional session.

The National Collaboration for Youth is collecting organization sign-ons to encourage the Senate to make the time to pass this legislation designed to improve our nation's response to the needs of older youth.