On September 15, this space will feature a comprehensive policy agenda from the National Collaboration for Youth, a 40-year-old coalition of youth-serving nonprofits. The agenda and policy recommendations within are essential to meeting the needs of America’s children and youth in 2009 and beyond.

While most would agree that “children are our greatest asset,” the federal government’s investment in children and youth continues to decline.  According to the First Focus Children’s Budget Book, federal spending on children decreased by 10 percent in the past five years.

The policy agenda contains an overarching set of recommendations for federal policy changes and investments designed to move this nation toward a brighter future and invest in the needs of our children and youth. It incorporates all aspects of child development and focuses on three core elements that form a unifying strategy for how the federal government works on issues facing young people.

These three core elements are:

• A focus on the whole child;

• A fundamental premise that all young people should be treated with dignity and equality; and

• A positive youth development approach that builds not from the deficits in young people’s lives, but from assets.

“Now is the time to give our young people the tools to succeed,” said Irv Katz, President and CEO of the National Human Services Assembly. “We are asking Congress and the Presidential Campaigns to build upon this agenda, so that every child has the opportunity to excel.”

Check back on Monday September 15 for the full policy agenda to improve the odds for all our young people!

Related Links
Take action using the Youth Policy Action Center.