Although about 20 percent of all youth will become at risk of disconnection at some time before reaching the age of 25, only 5 to 7 percent will reach age 25 without connecting in a meaningful way to employment and social support systems. This slide deck is a field scan of what selected school districts, foundations, and nonprofit organizations are doing to reconnect these young people to school and other social networks so that they are prepared for careers and further education. Individual slides can be taken from this deck and used in presentations.
New York City faces a civic crisis of “disconnected” youth and young adults. There are over 163,000 young people ages 16 to 24 who are neither in school nor in the labor force. When we add the number of “unemployed” young adults, who are actively seeking work but unable to find it, we have more than 220,000 young people who are not in school nor working—nearly one in five of the total age group. These young people—largely youth of color from poor communities—are at high risk of becoming permanently disengaged from the labor market, threatening their ability to break out of the cycle of poverty and contribute to our economy and community. Their idleness represents a great waste of resources and human potential. The Community Service Society of New York looks offers recommendations.
If you work with teens with disabilities, you’ll want to know about the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work (TTW) program. Its Youth Transition portion offers funds for organizations that help students receiving Social Security disability benefits find employment. Is it right for you? Melody Goodspeed, Youth Transition Specialist for TTW answers some common questions about the funding.
October 2007—Our partner Child Advocacy 360 brings you "Readers' Choice Stories," in which readers vote with their eyes, clicks and emails on the best of Who's Doing What That Works.
The National Resource Center for Youth Services hosts this nationally recognized conference for social service professionals and youth involved in Independent Living and Transitional Living programs. Pathways to Adulthood 2006 will be held in Portland, Oregon.
Former foster children are twice as likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as Iraq war veterans, according to the 2005 Northwest Foster Care Alumni study. More than 20 percent of adults formerly in foster care are doing well—but most, however, face major challenges in the areas of mental health, education, and employment. One-third are living at or below the poverty level, and nearly a quarter experienced homelessness some time after leaving foster care. Changes in foster care services can help.
As a coalition of national partners, we believe that supporting the positive development of children, youth, and families is the collective responsibility of the community. National Foster Care Coalition partners are committed to helping build communities where:
Concept 1 Academies provides independent living skills, workforce development skills training and computer/academic skills training in a residential setting to prepare older foster care teens for successful transition into independence. Preparing tomorrow's leaders, today!
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