Addressing the Crisis of Disconnected Youth: Key Takeaways from the National League of Cities Initiative

In the face of the nation's worst postwar recession, disadvantaged older youth have suffered disproportionately, with the unemployment rate among youth ages 16-24 reaching 19.1 percent in 2009, its highest level since 1948. Within this age group, black youth faced an unemployment rate of 33.4 percent, and Latino youth faced 22.1 percent. The crisis has lifelong effects, including depressed earnings and reduced employment levels. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided a unique opportunity to expand employment opportunities for disconnected youth, with a $1.2 billion boost for summer and year-round youth employment services under the Workforce Investment Act. Thirty percent of the funds were earmarked for services to out-of-school youth up to age 24.

Key Takeaways:

• Greater investment in data sharing and integration is needed to build local capacity for successful long-term interventions on behalf of disconnected youth. Estimates suggested that the number of disconnected youth in participating cities ranged from 900 to 10,000. A practical tool for compiling data from multiple systems that serve disconnected youth, including schools, law enforcement, child welfare, and juvenile justice, helped cities understand their target population and engage systems in collaborative efforts.
• Community outreach efforts and targeting provisions within local grant competitions can help cities identify and expand employment and training opportunities for disconnected youth. Cities engaged employers, service providers, and young people in identifying job readiness, vocational training, and job and internship placement opportunities. Rochester explored the development of "one-stop" youth employment services, while Tucson refined the city's process for awarding competitive grants to local agencies to place greater emphasis on job training programs and apprenticeships.
• Developing a functional cross-system leadership group is a key step in promoting effective collaboration on behalf of disconnected youth. Cities established local structures to sustain cross-system collaboration, often involving the mayor, city manager, and mid-level staff. NLC found that key leadership was most engaged when disconnected youth initiatives were intentionally aligned with cities' broader economic recovery strategies.

Statistics:

• The unemployment rate for youth ages 16-24 reached 19.1 percent in 2009, its highest level since 1948.
• The unemployment rate for black youth was 33.4 percent, and for Latino youth was 22.1 percent in 2009.
• Estimates suggested that the number of disconnected youth in participating cities ranged from 900 to 10,000.
• Thirty percent of the $1.2 billion boost in ARRA funds were earmarked for services to out-of-school youth up to age 24.
• By the end of 2009, cities had used all of their ARRA youth employment funding.

Sources:

• "Addressing the Crisis of Disconnected Youth" (National League of Cities, 2009)
• American Community Survey (2005-07)
• Bureau of Labor Statistics (1948-present)
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009)
• Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies
• The Town of Manchester
• Dubuque leaders
• Tucson City Councilwoman Regina Romero
• Rochester team