Research

Listening to the Voices and Aspirations of Disconnected Youth

“Listening to the Voices and Aspirations of Disconnected Youth,” a new report released by The Youth Development and Research Fund (YDRF) takes a candid look at America’s current drop-out situation from the perspective that matters the most—disconnected youth.

The Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University estimates that one out of every four African-American and one out of five Latinos between the ages of 16-25, are not in school, jobless, and on the street.

Focus groups were conducted with disconnected youth in five cities (Madera, CA; Fresno, CA; Dallas, TX; Gaithersburg, MD; and Baltimore MD). In these cities, the youth engaged in open and honest discussion regarding the reasons why such a large number of youth are out-of-school and jobless, and why they have little motivation towards changing this growing epidemic. Their candor provides insight into their lack of faith in the current educational and job training programs, by shedding light on the reasons for their resistance to returning to these programs. Written by Edward DeJesus, this report speaks directly to the parents, programs, and schools who are trying to get youth back on the road to greater success, offering ideas for policy changes that will spark greater interest in disengaged youth. Some of the included recommendations are:

• Strategically demonstrate evidence of engagement, collaborations, and positive outcomes
• Provide monetary incentives
• Secure credible endorsements
• Transform the program
• Provide meaningful transferable work experience
• Provide effective substance abuse and metal health services
• Build motivational triggers
• Alter traditional hours of operation
• Understand youth culture and methods to utilize it to address insidious behaviors and values.

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First Youth Culturally Competent Values Based Job Readiness/Life Skills Curriculum Released – THE MAKiN’ iT Curriculum

Over the past three years, The Youth Development and Research Fund (YDRF) has conducted research on the development of the state of the art values based youth culturally competent Pre-Employment/Life Skills Program curriculum. Just released, this 60-hour Makin’ It Curriculum and Program Manual utilizes youth popular culture, positive peer influence and youth involvement as the foundation of its approach. The first of its kind, the Makin’ It Curriculum is a revolution in reaching youth because it organizes programs to take a look at their most valuable asset – youth. It is an entirely new method for connecting with youth and then using youth to produce positive outcomes for their peers and programs alike. The Makin’ It Curriculum includes:

1. YDRF’s YCC Staff Development Curriculum: 15 hours of staff instruction on incorporating YCC into current program design.
2. YDRF’s YCC Youth Leader Training Curriculum: 30 hours of impactful training for young adults wanting to assume responsibility for promoting: 1) educational and workforce achievement among their peers and 2) the importance of YCC throughout the program.
3. YDRF’s YCC Pre–Employment/Life Skills Development Curriculum: 60 hours of YCC Pre-Employment/Life Skills instruction focusing on the use of peer influence, youth involvement and youth popular culture.
4. YDRF’s YCC Program Improvement Projects: 7 YCC projects to guide organizations in increasing the level of their youth cultural competence. All Program Improvement Projects are led by YCC Project Leadership Teams comprised of youth and adults.
5. YDRF’s YCC Youth Popular Culture Suggestion Outline: Instructs youth programs on how to incorporate youth popular culture into current programming.

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Youth Cultural Competence Report

Based on in-depth research of ten programs that are effectively recruiting, retaining and engaging youth in workforce development, education and arts programming, the Youth Cultural Competence (YCC) Report provides a detailed look at how YCC is being used in programming to enhance program design and outcomes. The YCC Report was developed by YDRF after conducting interviews with program directors and front line staff, site visits and sampling of curricula; all of the information that was obtained was put together in a comprehensive report to provide a base of information on YCC and highlight specific best practices of the programs that were researched. YDRF’s definition of YCC includes: 1) youth involvement –engaging youth in shaping and designing program offerings, 2) Positive Peer Influence –harnessing the influence of youth’s peers through group activities and lessons to encourage youth to take part in program offerings and 3) Youth Popular Culture –utilizing young people’s music, fashion, creativity, language and entrepreneurial spirit to engage them.

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Powerful Pathways

Powerful Pathways takes a hard look at the challenges facing vulnerable young people- youth who are out of school and/or in systems that include workforce development, welfare, juvenile justice, and foster care- and the efforts of the youth development community to meet these youth’s needs. Powerful Pathways highlights effective practices from practitioners, administrators, funders and policy makers that meet vulnerable young people’s needs and discusses how the youth development community can better empower this special group.

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Barriers and Promising Approaches to Workforce and Youth Development for Young Offenders

A new report released by the Annie E Casey Foundation in collaboration with the National Youth Employment Coalition, the Youth Development and Research Fund, and the Justice Policy Institute, profiles break-the-mold juvenile justice initiatives that are reducing crime and making communities safer by facilitating youths’ economic self-sufficiency. Based on these workforce development successes, Barriers and Promising Approaches to Workforce and Youth Development for Young Offenders, concludes that greater victories against adolescent crime are within reach through workforce development programs that help youth prepare for a lifetime of meaningful employment.

This toolkit contains three separate reports: an overview, program profiles, and policy profiles. It was created to address three objectives: identify barriers to success in juvenile justice -- both for the system and for the young people in it; survey innovative state and local policy initiatives; and showcase exemplary employment and development programs for court-involved youth.

Forward Thinking Program Model

Traditional methods and strategies of serving at-risk youth are failing. Programs who focus on these strategies are finding that out more and more when faced with the daunting task of recruiting, retaining, and engaging these youth that they are committed to serve. Without question, there needs to be a fundamental shift in the way that youth workforce and development organizations approach this commitment.

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Pulse of a Nation

Millions of young people drop out of high school each year while research has shown that years of schooling has the most direct correlation to high economic earnings and fewer at-risk behaviors.  However, the issue of school standards for out-of-school youth is a low priority for most youth service providers who deal with this forgotten population.  Yet, if the institution of educational standards serves as a mechanism for ensuring student and teacher accountability and high performance levels, limited support and resources for the educational needs of out-of –school youth will consign these young adults to a life without hope or possibility for a vibrant economic future. 

To address this concern, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has partnered with YDRF to engage in a two-part advocacy campaign directed at improving educational opportunities for out-of-school youth. YDRF will conduct a national poll of adults to discover what is the public’s perception of out-of-school youth. We will also look at whether or not there is support for youth in non-traditional educational settings, how important it is to hold out-of-school youth to the same educational standards as in-school youth, and what degree of resources should be allocated to out-of-school youth programs. The goal of this project is to give youth programs and youth policy advocates the hard public opinion data they need to solicit government and private sector funding and rally support for their activities and policy proposals. If we find public opinion to be negative, we will still focus on developing a strategy for creating public support and awareness.

Answering the Call - Addressing the Drop-out Crisis

The National Education Association's (NEA) 2.7 million members are seriously concerned about the terribly high drop out rate. The dropout trend is a high priority for most educators who find dealing with this population frustrating largely due to insufficient resources, and limited support and training. These hindrances to the implementation of effective initiatives may consign these young adults to a life without hope or possibility for a vibrant economic future.

In the recent report, Answering the Call - Addressing the Drop-out Crisis, YDRF highlights innovative practices  and creative initiatives used to serve students who have already dropped out, or who are at risk of dropping out of school.  These profiles illustrate how specific organizations in several states have successfully implemented programs, mostly in conjunction with school systems, to improve outcomes for this needy, targeted population.

Information for this document was compiled through interviews, literature review, and online and print resources in February - June 2007. 

Millions of young people drop out of high school each year. Research has shown that simply obtaining a GED or a job does little to add to long-term economic achievement. Furthermore, it often does not lead to success in post-secondary educational settings. Attainment of a four year high school diploma translates into higher earnings and fewer at-risk behaviors.