Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Roundtable: Connecting Opportunity Youth to Education and Employment

(Family and Child Policy)

Approximately 6.7 million American young people ages 16 to 24 are disconnected from school or work. These youth represent an under-tapped resource in our labor market. Historically, many researchers, government and advocacy organizations have referred to these young people as “disconnected;” however, in more recent years many have begun to call them “opportunity” youth. The term opportunity youth refers to the promise and resiliency all young people show as they enter adulthood. The opportunity to overcome barriers, to learn new skills, and become successful members of society remains high through adolescence and early adulthood. The fiscal and social costs of youth disconnection are high. Economists estimate that each disconnected youth costs taxpayers approximately $13,900 per year (Belfield et al., 2012). Many of these youth experienced violence, abuse, or toxic stress during childhood, which can affect brain development and executive function skills without adequate support from a trusted adult. However, youth have the ability to overcome these adverse childhood experiences through trauma-informed care, cognitive behavior therapy, supportive relationships with peers and adults, and services that are coordinated across agencies and tailored to each youth’s individual needs. Through this moderated roundtable, presenters will provide insight into the ways in which youth become disconnected using a trauma-informed care lens that considers the detrimental impacts of toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences. Using findings from recent studies, such as MDRC’s February 2016 scan, What Works for Disconnected Young People, presenters will also provide the latest research on how to assist opportunity youth in obtaining the education, services, and work experience they need to become self-sufficient as they transition to adulthood. Roundtable presenters will discuss ways to provide education, training, and support services to encourage self-sufficiency among youth, and examples from practitioners in the field who have successfully reconnected youth to finish high school diplomas, pursue postsecondary education, and obtain high wage employment. Presenters will discuss specific research-based strategies for serving opportunity youth, such as using assessments to provide services tailored to individual needs, encouraging postsecondary education that leads to industry-recognized credentials, and using labor market information to drive job training efforts. Since the roundtable will include both researchers and practitioners, it will provide a mix of research-based expertise on youth and labor market attachment, combined with insight from practitioners that includes strategies for creating new pathways for youth for credential attainment. Presenters will also share recommendations for ways in which federal programs can address issues for opportunity youth in a holistic manner that includes the use of trauma-informed principles, attendance to key relationships that impact behavioral change, the importance of longitudinal assessments and service differentiation, and better aligning systems and services. Participants will have the opportunity throughout the roundtable to ask presenters questions and raise issues that may be relevant to the conversation on opportunity youth.