Youth Track

The Latest News in the Field

Article 1: YDRF's YCC Model Produces Radical Results (180 KB PDF)

Connected by 25: Improving the Life Chances of the Country's Most Vulnerable Youth
November 2003

New research identifies four groups of youth who are at the highest risk of long-term unemployment, incarceration, and social disconnection. It discusses a number of policy directions for helping these youth make successful transitions into adulthood. Check it out at:

http://www.hewlett.org/Archives/Publications/connectedBy25.htm

Youth Today Newspaper interviews YDRF Founder about the use of hip-hop culture in youth programs across the U.S.

Check it out at: http://www.youthtoday.org/youthtoday/story6.html

A Great Resource for Youth Workers published by AYPF:
HIGHER LEARNING = HIGHER EARNINGS

This booklet is for students in middle school and high school who need guidance in making decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. The guide is colorful and filled with images that show youth how "More education equals more money." It speaks to those who do not know if they should pursue a 2-year or 4-year degree, or train for a special license outside of college. It is a valuable youth empowerment tool that should be shared with students as they prepare to take control over their future.

To get PDF copy, visit: http://www.aypf.org/publicatons/HigherLearning.pdf

NYEC and AYPF Issue Proceedings of 2001 Policy Forum titled, Education Reform Through Standards: What Does It Mean for Youth in Alternative Education Settings?

A national trend to hold schools accountable has driven the standards-based reform movement, resulting in the development of state standards and the proliferation of high-stakes state high school exit exams. Employer demands for better-prepared workers are linked to standards as well, with some educational standards adapting SCANS 1 skills and including them in their standards of learning. However, many alternative education programs and educational programs operated by community-based organizations have not yet linked their curriculum to the state standards. Many educators have asserted that the skills gap will grow even wider if alternative education systems are not providing access to the standards through curriculum and assessment. While education systems and employers are raising expectations and standards, a parallel system of comprehensive supports, effective teaching practices, higher expectations for literacy skills, professional development and training has yet to be developed for alternative education.

http://www.nyec.org/PolicyForum%202001Proceedings.pdf

The Summer 2002 Employment Situation Among America’s Teens: The Worst Job Market for Teens in 37 Years

Job opportunities for the nation’s teenagers over the past few decades have been
substantially influenced by the overall state of labor market conditions, improving during periods of strong job growth and declining unemployment and deteriorating at above average rates when labor market conditions weaken. Since the end of the national economic boom in the late fall of 2000, the nation’s young adults (16-24) have been most adversely affected by the deterioration in labor market conditions.1 The employment rates of young adults have declined much more steeply than those of their older counterparts (25+). The largest relative declines in employment were experienced by teenagers (16-19) and by young adults without any post-secondary schooling. Young college graduates have experienced few net job losses, but a growing number of them have been bumped out of traditional college labor market jobs in professional, management, and high level sales positions.

http://www.nyec.org/Summer_2002_YouthEmployment.pdf

Violent Victimization as a Risk Factor for Violent Offending Among Juveniles

As a group, juveniles have high rates of violent victimization and violent offending, a pattern suggesting that some juveniles are both victims and perpetrators of violence. To explore that hypothesis, this Bulletin analyzes the relationships between violent victimization and violent offending across a 2-year period, using data for 5,003 juveniles who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The Bulletin looks at victimization and offending experiences in subgroups of juveniles classified by age, gender, race, and level of physical development. It also identifies risk and protective factors for victimization and offending. Key conclusions and policy implications include the following:

Violent victimization is indeed a warning signal for future violent offending among juveniles. Protecting juveniles against violent victimization may, therefore, reduce overall levels of juvenile violence.
Because some groups are at higher risk than others for violent victimization, policies and programs aimed at preventing victimization may be most effective if they are focused on these groups.
Violent victimization and violent offending share many of the same risk factors, and many of these risk factors suggest opportunities for intervention.

The Bulletin includes background information, a brief theoretical discussion, study methods and findings, conclusions, policy implications, and suggestions for future research.

http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/195737.pdf

New Report Targets Small Youth Organizing Organizations
The Future 500 is the first and only comprehensive resource on youth organizing and activism in the US—including all 50 states. Created by dozens of young people from across the country, it features: 25 People Under 25 who have changed their communities in the wake of September 11th. Profiles and contact information on 500 of the most important youth-led (under 30) organizations across the country, as well as 100 other organizations that support youth leadership, more than 100 national youth groups, and 60 foundations that fund youth organizing and activism. Fresh artwork and photographs that will fascinate and inspire. High school and college activism; mobilized low-income communities; the new hip-hop, punk, and techno-based cultural activism, direct action civil disobedience, and internet-based strategies—the new youth organizing and activism movement is made up of many diverse communities and they are vividly portrayed through these images. The first statistically significant report on the state of youth organizing and activism in the US which ahs found that 71% of our most vital youth organizations exist with budgets under $100,000, and of this, 42% are strictly “out-of-pocket”—they receive no grants or monetary assistance for their important work.
http://www.future500.com/

Continuous Improvement for Schools and Programs Serving Vulnerable Youth
The National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) is pleased to announce the availability of a new education resource, the NYEC Education Development Network (EDNet). NYEC EDNet is a tool for continuous improvement for education programs and schools serving vulnerable youth. NYEC EDNet consists of detailed criteria identified as common to effective education programs and schools by a national working group of educators, practitioners, policymakers and researchers. NYEC EDNet also includes a comprehensive self-assessment that can assist education programs and schools improve their services and also inform policymakers, funders and the public about what works for youth. NYEC EDNet was developed with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. This tool is based on the Promising and Effective Practices Network (PEPNet) system of continuous improvement, launched by NYEC in 1995. NYEC EDNet is now available online. To register and download a free copy, go to http://www.nyec.org/EDNet_registration.html.

A New Resource Looks at the Challenges and Some Potential Solutions for Youth Who "Age Out" of Foster Care.
In 2000, more than 19,000 children left foster care for life on their own. Usually, this happened when they turned 18 years old. The nation has experienced rapid growth in the foster care population over the past two decades. Overall, these foster children have emotional, behavioral, developmental, and health problems, often related to abuse or neglect. While many children are either adopted or returned to the care of their families, a substantial number remain in foster care until early adulthood.Information about this population is available in Child Trends' latest research brief, Youth who "Age Out" of Foster Care: Troubled Lives, Troubling Prospects. The brief can be viewed at: http://www.childtrends.org/PDF/FosterCareRB.pdf.

NEW

YDRF Announces The “MAKiN’ iT” Youth Development Workshop Series
Bring this important message to your program or school.
Click here to find out more.