Section Pages

• Jun 15, 2012 Reflecting this Father’s Day on America’s Black Men
• Jun 12, 2009 Profiling Risk and Effective Practice in Communities with High Youth Distress
• Sep 04, 2009 RESOURCES - Making the Connection: Opportunities in ARRA to Serve Older Youth
• Sep 04, 2009 RESOURCES - Identifying Opportunities in ARRA to Improve Outcomes for Black Men and Boys
• Jun 27, 2011 RAISE UP Act: Preparing Disadvantaged Youth for a Competitive Future The RAISE UP Act supports locally developed systems that will identify youth who have dropped out of high school and assist them to secure a secondary credential, a post secondary credential, and a family sustaining career and provide them the supports needed to succeed. It will do so through a comprehensive approach that provides young people with opportunities in the areas of education, workforce preparation, and wraparound support services. By bringing together local stakeholders, coordinating resources, and filling the disparate gaps in services, the RAISE UP Act offers a systemic approach to one of the nation's most troubling problems.
• Jun 29, 2011 RAISE UP Act a Smart Investment in Youth
• Feb 05, 2010 The Federal Government Should Invest in Disconnected Youth
• Mar 19, 2010 RESOURCES - Recommitting to Our Nation's Youth: Building on the Legacy of Youth Opportunity Youth Advocates Point to Successful Approaches, Urge Greater Federal Investment in Youth Services to reengage and keep youth connected.
• Mar 22, 2010 RECAP - CCRY Hill Briefing, "Recommitting to Our Nation’s Youth: Building on the Legacy of Youth Opportunity"
• Mar 23, 2010 please dont delete me
• Mar 23, 2010 CCRY Briefing
• Apr 01, 2010 ESEA Reauthorization Presents Opportunity to Address Dropout Crisis Policymakers should use ESEA reauthorization as an opportunity to retool the law and to put measures in place to ensure that more of our nation's young people earn a high school diploma.
• Jun 23, 2010 Effective Youth Employment Service Delivery
• Jun 23, 2010 Convening Entity
• Jun 23, 2010 Cross-system Partnerships
• Jun 23, 2010 Employer Partnerships Provide Links for pipeline and PDF examples. Could not yet link cause they would become published documents!
• Jun 23, 2010 Understanding Youth Distress - "Keeping Youth Connected" Series To promote greater understanding of the scope of youth distress in high poverty, urban areas, we analyze data on indicators related to education, crime and victimization, employment, and family stability. This ongoing project will highlight the data in communities where some of the nation's largest school districts are located, and which have high rates of child poverty and/or large minority populations. These data profiles seek to document the major school, community, family and peer factors that impede a young person on the path to completing high school. Communities and advocates can use this data to galvanize support for needed interventions, and to benchmark and track progress on achieving positive outcomes as a result of preventive services and interventions.
• Jun 23, 2010 Community-Level Impact Assessment
• Jun 24, 2010 Key Youth Legislation
• Jun 25, 2010 Partnering with Education
• Jun 28, 2010 Case Management
• Jun 28, 2010 Administrative Agent
• Jun 30, 2010 Elementary and Secondary Education Act
• Jun 30, 2010 Workforce Investment Act
• Jul 08, 2010 Addressing Childhood Poverty Would Greatly Improve Adult Outcomes for Black Children It is widely understood that adult outcomes are tied to childhood life experiences and family economic circumstances. In order to improve adult outcomes and ensure more adults can lead productive lives, it requires that the issue of childhood poverty be addressed, particularly among black children who are more likely than their counterparts to grow up poor. Yet this country, among the world’s richest, has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the world. For black children, the rate is exponentially worse. As a result, black children and youth are less likely to graduate high school, finish college, land good jobs or raise children who aren’t poor. Sound public policies can, and should, address this.
• Jul 12, 2010 "Putting Youth to Work" Community Series
• Jul 12, 2010 CCRY Logo for registration form online
• Jul 13, 2010 Brockton image for registration-online
• Aug 05, 2010 Senate Approps Bill Signals Commitment to Youth Education But Shows Little Promise for Dropout Recovery A Senate subcommittee recently released an appropriations bill that makes important investments in programs to develop career and education opportunities for disadvantaged youth. Unfortunately, the bill doesn’t go far enough in investing in programs to re-engage youth who have already dropped out of high school.
• Oct 20, 2010 In Their Own Words
• Oct 27, 2010 'If You Think You Know Who We Are, Take a Closer Look'
• Nov 17, 2010 The 2025 Vision for Black Men and Boys The 2025 vision for Black men and boys
• Nov 30, 2010 Building Pathways to Postsecondary Success for Low-Income Young Men of Color Linda Harris, director of youth policy, and Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield, senior policy analyst, co-authored a chapter in the recently published book Changing Places: How Communities Will Improve the Health of Boys of Color. The book “draws attention to the urgent need—both economic and moral—to better understand the policy and community-based factors that serve as opportunities or barriers for young men and boys of color as they make critical life decisions.” Ms. Harris and Ms. Duke-Benfield’s chapter examines why it is essential to invest in access to postsecondary education opportunities for young men of color and to ensure their success. Following is an excerpt from the chapter introduction.
• Dec 02, 2010 Disconnected No More: A Three-Part Series Launched in October 2010, this CLASP series brings together advocates and leaders from local youth development systems in six communities to discuss how advocates, administrators, youth practitioners, and others community leaders can partner to create pathways to economic success for young men of color.
• Jan 06, 2011 In Their Own Words Video and Download
• Apr 14, 2011 A Crisis Ignored Economic recovery is not occurring for everyone, and those who struggled most to find employment before the economic downturn collectively are worse off today than they were before the recession began. This is most true for the black community.
• Apr 25, 2011 Comprehensive Youth Employment Strategy Economists project that job growth will lag behind the economic recovery and it will take time for the economy to create jobs in sufficient numbers to significantly reduce the unemployment rate. There will be fierce competition for those jobs and low income, unskilled youth and young adults will not fare well in that competition. Minority youth and young adults are often the first and last to feel the impacts of a recession. Youth must be a focus of job creation and retraining strategies being considered by the Administration and Congress.
• Apr 26, 2011 Just Where's the Cure for the Summer Time Blues? For the last four summers, America’s teens have been employed in record low numbers, and this summer is gearing up to be no different. The number of teens working has declined precipitously over the last decade, falling from 45 percent in 2000 to 26 percent in 2010, a major employment crisis for youth. This summer, the Center for Labor Market Studies anticipates that only one in four teens between 16 and 19 will have employment. This means about 12 million of the nation’s young people will be idle. Without work, many of these teens will waste three months being non-productive or, worse, involved in dangerous or criminal activities. Low-income youth and minority youth of all income levels are far less likely to obtain employment than whites. In June 2010, black teens of all socioeconomic levels had an employment rate of only 15.2 percent, making them 53 percent less likely to work than white teens. Low income black teens fared far worse, with only 9 percent of them employed. Although Hispanic youth were the most likely minority group to work, they still lagged behind whites. Black male teenagers living in urban communities are the least likely to obtain summer employment. They are also the ones most at risk for engaging in perilous activities due to lack of connection to positive summer opportunities. The teens who need employment and stand to gain the most from the experience are the least likely to get it. Teens who cannot obtain employment are at a disadvantage. Summer employment is known to reap several benefits for youth, particularly low-income youth, including academic gains in mathematics and reading, greater attachment to the labor market, higher earnings in early adulthood, and decreased involvement in violent or criminal activities. Many low-income youth also use the earnings from summer jobs to supplement family income, to purchase necessary clothing and school supplies for the upcoming school year, and to support their recreational activities that parents could not otherwise afford.
• May 23, 2011 Youth Rally in DC and Around the Country – They Want Jobs! Several hundred young people from across the country came to Washington last Thursday as part of a youth -led effort to draw national attention to the lack of jobs and lack of opportunity for low-income and minority youth. Organized by the Leaders Investing for Equality Campaign, the rally started in front of the U.S. Department of Education, and the youth marched to the U.S. Department of Labor, adorned in red shirts that read "no schools + no jobs = death".
• Jul 05, 2011 Keeping Youth Connected: Community Data to Create Change
• Aug 01, 2011 Effective Practice
• Aug 18, 2011 Could Riots Akin to those in Britain Happen Here? That statement alone is a revealing commentary on the frustration that young, low-income people in England feel. By now, it's well known that England earlier this month turned into a maelstrom due to social unrest, creating a political hotbed over the root causes of the turbulence. British authorities pegged the initial impetus behind the rioting as police shooting of a 26-year-old man who resided in a low-income neighborhood in London. But as the riots persisted, many politicians and citizens alike pointed to issues that go much deeper.
• Dec 01, 2011 Select Youth Policy Team Presentations The following are past youth policy team presentations.
• Dec 02, 2011 Keeping Youth Connected: Community Data Template
• Dec 21, 2011 State and Local Advocacy Resources
• Jan 06, 2012 Survey on Boys and Young Men of Color CLASP is engaged in a project with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as a part of their new initiative - Forward Promise: Promoting Opportunities for the Health and Success of Young Men of Color. This is an effort to identify and expand education, employment and health policies and programs serving middle and high school aged boys of color. For this project, CLASP has designed four surveys to gather data about policies affecting boys and young men of color at the state and community level. Results from the survey will be used to inform the future direction of the initiative. Our target audience includes anyone involved with providing services, programming, research, or policy on education, employment, and health for males of color.
• Jan 11, 2012 Resources for Improving Outcomes for Youth
• Mar 08, 2012 Addressing the Dropout Crisis with a Change in Policy and Thinking
• May 23, 2012 Webinar Resource Page
• Jun 06, 2012 Let's Seize this Opportunity and Keep the Focus on Disconnected Youth
• Jun 13, 2012 Workforce Reauthorization: Amendments and Impacts for Youth On June 7, the House Education and Workforce Committee held a mark-up for the Workforce Investment Improvement Act of 2012 (H.R. 4297), which would reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. This was the most significant movement around WIA reauthorization in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2003. Last month, the Campaign for Youth, a national coalition co-chaired by CLASP and the National Youth Employment Coalition, issued a sign-on letter with nearly 300 organizations nationwide in opposition to H.R. 4297, citing its detrimental effects to youth education and training programs if enacted.
• Aug 03, 2012 Raising the Visibility: Advancing Strategies to Improve Outcomes for Disconnected Youth In American communities – large, small, urban, rural, and suburban -- millions of young people are isolated from opportunities to realize their potential and participate fully in our society. An astounding 6.7 million youth ages 16 to 24 are disconnected from education, the labor market, and opportunity. America’s youth are experiencing depression-era levels of unemployment, and we are losing significant ground with segments of our minority youth population. In particular, low-income young men of color are disproportionately affected by the current labor market, with fewer than one in five African-American and Latino young men having a job last month. The Obama Administration has shown considerable leadership in this arena through the White House Council for Community Solutions and the Interagency Work Group on Disconnected Youth. The Department of Education’s recent Request for Information on Strategies for Improving Outcomes for Disconnected Youth is also timely and necessary.
• Aug 03, 2012 The White House Champions Education Excellence for African Americans Last week, the President issued an Executive Order to establish the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, consisting of a Presidential Advisory Commission and Federal Interagency Working Group to Enhance Educational Outcomes for African American Students. Housed within the U.S. Department of Education, the Initiative is charged with working across federal agencies to identify best practices that will improve educational outcomes for African Americans at all age levels, from early care and education to the successful completion of post-secondary credentials. To support this effort, the Department of Education will develop a national network of partners -- business and philanthropic leaders, practitioners and educators, and non-profits -- to share and implement best practices as well as to support the overall objective outlined in the order. This objective is to ensure African American students “receive an education that fully prepares them for high school graduation, college completion, and productive careers.”
• Aug 29, 2012 Policies and Practices to Improve Outcomes for Males of Color In the last several years, there has been a greater focus on understanding the issues facing males of color and identifying potential solutions. There are policies and practices that currently impede the ability of males of color to succeed, and obstacles that thwart their opportunities. There are also many individuals, organizations, and systems leaders already engaged in work to create a more promising future for males of color. It is essential to understand both the barriers and opportunities in this work to make an informed decision about where to place resources to impact outcomes for boys and young men of color. We worked for several months with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on the development of their Forward Promise Initiative to identify opportunities to use their resources to impact the field of boys and young men of color in ways that complement existing efforts. We engaged in roundtable discussions with national experts, online surveying of the field, and telephone interviews. As a result, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has released a Call for Proposals to fund relevant projects to impact boys and young men of color.
• Oct 01, 2012 Transportation Policy: An Opportunity to Put More Black Men into Good Jobs
• Oct 01, 2012 Reclaiming Our Nation's Disconnected Youth
• Sep 25, 2012 Changing the Trajectory of Impoverished Youth: Plugging Disconnected Youth Back into the Labor Market These are brutal times for youth in the labor market with employment rates at the lowest level in more than 60 years. For youth from high-poverty households in low-income communities these times may unfortunately set the trajectory for a future of struggle and economic peril.
• Oct 10, 2012 Keeping Connected Newsletter: Happenings to Watch
• Dec 20, 2012 Campaign for Youth Urges Policymakers to Connect Youth To Training and Jobs in Sandy Relief Package The Campaign for Youth expresses support for the White House’s request for $60.4 billion in Federal resources toward the response, recovery, and mitigation in communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy. The White House proposal rightfully prioritizes “helping those in greatest need.” To this end, we urge policymakers to craft a robust disaster aid package that targets resources for job training and employment to low-income and minority youth and young adults in the areas affected by Hurricane Sandy.
• Apr 03, 2013 Taking Aim at Gun Violence: Rebuilding Community Education and Employment Pathways The issue of gun violence in America has taken center stage due to several tragedies taking lives – often the lives of youth – far too soon. Beyond these isolated and tragic incidents, however, is the persistent issue of homicide in black America. Gun violence most keenly affects black males in America, particularly those who live in high-poverty communities. Between 2000 and 2010, on average, 4,900 black males died each year from gun violence. During the same time period, 48 percent of the nation’s homicide victims were black males, and most of them were youth and young adults. This issue of gun violence and its solutions must be informed by the experiences of black men and boys. In January 2013, President Obama released a plan for protecting children and communities by reducing gun violence . This plan has generated serious debate from both sides of the issue. The ensuing conversations about how to solve the issue of gun violence have been volatile. The President’s plan includes reforms to close loopholes on background checks; banning military style assault weapons; increasing the ability of law enforcement to prevent and prosecute gun crime; ending the freeze on gun violence research; preserving rights of health care providers to talk with patients about gun violence; making schools safer by increasing the use of school resource officers and other measures; and improving mental health services. Missing, however, from the President’s plan is a solution to address what is surely the root cause of gun violence in most black communities – poverty. Gun violence in black communities is far bigger than the issue of gun reform and whether tougher gun control laws will reduce access to guns. Gun violence for young black males predominates in communities where residents live in concentrated disadvantage with high rates of unemployment, school dropout, and poverty. The absence of opportunities in these communities gives rise to criminal activity and the loss of too many young lives. Solving the crisis of gun violence in communities requires that America address the issue of concentrated poverty and geography. The rebuilding and strengthening of these communities through creating infrastructure to provide improved education and employment opportunities for black youth will significantly reduce issues of gun violence.
• Apr 03, 2013 Taking Aim at Gun Violence: 2013-2025 Projections
• Apr 12, 2013 Budget Proposal Makes Key Investments, But Still Falls Short On Wednesday, President Obama released his long-awaited budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2014. Typically, the President’s budget is released in February. This year, it was pushed back as he and Congress addressed the recent budget sequestration—arbitrary and indiscriminate cuts enacted through the Budget Control Act and the ongoing tug of war to fund the federal government.
• Apr 12, 2013 Supporting Black Male Achievement in Education and Employment: The President’s 2014 Budget This week, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2014 Budget. This proposal reflects the Administration’s priorities to ensure a world-class education for all students, provide opportunities for employment, and build strong communities. The budget includes several areas of investment that could provide education and employment opportunities for black boys and young men along the age continuum from cradle to career. It also expands supports to low-income communities for revitalization, poverty reduction, increased jobs, and decreased violence.