Legislative & Policy Solutions
CFY actively submits comments, recommendations, and testimony to the Administration and Congress to advance a set of recommendations on policies and investments that would dramatically improve the education, economic, and life outcomes for vulnerable and disconnected youth.
FEATURED HIGHLIGHTS
The reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) can provide an opportunity to address educational programming at the secondary school level and hold our public education system accountable for the educational outcomes for all youth in the graduation cohort. Given the graduation crisis in so many of our poor communities and districts, it is essential that the nation's public education system play a key role in the recovery of young people that have dropped out of high school and supporting those that are at imminent risk of dropping out, including over-age and under-credited students.
March 31, 2010: Letter to House and Senate Budget Committee Members on the FY 2011 Budget
We have an opportunity deficit in our nation. An estimated 5.2 million youth ages 16-24 are out of school and out of work. Without purposeful efforts to connect unemployed youth to jobs, paid work experience, education, and training to prepare them for openings in the new economy, those youth will most likely spend the better part of a decade with few opportunities to work, gain skills, or earn family sustaining wages. The Campaign for Youth urges Congress to increase opportunities for low-income and disconnected youth and young adults with limited labor market to access training, education supports, and good jobs that will help spur economic development in local communities across the nation.
December 18, 2009: Letter to House Education and Labor Committee Leadership on Jobs Bill
The Campaign for Youth is quite concerned about the level of funding dedicated to disconnected youth and young adults in the in the "Jobs for Main Street" legislation and the exclusion of out-of-school youth and year-round employment and training activities. While the inclusion youth service corps strategies to spur job development and the $500 million for youth summer employment and training is encouraging, these investments are not nearly enough to address the dismal employment situation of youth and young adults.
The Investing in Innovation (I3) Fund offers local education agencies (LEAs) and nonprofit organizations an opportunity to rethink how they educate children and youth and to use school reform efforts as a foundational vehicle to work across sectors and explore new and innovative ways to support student learning from birth through postsecondary education. Our comments and recommendations relate specifically to ensuring the needs of struggling students and disconnected youth are adequately addressed.
Congress will soon reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act. This is an opportunity to focus on needs of youth who are undereducated and unskilled in a labor market that requires increased education, credentials and skills to access good jobs with decent wages. WIA reauthorization can set a vision for how the nation intends to respond to the challenges and define the role that WIA can play in tandem with other federal funding streams - such as ESEA, Perkins, IDEA, national service - that can help prepare youth to compete in today's economy.
The Serve America Act also offers new and innovative ways to consider the idea of Service as a platform for making public and private investments in education, workforce, training and community development. From the vigorous expansion of service opportunities to the clear commitment and focus on youth, especially those in disadvantaged situations, Serve America can support redefining the use of service in establishing career pathways, promoting training and skills development, and spurring innovation in education.
