Employment and Training Occasional Paper 2008-12: Evaluation of Youth Opportunity Grant Initiative by Russell H. Jackson, Jamie Diamondopoulos, Carol Pistorino, Paul Zador, John Lopdell, Juanita Lucas-McLean, Andy Sum, Ron D'Amico, Lee Bruno, Decision Informatin Resources, Inc.

In 2000, the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration awarded grants to 36 communities to provide services including education, employment, support, and leadership development to youth ages 14 to 21 in high poverty areas.  The grants ranged from $3 million to $44 million over five years (2000 to 2005).  The objective of the Youth Opportunity Grants Initiative (YO) was to concentrate a sufficient level of funds in high poverty areas to improve the long-term educational and employment outcomes of youth living in these areas and to serve a high enough proportion of those youth to positively affect peer pressure.  The study concluded that YO succeeded in concentrating large amounts of resources in high poverty areas and reaching a large proportion of the youth in those areas.  The study also concluded that positive community-level impacts are achievable for communities such as those served by YO, especially with regard to educational outcomes. 2008

"Finding Resources to Support Mentoring Programs and Services for Youth" by Brittany Anuszkiewicz, Nina Salomon, William Schmid, and Roxana Torrico, The Finance Project

This brief highlights three strategies that leaders and stakeholders can use to finance and sustain mentoring programs and services for youth. These strategies include building partnerships with businesses and foundations, conducting community fundraising to generate revenue and maximizing public revenue.  In addition, it provides information on 25 federal funding sources that can be used to finance and sustain these programs. November 2008

The purpose of this report is to outline the key findings and policy recommendations that VOYCE student leaders believe have the potential to impact the dropout rate. VOYCE's key findings from the research process include:

• Students in Chicago Public Schools have internalized the problem of the dropout rate and believe that they are the ones to blame for the failures of the school system. There is a difference between perception and reality when it comes to the reasons for the dropout rate, and it is only through a deeper critical analysis that students come to realize the systemic problems impacting public education.
• Additionally, youth researchers found that dropping out is not something that students plan or anticipate. It is something that happens slowly over time.
• VOYCE found that while teachers, parents, and students agree that relevance in curriculum is critical to students' engagement in school, students feel that relevance is largely missing in their schools. This lack of relevance leaves students without a clear sense of purpose when it comes to their education.

These policy recommendations for the 111th Congress and the incoming President will begin to help lift children out of poverty and poor health, keep them safe, elevate our educational system to equip children for the 21st century, and engage youth in the nation's communities. Making the changes proposed in this document can save money, improve health, strengthen families, produce a more educated workforce for coming decades, and lay a base for an America that will thrive into the next century. - September 11, 2008

"Highlights of the 2006 National Youth Gang Survey " by Arlen Egley, Jr. and Christina E. O'Donnell, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Gang Prevention
This fact sheet summarizes findings from the National Youth Gang Survey for 2006 and reports data on the number of gangs, gang members, and gang-related crime. Based on survey results, it is estimated that approximately 26,500 gangs and 785,000 gang members were active in the United States in 2006. August 2008

Going to Work with a Criminal Record: Lessons from the Fathers at Work Initiative by Dee Wallace and Laura Wyckoff, Public/Private Ventures.  This report It is based on lessons from the Fathers at Work initiative, a three-year, six-site demonstration funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to help young, noncustodial fathers achieve increased employment and earnings, involvement in their children's lives, and more consistent financial support of their children. The report describes seven fundamental lessons workforce organizations should consider as they help formerly incarcerated people move toward stable employment, along with a more detailed discussion of how program staff can put these lessons into practice. It outlines how to avoid mistakes and how to develop important relationships, including with employers, parole officers and the local child support enforcement agency.  May 2008