The National Youth Employment Coalition, with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, has released Job Training for Youth with Justice Involvement: A Toolkit. The toolkit will help leaders and practitioners in both the juvenile justice system and workforce development system collaborate to effectively serve youth with justice involvement. This toolkit, directed at practitioners and leaders in the juvenile-justice system and others with limited familiarity with the workforce development system:

• Outlines evidence-based practices in youth workforce development,
• Provides an overview of the workforce system funded under the federal Workforce
  Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA),
• Makes recommendations for how to make WIOA-funded services work better for
  youth with justice involvement at the local level, and
• Lays out some key steps to forming effective interagency partnerships. 

Now more than ever our communities, workforce systems, and youth need bold solutions in the face of an unprecedented downturn caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. NYEC along with several national organizations that advocate on behalf of and with Opportunity Youth have come together to craft shared recommendations for the next phase of federal action to respond to COVID-19.

NYEC is launching an ambitious Youth Leadership Initiative to involve young adults in all aspects of the organization’s decision-making. Young adults, current and former participants in NYEC member programs, will change how NYEC makes decisions, complement the organization’s advocacy and field-building efforts, and influence how NYEC member organizations engage young adults in decision-making roles.

1. Join the WIOA working group by contacting Thomas Showalter at Thomas.showalter@nyec.org
2. Fill out this Google Form to submit a policy recommendation for WIOA reauthorization and/or describe something innovative you are doing related to WIOA

NYEC is convening several national partners to craft a set of principles and model policies for how to engage opportunity youth in the growing green economy. We are working to launch a coalition throughout the country that will build on existing dialogues around green jobs, environmental awareness, and workforce development. Visit our website here.

NYEC commemorated 40 years of work and progress by publishing  We Know What Needs to Be Done. The publication reflects on 40 years of learning and developments and sets a bold vision built upon principles and strategies needed to advance the lives of opportunity youth.  

NYEC is a partner in the Youth Technical Assistance Center (Y-TAC), which is run by the Institute of Educational Leadership through a grant from the Rehabilitation Service Administration. Throughout 2019, NYEC is updating the YSP/KSA training modules, which are being delivered in states around the country.