Promoting Policies for Disconnected Youth

About this grant

According to a recent study, between 25 and 30 percent of U.S. teenagers fail to graduate from high school. In addition, many youth remain in school but are not prepared for college or the workforce, and will have difficulty going on to post-secondary education or employment with career advancement opportunities. There is a need to align programs and policies to address the unmet needs of this group.Multiyear funding will enable the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) to develop the capacity to promote federal and state policies that will, over time, significantly increase the proportion of young people who at the age of 25 have a high school diploma and a post-secondary degree, are employed in jobs with career advancement opportunities, are involved in stable family relationships and are not engaged in adverse risk-taking behaviors. CLASP will employ a senior policy analyst to research disconnected youth, ages 16 to 24, that are neither in school nor employed in the mainstream economy. The analyst will work with other organizations to promote policies addressing youth that meet this criteria.CLASP is a national public policy organization that has worked on welfare reform, childcare, child support enforcement and workforce development at both the state and federal levels since 1982.