President Obama's Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 budget, released on March 4, reflects the Administration's commitment to helping low-income individuals and vulnerable families access pathways to economic mobility, healthy development, and high quality of life. The budget proposal adheres to spending levels established in the Bipartisan Budget…

Youth of color are full of promise; they are courageous, intelligent, creative, curious, bold, and resilient. An investment strategy placing them at the center and addressing the structural barriers that keep them locked out of social, emotional, and economic prosperity because of their race/ethnicity, gender, and/or zip code is both fiscally…

Today, young black men in many low income communities are finding themselves virtually locked out of employment opportunity. The confluence of poor schooling, low education attainment, lack of early work experience or career exposure, over-zealous arrests and incarceration, and employer reluctance to hire have rendered a substantial segment of…

This paper presents a picture of risk and challenge for youth in distressed communities and outlines how these communities can band together to create a continuum of supportive activities to bolster youth's success in school and life. As youth grow and develop, individualized support and exposure to new experiences has a significant impact on…

This guidebook is designed to provide advice from the field to communities interested in pursuing more formal connections--or strengthening existing connections--between the workforce and justice systems. It focuses on specific challenges and how selected communities addressed them. The information was gathered via two surveys and site visits. The…

In May 2000, the United States Department of Labor awarded sizable Youth Opportunity (YO) Grants to 36 high-poverty urban, rural, and Native American communities. These communities were among the most economically distressed communities in the nation, all characterized by high drop out rates, high youth unemployment rates, greater incidence of…