In U.S.: 4 millon 'disconnected' youth

Stat house
June 2004

In U.S.: 4 millon 'disconnected' youth
A new report shows that eight of 10 indicators of child well-being have improved nationally, corresponding to a six-year period of economic growth and significant expansion of public programs. Despite this news, the study cautions that nearly one in six young adults, ages 18 to 24, are not working, have no degree beyond high school, and are not enrolled in school. These "disconnected" youth face a particularly tough transition to successful adulthood.

The 15th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book released June 3 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation reports that national trends in child well-being are moving in a positive direction. Nonetheless, a wide disparity among states still exists in several critical indicators.

Although the child poverty rate is declining in nearly every state, the overall rate in America is among the highest in the developed world. Child poverty rates ranged from below 10 percent in Minnesota and New Hampshire, to more than 25 percent in the District of Columbia and New Mexico.

Looking across all well-being indicators, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Iowa rank highest, and Alabama, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Mississippi rank the lowest. While improvement in most of the indicators of child well-being is welcome, there is a disturbing trend concerning America's youth.

"It is alarming that the number of disconnected youth is roughly 15 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds," declares Douglas W. Nelson, president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore. "Since 2000 alone, the ranks of these young adults grew by 700,000, a 19 percent increase over just three years. Over 3.8 million disconnected youth face a greater likelihood of bad outcomes, now and in the future, which holds severe implications for our society."

William O'Hare, coordinator of the Foundation's KIDS COUNT project, reinforces the Data Book's findings that these disconnected youth are from low-income backgrounds, which brings a significant disadvantage. "Our research over the years has shown that children who grow up in poverty face a big hurdle," says O'Hare.

"Another key finding is that this group is disproportionately from minority backgrounds." The 2004 KIDS COUNT Data Book's essay, "Moving Youth From Risk to Opportunity," presents a stark picture of who are America's disconnected young adults, why it is so critical that effective supports be put in place, and what young adults need to succeed. The essay focuses especially on a sub-group of young people who are the most at-risk kids in the country—kids who have been failed by our public systems. They face even worse odds and are most likely to consistently falter in adulthood.

The experiences that define this sub-group are:

• Teens in foster care;

• Teens involved in the juvenile justice system;

• Teens who have already had children of their own;

• Teens who never finished high school.

The report discusses these four experiences that can occur during adolescence and how each of them can diminish a young person's prospects for moving to a successful adulthood. The report also examines the perils of ignoring this population of over 3.8 million Americans and what will occur if we do not learn to intervene more effectively on their behalf.

"Among the harshest of these lessons is that over the next decade a new generation of children will likely be born to parents whose ability to financially provide for them is severely compromised," Nelson observes. "Furthermore, a sizeable portion of our potential labor market will be untapped, and with it, a loss of billions of dollars in lost earnings and tax revenues that could benefit our communities."

"Moving Youth From Risk to Opportunity" presents examples of public and private initiatives around the country that reflect more prudent and effective investments in the most at-risk young adults.

The highlighted programs demonstrate successful and established initiatives that:

• Connect foster youth to families and supports that promote successful transitions to adulthood;

• Advance a more just and equitable juvenile justice system and lead incarcerated youth to supports that can allow them to successfully and productively re-enter their communities;

• Connect youth to the information and adult support that can help them avoid early pregnancy and offer viable education, employment, and child care options;

• Connect youth to powerful opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills, and academic credentials they will need to succeed.

"'Moving Youth From Risk to Opportunity' advocates four calls-to-action: getting our goals right so that America's kids reach adulthood with skills and confidence; acknowledging and addressing the reality that the risk factors facing over 3.8 million youth disproportionately affect poor kids of color; developing better data about youth in transition; and developing the political will to commit national, state and local resources to improving successful adult transition," Nelson says. "It is within our power to alter the future of these young adults.

"Policymakers, youth advocacy practitioners, and key members of our communities, including parents, civic leaders and employers, can take specific measures to bring about positive results for our at-risk youth. But this requires making hard choices about how America uses its time and resources to achieve successful outcomes. We need to recognize that these kids belong to all of us, and need to recognize it is in all of our interests to better support their transition to the future."

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private charitable organization, whose primary mission is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today's vulnerable children and families. In pursuit of this goal, the Foundation makes grants that help states, cities, and neighborhoods fashion more innovative, cost-effective responses to these needs.

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