Creating a Successful Path to Adulthood for All Youth

by Carmen James Lane
Program Officer

The path to adulthood is an intricate journey for all young people, full of critical decision points and challenges.  With the support of parents, community, and schools, most young people manage to make a successful transition to adulthood. However, there are more than three million young people in America who need extra support. Youth who "age out" of foster care, leave secondary school without a diploma, or get into trouble with the law are particularly vulnerable.

Since 2006, I have co-chaired the Youth Transition Funders Group (YTFG), a network of national and regional grantmakers whose mission is to help all youth make a successful transition to adulthood by age 25.  YTFG encourages supportive public policies and nurtures deeper collaboration between adults, public systems, and youth between the ages of 14 and 24. The ultimate goal is to prepare all young people with the necessary skills to be successful in work, higher education, parenthood, and civic life.

YTFG has explored issues that impact youth across the public systems of foster care, education, and juvenile justice.  It has examined disparities and challenges related to African American males and Latino youth, and the impact of mental health issues on youth.

YTFG is partnering with Child Trends on a policy paper scheduled for release in early 2009, that will help shape a comprehensive national policy agenda for youth ages 14 to 24 in education, foster care, and juvenile justice. Current policy and advocacy efforts tend to focus on each group of youth in isolation; as a result, the advocacy community is fragmented, public systems are siloed, and public policies tend to be limited in focus. Comprehensive reforms would cut across systems and better serve multiple groups of vulnerable youth.

My engagement with YTFG has deeply informed my local work with nonprofits, community leaders, and policy makers.  As a member of YTFG's Multiple Pathways to Graduation (MPG) working group, I have become acutely aware of the national graduation crisis and strategic reforms taking place in innovative urban districts across the country. One MPG initiative  provided national dollars to DC to closely examine its truancy problem, since truancy is a leading indicator of future school failure.

Knowing what strategies and innovations are working informs the Meyer Foundation's grantmaking decisions.  Nonprofits whose work with vulnerable youth Meyer supports include LifeSTARTS, which works to address and prevent truancy in the schools; Advocates for Justice and Education, which provides transition support to youth and parents; DC Alliance of Youth Advocates, which is committed to helping youth who are homeless, unemployed, or not in school; Covenant House Washington, which provides comprehensive services to homeless and parenting youth; and Alexandria Seaport Foundation, which provides a pathway to meaningful employment and education. 

Building an effective network of support for all youth so that they make a successful transition to adulthood requires the involvement of advocates, community-based organizations, and parents and families, in addition to public systems that deliver services. This is a critical moment of reform in education, juvenile justice, youth employment, and foster care in the District.  The work of the Youth Transitions Funders Group supports grantmakers interested in making strategic investments to ensure that all youth make a successful transition to adulthood.

Learning Opportunities 

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Fundraising Fundamentals for Smaller Nonprofits

Center for Nonprofit Advancement

Fundraising can be a difficult task for smaller nonprofits with less staff time available to be devoted to building donor relationships.  This class will teach participants to strategically raise money and build a donor program built for sustainability.  Learn more.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hiring and Firing the Right Way

Center for Nonprofit Advancement

Developing good hiring and firing practices is essential to building strong morale among staff members.  This course will go over the hiring and firing process from developing effective job ads to having a plan for documenting disciplinary actions. Learn more.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

IRS Focus on Nonprofit Compensation: What Every Board Member Should Know

Foundation Center

The revised IRS Form 990 will require nonprofits to change the way that the compensation process is reported.  This workshop will go over the new process for how the IRS wants pay levels to be determined. Learn more.

For a list of additional Form 990 resources, visit the Meyer website at: http://www.meyerfoundation.org/990resources/