United Way of Connecticut Launches Statewide Coalition to Address At-Risk and Disconnected Youth

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As the start of the 2024 session of the State Legislature approaches, United Way of Connecticut is formally launching a broad-based statewide coalition of stakeholders advocating for comprehensive state policy initiatives, upgrades and resources to engage Opportunity Youth in Connecticut; individuals age 14-26 who are disengaged or disconnected, at risk of dropping out of high school, or who have already done so and face an uncertain future.

More than a dozen nonprofit organizations and associations, business organizations, and community groups across Connecticut have been collaborating to develop policy options to share with legislators, the executive branch, and the public, urging action this year.

Those policy options are now being finalized, as the coalition grows and public support for substantive action intensifies. The action agenda is to include no-cost and low-cost options, priorities for additional resources, and recommendations regarding use of available federal and state funds, and will underscore recent findings and calls for a comprehensive, coordinated state policy response that would benefit impacted individuals, families, communities and the state’s economic well-being.

“Connecticut’s policy responses to date have fallen short, as the data now clearly shows. This is a growing crisis that can be addressed successfully if we work urgently and collaboratively across various sectors to develop effective solutions,” said Amy Casavina Hall, Senior Vice President, United Way of Connecticut and co-chair of the Campaign for Working Connecticut. “These young people, and our state’s economic vitality, can’t afford delay. These issues are intertwined and interdependent, and must be engaged, solutions developed, and actions implemented beginning with the upcoming legislative session.”

“2024 is Connecticut’s opportunity to leverage state dollars in new ways, update programs in need of revision, upgrade job training initiatives, expand year-round youth employment, fix or discard what is broken, and more fully address the very real potential of opportunity youth. The benefits of pursuing these strategies, and others, are immense and multi-dimensional,” said Genevive Walker, Opportunity Youth Initiative Campaign Manager and a member of the Governor’s Workforce Council’s BIPOC Committee.

The coalition members include: Capital Workforce Partners, Compass Youth Collaborative, Connecticut Association of Adult and Continuing Education, Connecticut Office of Workforce Strategies, DOMUS Kids, EASTCONN, Emerge CT, Love146, National Youth Employment Coalition, Norwalk Acts, Our Piece of the Pie, Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership (RYASAP), United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut, and Youth Business Initiative.

“We have been tremendously encouraged by the positive response and growing momentum of these efforts, all across Connecticut,” said Alex Johnson, President of Capital Workforce Partners and an active member of the Campaign for Working Connecticut. “There is a fierce urgency for more robust workforce investments and updated wide-ranging policies that strengthen quality career pathways and support services for disconnected young adults gaining access to the thousands of quality jobs needed for Connecticut’s growth sectors.”

Last spring, the Campaign for Working Connecticut issued a report, “Connecticut’s Pathways to the Future: Investing in Opportunity Youth to Invigorate Our Workforce,” which outlined the urgent need for long-term comprehensive support for quality career pathways for Opportunity Youth, noting the “high potential for public-private partnerships to support this critical investment.” It was issued as part of the Campaign for Working Connecticut, the beginning of the coalition of workforce and youth serving organizations that has since grown and is now urging legislative action during the legislative session that begins next week, on February 7.

Later in the year, Dalio Education released a report and analysis, Connecticut’s Unspoken Crisis: Getting Young People Back on Track,” highlighting research findings by the Boston Consulting Group. The findings included that at-risk and disconnected young people can be found in every town in Connecticut; 119,000 young adults in Connecticut are at-risk of not graduating from high school or are disconnected from post-secondary education or employment; and one in three Connecticut high school students is at-risk of not graduating. Opportunity Youth in Connecticut, according to the report, are disproportionately justice-involved, homeless and low-income youth, teenage parents, and communities of color.

The economic benefits to the state by supporting disconnected young people to get back on track were also highlighted: a successful state initiative could help fill a large portion of the Connecticut labor market’s 90,000 unfilled jobs and boost Connecticut’s GDP by an estimated $5 billion.

Last fall, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation issued a report, “Building Tomorrow’s Workforce: Equitable Education and Career Pathways for Opportunity Youth in Fairfield County,” and the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM), the state’s largest nonpartisan organization of municipal leaders, convened a series of community conversations - in Windham, Middletown, Torrington, Wethersfield and Norwalk - which were attended or viewed by tens of thousands of state residents.

Joe DeLong, CCM Executive Director and CEO, said the number of young people “at risk or disconnected should be a wake-up call for the State.” He continued, “This is an issue that is affecting towns big and small, and through our roundtables it was made clear that we are going to need a coalition like this one to make the changes our state and these disconnected youth so dearly need.” A number of organizations participating in the United Way of Connecticut coalition were among the panelists, sharing their first-hand experiences with Opportunity Youth, and the potential that state policy upgrades could achieve.

“Data in the Dalio report and other recent analysis has underscored what we at EASTCONN have known for a while – the youth in northeastern CT need more resources and supports,” said Kristin Hempel, Director, Adult and Community Programs, EASTCONN. “We see that every day in our work with young people. The statistics show a dire picture for our corner of the state, and The Quiet Corner cannot afford to stay ‘quiet’ any longer. Connecticut needs to tackle these challenges, in every corner of the state.”

Business leaders have also spoken out, including Chris DiPentima, President and CEO of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) and a member of the Governor’s Workforce Council, who has urged efforts “transforming the state’s economy to be more robust and vibrant with opportunities for all,” and participated as a panelist discussing initiatives to support Connecticut’s Opportunity Youth.

“Connecticut businesses – and those considering moving or expanding here – are waiting and watching how Connecticut responds. We are a state of ingenuity and innovation. Working together we can fill these jobs with people who are already here,” said Mary Ann “Mimi” Haley, Executive Director, National Youth Employment Coalition, the leading national organization working with communities across the country to end youth disconnection, and a member of the Governor’s Workforce Council Youth Committee. “Let’s use our determination to put in place upgraded policies and resources, and tap into the expertise of Connecticut nonprofits to help these young people build a better future.”