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CSS’s efforts are aimed at reducing the numbers of New York City’s disconnected youth, defined as young people age 16 to 24, who are neither in school nor working. New York City has the highest rate in the country of youth disconnection with 1 in 5 in this age group out of school and out of work. The overwhelming majority of disconnected youth come from poor households and communities. CSS believes that all young people deserve an equal opportunity to get an education and to prepare to enter and advance in the workforce. CSS’s policy development and research is focused on increasing public and private investments to provide opportunities for young people to reconnect to education and/or work and to put them on a trajectory to enter and advance in today’s workforce.Our work is focused in several areas:
- Raising awareness about the civic crisis that our disconnected youth represent. We analyze labor market data documenting the numbers of disconnected youth in New York City, and the trends in employment that have led to fewer opportunities for young people without a high school diploma.
- Developing actionable policy solutions such as tax credits to encourage the employment of out- of-school youth, and workforce development programs including public works projects to reengage young people in rebuilding and maintaining our national and local infrastructure.
- Building the capacity of youth serving organizations to serve and advocate for the needs of young people seeking to return to education or looking for employment. Through our research, we develop policy recommendations for improving the current investments in reconnecting youth and we help to mobilize providers to advocate for these policies. CSS helped form and is on the steering committee of the Campaign for Tomorrow’s Workforce, a coalition of providers that seeks to advance public policy to increase and improve city and state investments in preparing young adults to succeed in school and in the workforce.
Lazar Treschan, MPP
Director, Youth Policy212.614.5396
ltreschan@cssny.org
For media inquiries for David Jones, CEO of the Community Service Society, and CSS staff, please call Jeffrey N. Maclin, Director of Public Relations at the numbers listed below:
212.614.5538 (Ph)
718.309.2346 (Cell)
jmaclin@cssny.org
Missed Opportunity: How New York City Can Do a Better Job of Reconnecting Youth on Public Assistance to Education and Jobs