America has a Youth Engagement Problem
Word Count: 1033
Author: Edward DeJesus


America has a Youth Engagement Problem
The cry for more youth program opportunities can be heard
clear across America. Each year, advocates point out the
growing needs of youth and young adults and the lack of
programs and services to meet those needs. I, too, am
guilty. My call of foul at the 250,000 federally funded
program slots for the 5.4 million out-of-school youth is a
staple of my presentations to policymakers across the U.S.

"How can we expect any progress in reducing gang violence
and youth unemployment, or expect to quell the dropout rate
if we only have enough program slots to serve 3% of the
14-21 year old eligible population!"  Many echo my outcry,
and I usually continue by addressing the real crux of the
problem. "We don't have a gang problem in the United
States; we have a youth opportunity problem!" I have touted
this cry from boardrooms in Seattle to the hoods in South
Florida, always receiving a response of thunderous applause.

Despite the strong audience affirmation, I still find
myself walking away and feeling as though something is
missing. Why? Many of us were part of the movement to bring
positive youth development to youth workforce programs
across the U.S., making sure we serve youth differently
than adults, and taking into account their developmental
needs, assets, and the different stages of their
development. Surely there is no disputing the fact that
there is a need for more programs and opportunities for
young people to grow into healthy, positive adults. So,
what is lacking? Where is the breakdown?

Despite our best efforts at incorporating positive youth
development we forgot one thing: incorporating youth. The
sad reality is that many of our youth development and youth
workforce programs struggle to get youth in the doors. Yes,
I know this is a subject that we do not like to discuss.
However, it is a subject that must be raised in the
research and policy agenda in order to reach a viable
solution. Of the millions of youth who desperately need
education and workforce development in their lives, few are
turning to the programs and services that can lead to
better lives and opportunities. Those that do come often
don't stay.

Now I know a few of you are crying foul. However, it is my
experience that those of you who cry foul are able to offer
youth $300 or more every two weeks for attending. In fact,
engagement has translated to money, at least for some. In
this fact lies our advocacy dilemma. Advocating for more
money and resources in a system that cannot engage the
youth it is intended to serve is a lesson in futility.

School Accountability: What about us?

If the educational system is forced to be more accountable,
so should youth development and workforce programs. Let me
break it down like a fraction - No Child Left Behind is
exposing the incredible achievement gap that currently
exists within the United States. The National Governors
Association recommendation for states to recalculate
dropout rates has exposed a national travesty: 50% of
African-American and Latino youth drop out of high school.

The exposure doesn't stop there however. The Beginning
Post-secondary Students Longitudinal Study reported that
only 31% of students who entered community college in
1995-1996 with the intention of earning a degree or
certificate had met their goal six years later. For
African-American and Latino students the rate is much lower.

As if that weren't enough of a factor, Congress is trying
to rescind 65 million of WIA funds partly because of
unspent funds. While there are many excuses for why funds
are unspent, the reality is that many programs have no
youth to spend them on. It seems that despite the weeding
out of those who are not serious, along with those who
constantly whine or refuse to work with adjudicated youth,
or youth in the foster care system, programs still can't
get it right. Once again, the question hangs out there-why?

Why?

Perhaps the most important program element is engagement.
Without effective and consistent engagement efforts,
programs can never meet expected outcomes. The primary
challenge youth service providers face in implementing
effective engagement strategies is to stop blaming
engagement difficulties on young people's deficiencies, but
instead recognize that it is the deficiencies of the
programs themselves. Building a youth engagement system in
much different from incorporating positive youth
development principles into program design.

A youth engagement system is a commitment to a set of
principles and practices sustained by policy and sufficient
resources, dedicated to creating an authentic and
culturally competent service delivery system where young
people feel valued as stakeholders and are compelled to
invest in active and meaningful participation towards
mutual goals. In short, we need a youth driven workforce
preparation system, not an employer driven one– time and
statistics have proven that's not working!

In order to do this, organizations need to build and
strengthen the routes (and in some cases open them) for
young people to be fully engaged in the decisions,
opportunities and challenges affecting their communities.
One of the largest miscalculations that youth employment
programs make is to attempt to provide services to the
at-risk populations without first developing an intimate
understanding of what truly motivates and interests this
special group.

In The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives on High School
Dropouts, Bill Gates tells us the most reported reason why
youth are dropping out of school. They are bored with
education! Sounds like something we could have figured out
on our own, right? Probably, however that is only part of
the story. What Mr. Microsoft failed to tell us is that
they are not bored with education; they are just bored with
the education and job training we subject them to. Youth
are literally handing us the manual to how to help them
become successful, but is anyone reading the pages? Not
only is it time to realize that up until this point, the
method used to increase youth engagement is not just
flawed, it's broken. If we want to make a change, it is we
that must make changes, using their lead as a path to
getting it right.


About the Author:

Edward DeJesus is one of the most sought after speakers on
the issue of youth engagement and development. For the past
15 years, he has been helping organizations improve student
recruitment, retention and engagement. To learn more about
Ed, visit http://www.ydrf.com