The majority of young people in the United States grow up healthy
and safe in their communities. Most of those of school age live
with parents who provide for their well-being, and they attend
schools that prepare them for advanced education or vocational
training and, ultimately, self -sufficiency. Many youth also
receive assistance from their families during the transition to
adulthood. During this period, young adults cycle between attending
school, living independently, and staying with their families.
Approximately 60% of parents today provide financial support to
their adult children who are no longer in school. This support
comes in the form of housing (50% of parents provide this support
to their adult children), living expenses (48%), cost of
transportation (41%), health insurance (35%), spending money (29%),
and medical bills (28%). Even with this assistance, the current
move from adolescence to adulthood has become longer and
increasingly complex. For vulnerable (or "at-risk") youth
populations, the transition to adulthood is further complicated by
a number of challenges, including family conflict or abandonment
and obstacles to securing employment that provides adequate wages
and health insurance. These youth may be prone to outcomes that
have negative consequences for their future development as
responsible, self-sufficient adults. Risk outcomes include teenage
parenthood; homelessness; drug abuse; delinquency; physical and
sexual abuse; and school dropout. Detachment from the labor market
and school-or disconnectedness-may be the single strongest
indicator that the transition to adulthood has not been made
successfully. The federal government has not adopted a single
overarching federal policy or legislative vehicle that addresses
the challenges vulnerable youth experience in adolescence or while
making the transition to adulthood. Rather, federal youth policy
today has evolved from multiple programs established in the early
20th century and expanded in the years following the 1964
announcement of the War on Poverty. These programs are concentrated
in six areas: workforce development, education, juvenile justice
and delinquency prevention, social services, public health, and
national and community service. They are intended to provide
vulnerable youth with opportunities to develop skills to assist
them in adulthood. Despite the range of federal services and
activities to assist disadvantaged youth, many of these programs
have not developed into a coherent system of support. This is due
in part to the administration of programs within several agencies
and the lack of mechanisms to coordinate their activities. In
response to concerns about the complex federal structure developed
to assist vulnerable youth, Congress passed the Tom Osborne Federal
Youth Coordination Act (P.L. 109-365) in 2006. Though activities
under the act were never funded, the Interagency Working Group on
Youth Programs was formed in 2008 under Executive Order 13459 to
carry out coordinating activities across multiple agencies that
oversee youth programs. Separately, Congress has considered other
legislation (the Younger Americans Act of 2000 and the Youth
Community Development Block Grant of 1995) to improve the delivery
of services to vulnerable youth and provide opportunities to these
youth through policies with a "positive youth development" focus.
General
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