Draft Policy Statement CSocD45

• Statement

• 1) United States youth are vulnerable to shifts to employment that come with economic restructuring due to globalization
• 2) US youth, like their peers abroad, tend to have high levels of unemployment and often lack skills for the workforce
• 3) In order for youth to thrive in a global marketplace they must be protected and integrated into the workforce
• 4) Despite the high levels of education within the United States there are incredible disparities among young people in terms of access to quality education, particularly among at-risk and marginalized youth
• 5) Youth populations who fall behind their grade level, live alone or in foster care, violate the law, or are otherwise excluded and/or marginalized by the socioeconomic and institutional framework can all be characterized as at-risk youth
• 6) Succumbing to social and economic exclusion, and often lacking appropriate mentorship and guidance, these youth drop out of school in the greatest proportion and suffer the highest rate of unemployment.
• 7) The US cannot prosper when large numbers of youth become alienated from the education system. This directly affects communities and their social and economic well being.
• 8) High school dropouts, unable to find work, often commit acts of delinquency, comprise approximately 40 percent of state and 30 percent of federal prisons, and are three times as likely to receive welfare benefits as those who have completed high school but do not pursue college.

9) Non-formal education, such as volunteering, internships, and opportunities to build job skills, is an aspect of learning that is often overlooked and can have positive benefits for the individual as well as the community (recommendation?)

Recommendations

• . Develop programs that ease the transition between immigration and integration, intra-country migration, from rural to urban settings, and matching or gaining skills to match the demands of the labor market, such as vocational tech.
  • . Programs should also be supported that empower youth and allow rural areas to develop sustainably, including entrepreneurship and technology education jobs that promote small youth-driven enterprises
  • . Governments should provide alternate educational programs within school systems from early childhood, thereby reducing the numbers of youth who go on to enter the ‘at-risk’ category.
  • . Encourage schools to work together to create innovative programs to meet special academic needs, and to create vocational training programs for high-risk youth who may or will not complete secondary education
  • . Provide governmental support for NGO’s doing vocational training, particularly those who do it in conjunction with public works and mentoring programs.
• . Continually assess and reform the current educational model in order to prepare students for their role as global citizens/in globalized society (?)
  • . Prioritize information and technology within the educational system
• . Facilitate student-ownership in education in order to empower students to take initiative for their future
• . Adopt policies and practices to encourage NGO’s and governments to support and foster youth in their pursuit of non-formal education