Best Practices & Results

KIDS COUNT Essay Urges Investing in 'Disconnected Youth'

Jesse suffers from schizophrenia. He entered foster care at age 15 when his single mother could no longer care for him. Now 19, Jesse is homeless and on the streets.

Carla, a single, 19-year-old mother of two children, ages 3 and 1, is receiving TANF benefits to help her support her young family.

Ansell, a high school dropout, was given a designated felon order for 36 months at a youth detention center. Now he is about to be released.

What do these youths share in common? They are between the ages of 18 and 24; they are neither employed nor in school; and they find themselves facing adulthood unprepared, unsupported and disheartened.

A recently released KIDS COUNT report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation calls this group of young adults "disconnected youth." A disproportionately large number of youth in this group are from minority and low-income backgrounds. This year's KIDS COUNT essay, Moving Youth from Risk to Opportunity, features a theme of disconnected youth.

Transitioning into Adulthood

Making the transition to adulthood is not easy for anyone. All youth, regardless of background or financial status, need guidance, skills, supports, positive experiences, education, and caring relationships to help them through trying times.

The KIDS COUNT essay discusses the importance of investing in America's at-risk youth. It supports offering a wide range of state and local efforts that have proven to be successful in helping vulnerable youth craft new connections and improve their transition to adulthood. To read more about these successful youth development efforts, view the essay at http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/databook/pdfs_e/essay_e.pdf.

Estimating Georgia's Numbers

According to the 2004 KIDS COUNT Data Book, also released by the Casey Foundation, Georgia is not immune to this issue. Estimates say currently there are nearly 118,000 young adults in Georgia — roughly 15 percent of all young Georgians ages 18 to 24 — who are not employed, are not in school, and do not have a degree beyond high school.

What about Georgia's youth under age 18? All youth may not have an equal opportunity to become productive adults. Some youth are vulnerable and may have a more difficult transition into adulthood without additional supports and investments. Georgia's vulnerable youth include:

• 1,961 youngsters ages 15 to 19 in foster care in 2001.
  
• 32,628 young mothers under age 20 in 2002.
  
• 2,942 juveniles detained, incarcerated, or placed in residential facilities in 2001.
  
• 16 percent of youth ages 18 to 24 living in poverty.

Georgia has a number of statewide and local efforts that are in place to help these vulnerable youth. Promising strategies that work with vulnerable youth in Georgia include mentoring, life skills training, youth leadership training, truancy intervention programs, interagency case management, and teen pregnancy prevention efforts.