2003 Adopted Resolutions
71st Annual Meeting
Denver

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ADDRESSING THE YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND SKILLS CRISIS

WHEREAS, youth unemployment is at historically high levels; according to a recent study by the Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies, the number of jobless and out-of-school youth has increased by 600,000 or 12 percent since 2000; in 2002, 5.5 million youth (ages 16-24) were out of work and out of school; and

WHEREAS, the study also found that youth are being hit hardest by the economic downturn; job losses among workers ages 16 - 24 accounted for 53 percent of the total jobs losses in 2001 and youth have continued to be the hardest hit as the economic downturn continues; and

WHEREAS, minorities, low-income and central city youth are being disproportionately affected by the economic downturn; 25 percent of African-American youth and 20 percent of Latino youth are out of work and out of school; and

WHEREAS, this has occurred at the same time that the numbers of youth are reaching all time records, including the numbers of immigrant youth, it is expected that there will be 39 million youth by 2010; and

WHEREAS, this past summer's youth employment rate was the lowest since the summer of 1965 and disproportionately low among minority, low income, central city youth and is projected to be even lower in summer 2003; and

WHEREAS, the number of youth dropping our of high school is increasing, and the graduation rate is significantly lower among central city, African-American and Latino students; and

WHEREAS, according to the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies June 2002 report, The Young, the Restless and the Jobless: The Case for a National Jobs Stimulus Program Targeted on America's Young Adults, only one-third of the nation's teenagers living in high poverty neighborhoods was able to obtain a job; and

WHEREAS, there is little job growth expected in the coming year; and

WHEREAS, career exploration, summer jobs, and other year-round employment activities in the workforce investment system, which is authorized under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), help jumpstart careers for young people and make them more productive workers throughout their lifetime; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors has a strong commitment to the improvement of job and educational opportunities for all youth, both in-school and out-of-school youth, including disadvantaged and at-risk youth, and believes that summer employment opportunities are critical to achieving those goals; and

WHEREAS, the workforce system has a unique contribution in preparing the future workforce through connecting activities with business and it remains a high priority to provide this bridge to the workplace for highschool graduates not equipped to get a job; and

WHEREAS, the education system's primary focus in the Leave No Child Behind Act is ensuring academic proficiencies, and at the same time, the workforce system must play a vital role in career development strategies which research has shown aid greatly in prevention of dropouts; and

WHEREAS, the Youth Opportunity Grants program, strongly supported by The U.S. Conference of Mayors, is addressing the pervasive joblessness of youth in 36 high poverty areas across the country,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges Congress to restore its long term commitment to a strong summer jobs program either by providing funding for year round youth activities at a level equivalent to or greater than the FY 2002 funding levels and ensure that summer jobs are part of any WIA reauthorization or to enact a separate summer job program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors urges Congress to increase funding for all youth activities so that the workforce development system is able to meet the infinite service demand and critical need of providing opportunities for disadvantaged and all at-risk youth; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to help contribute to solutions to pervasive poverty of youth and to provide significant funding for a jobs stimulus program for young people ages 16 to 24, especially those living in high poverty neighborhoods and high school dropouts; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to ensure that any new targeted grant program for youth is funded only from the excess of the amount appropriated for the WIA youth formula program when it is at a level of at least $1 billion and not at the expense of the year round program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to ensure that any reauthorization of WIA must allow for in-school services for youth, including 14 and 15 year olds; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to ensure that in any WIA reauthorization, local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) have greater access to programs and services under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 and that there is required coordination with Job Corps; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors calls on Congress to ensure that local workforce and school systems are supported as equal partners in preparing youth for the workplace, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors calls for universal access for core services to youth in WIA reauthorization and that any WIA reauthorization apply the lessons learned in the Youth Opportunity and Rewarding Youth Achievement grants; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Conference of Mayors calls upon Congress to allow eligibility for the National School Lunch Program as a criterion for serving youth under WIA reauthorization legislation, which was part of the technical amendment passed in the House of Representatives in the second session of the 106th Congress under H.R. 4216.