YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING FUNDING
WHEREAS, since 2000 there has been a
steep decline in the employment rate of the nation’s teens, summer employment
rates have been at historically low levels, with this past summer’s rate the
lowest it has been since 1948 when the government starting collecting this
data; and
WHEREAS, 5.4 million of the 17 million
American youth aged 16 to 24 are without a diploma or without a job; and
WHEREAS, this excludes the 360,000 16 –
24 year olds in prison, 65 percent of whom do not have a high school diploma;
and
WHEREAS, 2.4 million of these youth are poor and are disproportionately
Latino and African American and their numbers are steadily increasing; and
WHEREAS, more than 500,000 youth per year drop out of high school and
hundreds of thousands of other struggling students may be on the verge of
leaving school or being pushed out, and jobs are scarce; and
WHEREAS, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) youth formula and Youth
Opportunity Grant program have successfully met the needs of a small portion of
these at-risk youth - 82,000 youth received training, education or work
experience in Program Year (PY) 2003, the most recent year for which data is
available; and
WHEREAS, youth formula funding has been consistently cut since
Fiscal Year (FY) 1995, from a FY 1994 youth formula funding level of $1.547
billion to the FY 04 level of $1 billion; and
WHEREAS, under the current WIA reauthorization process, there are
proposals to change the youth allocation formula and proposals to change the
percentages of allocation between the states and local areas; and
WHEREAS, in the President’s Fiscal Year 2005 Budget
proposal there is a 25 percent cut to WIA youth formula dollars, in order to
fund a new, untested youth initiative, and further, there is a proposal by the
President in his “Better Training For Better Jobs” initiative that would
combine the WIA youth formula program into a single block grant with the Adult
formula program, the Dislocated Worker formula program and the Wagner Peyser
Employment Service which would allow Governors to eliminate services for youth,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that in the FY 2005 Budget process and WIA
reauthorization, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on Congress and the
Administration to protect and increase the $1 billion currently provided for
Youth formula funding; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that any change in the youth formula
allocation be substantially weighted to reflect the population to which the
funds are targeted, such as high school drop outs, youth in the juvenile
justice system, and youth aging out of foster care; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that for any state youth formula
discretionary allocation, that the Governor is required to allocate to local
areas in accordance with a formula developed with the input of chief elected
officials and local board that takes into account the factors relating to the
high poverty and at-risk youth population; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on
Congress and the Administration to ensure and enforce that the state’s use of
the state’s percentage of WIA youth formula funds be used toward required
statewide youth activities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in order to assure the development of
future workers, the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on Congress and the
Administration to provide $1 billion in funding for a youth employment and
internship training program for the nation’s young people.
©2004 U.S. Conference of Mayors 