By Daniel Vandagna, USCM Intern
February 11, 2008

The closing plenary Investing in Children — Dismantling the Cradle to Prison Pipeline held during the 76th Annual Winter Meeting focused on what mayors can do to help combat the growing problem of at-risk youth and the high school dropout crisis.

Marian Wright Edelman, President and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, provided a report on a new initiative called the “Cradle to Prison Pipeline Campaign.” Her remarks emphasized that there are thirteen million poor children today, most of them in working families. Adding that every 36 seconds, a child is not only abused or neglected, but also born into poverty. Edelman called on mayors to join her in working to stop the funneling of tens of thousand of youth down life paths that often lead to arrest, conviction, incarceration and in, some cases death. When a black male born in 2001 has a one in three chance of going to prison at some point in his life, Edelman asked mayors to help the nation end the child and family poverty driving this “pipeline” through a series of actions outlined in the CDF campaign. In closing she said, “So many more people would rather celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King than follow him. Its time for us to follow him, so many people are waiting for him to come back, he ain’t comin’ back; we are it!”

Luther King than follow him. Its time for us to follow him, so many people are waiting for him to come back, he ain’t comin’ back; we are it!”

Robert Clark, Executive Director of YouthBuild Newark, spoke to the mayor’s on how they are serving Newark’s at-risk youth and young adults ages 16 through 24. YouthBuild Newark is a ten-month program that provides high school equivalency preparation, workforce and leadership development training, case management and civic engagement. YouthBuild Newark participants include, among others, out-of'school youth and young adults involved with the juvenile justice system. Clark stated, “We provide education and job training services to some of the country’s most disconnected young people.” There are over 8,000 young people around the country currently enrolled in about 226 YouthBuild programs. Clark added that there are 14,000 young people that we have turned away annually due to lack of investment. “To add insult to injury we are starting to be able match murder victim names to the YouthBuild Newark waiting list. We must reach out and help these young people turn their lives around,” Clark concluded.

Newark waiting list. We must reach out and help these young people turn their lives around,” Clark concluded.

“Roughly 7,000 students dropout of school every day and 63 percent of dropouts occur in the 9th and 10th grades,” stated Governor Robert Wise, President of Alliance for Excellent Education. The mission for the Alliance for Excellent Education is to prepare young adults so they can graduate from high school and be ready for college. “About 60 percent of jobs require education after high school, and currently two out of three high school graduates will not be ready for college,” Wise explained.

The plenary closed with Tulsa Mayor Kathryn L. Taylor’s best practice presentation on her city’s at-risk youth and high school drop out prevention program called “Youth Intervention Project.” This program has led to the creation of 18 new after school programs and hiring of 300 mentors for students. Taylor praised the program and said, “These young people need a positive influence in their lives.” Taylor mentioned a new program called “Tulsa Achieves,” which gives every single high school graduate in Tulsa with a GPA of at least 2.0 a free two-year college tuition including free books. In addition, every student who graduates from one of the two-year colleges with a GPA of at least 3.0, will be eligible to receive a free tuition to a four-year college. Taylor ended her discussion by saying, “Our goal to our kids in Tulsa is: Your past is not your potential.”