Opportunity Areas for Out-Of-School Youth
Adopted at the in 1996
WHEREAS, there are 4.7 million youth ages 16-24 living in inner-city and rural areas with poverty rates of 30 percent or higher and these youth face considerable barriers to succeeding in life; and
WHEREAS, the employment rate for out-of-school youth in high-poverty areas is only 46 percent; and
WHEREAS, in many cities the drop-out rate for African-American and Hispanic youth is over 50 percent; and
WHEREAS, the proportion of young African-American high school dropouts who are currently not employed exceeds 70 percent; and
WHEREAS, the pervasive joblessness of minority males contributes fundamentally to various problems of inner cities-poverty, crime, welfare dependency, high proportion of FEMAle?headed families, and drug abuse; and
WHEREAS, the Clinton Administration's new Opportunity Areas for Out-of-School Youth Initiative begins to address some of these problems and complements the economic strategy of Empowerment Zones; and
WHEREAS, Administration officials have asked for guidance and input from mayors across the country in the development of this initiative; and
WHEREAS, the key goal of these opportunity areas would be to boost the employment rate of out-of-school youth from current levels of less than 50 percent to considerably higher rates and thus have profound effects on all aspects of life in these target areas; and
WHEREAS, this program would have a strong emphasis on mainstreaming youth into the private sector, both in terms of immediate job placement and work-based learning opportunities to increase long-term employment prospects; and
WHEREAS, this initiative would require responsible behavior on the part of the youth as a condition of continued participation in employment programs-an emphasis on personal accountability; and
WHEREAS, in the past certain at-risk youth programs such as Youth Fair Chance and Youth Opportunities Unlimited have lost out-year funding, it is imperative that this initiative does not become a one-year demonstration program; and
WHEREAS, the Opportunity Areas for Out-of-School Youth program would build strong links to the school system and encourage the use of state and local educational funds to support education and training services for youth who have dropped out-of-school,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors supports the creation and funding of a program such as the Opportunity Areas for Out-of- School Youth which was proposed in President Clinton's 1997 budget; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors urges Congress to help contribute to a solution to pervasive poverty and joblessness of inner-city youth and young adults and ensure that funding for this initiative exists beyond FY 1997.