The Reconnecting Youth Campaign sign-on letter to Congress calls for prioritizing well-being and expanding educational and economic opportunities for young people in the American Rescue Plan and any additional pandemic recovery bills.
As Congress considers legislation to aid the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic (a fourth phase of legislation, or CV-4), we come together as advocates for and with Opportunity Youth (16- to 24-year-olds who are not employed and not in school) to provide recommendations that will help reconnect youth, aid young workers and stabilize the economy. Our recommendations are grounded in the following principles:
Kisha Bird, Director of Youth Policy at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), one of the lead organizations in the Reconnecting Youth Campaign, gave powerful testimony about the barriers and solutions to opportunity for Opportunity Youth and people impacted by the criminal justice system.
Spoiler alert: the campaign helped raise $195 million for the federally funded programs for Opportunity Youth.
