Reform Efforts

Reform Efforts

In an attempt to mitigate the devastating effects of limited public benefits that offer income support and limited career pathways for youth and young adults, particularly BIPOC and LGBTQ+ identified youth, the following reform efforts have been attempted. These efforts have had varying levels of success in ensuring more access to income and career opportunities. 

• Legislative Reforms: 

  • The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Youth Program was amended in 2014 in an effort to target more federal, state, and local workforce funds to high risk youth through changes to the youth formula. The changes in law require a higher percentage of funds to go to out of school youth to increase workskills and employment. It also authorized a new set of youth programs. These reforms have had differing success across the country as each state has control over implementation and has differing strategies on linking these funds to youth at-risk of or experiencing homelessness. 

  • Raise the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 - The Raise the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 aims to pass legislation that aligns with some state legislation to increase the federal minimum wage to $15. This legislation proposes a scaled effort to gradually phase in a $15 minimum wage by 2024 to address decades of pay inequity. Given many young adults work minimum wage jobs, this legislation reform can positively impact youth and young adults entering the workforce at a wage that can better assist in attaining stable housing.

  • Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, decided on June 15, 2020, clarified that federal law prohibits anti-transgender discrimination in employment. These legal protections can help transgendered and gender non-conforming youth and young adults fight back agasint the discrimination they often face in securing emloyment and the stable income needed to obtain safe housing. 

• Funded Program Opportunities:

  • The U.S. Department of Labor funds an array of programming including programs who target services for youth and young adults. The majority of these programs are often targeted at generalized employment and career advancement opportunities. There are several programs that target support for youth and young adults, particularly those with employment barriers in order to help them enter the job market and secure the income needed to obtain and sustain safe housing. These include:   

    • Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO) The Reentry Employment Opportunities (REO) program provides funding for justice-involved youth, young adults (age 14-24), and formerly incarcerated adults that have been involved in the juvenile or adult criminal justice system. These projects focus on pre- and post-release services, which include: case management, educational skills training, tutoring, mentoring, high school diploma equivalency preparation, credit retrieval, restorative justice opportunities, occupational skills training, work experience, summer jobs linked to academic and occupational learning, job placement, staff and leadership development activities, expungement of juvenile records, diversion from adjudication, follow-up, and other supportive services.

    • YouthBuild The U.S. Department of Labor’s funded YouthBuild is a competitive grant program that funds organizations and government agency programs that serves youth and young adults ages 16-24 that are currently have formerly dropped out of high school and who have greatest challenges to finding good jobs. The programs aim to cross collaborate with other workforce training organizations serving youth through co-location of services and primarily provides education (high school diploma or state-recognized equivalent); occupational skills training; leadership development, innovative alternative education programs and individualized and project-based instruction. Examples of programs include: https://americanyouthworks.org/ 

    • CareerOneStop by Department of Labor’s user site to explore career opportunities, finish high school, gain experience, get resume writing support, job training, apply for jobs, and apply to college. 

  • Other income program opportunities

    • SOAR for Youth - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) funded program that supports young people applying for Social Security Disability benefits. This program can help to secure income for youth with a disability, that can be utilized to help obtain housing. 

Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program - U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development funded opportunity for communities to design and implement a plan to prevent and end youth homelessness. In FY 2019/2020, Up to 50 communities, including eight rural communities, will be selected to receive $1-15 million (for a total of $145 million) towards implementing new and innovative projects. Many of these projects focused on connecting youth to education and employment opportunities that could help to sustain their safe housing.