1. October 19, 2012 Addressing Issues of Exclusion and Inequity Opening Pathways for Opportunity Youth

2. New Orleans Hurricane Katrina provided the catalyst for change… Education Economy Community

3. In 2011, New Orleans … Ranked #1: Most Improved (Best Cities for Business) Wall Street Journal IT Job Growth in USA Forbes Area for Employment Brookings Institute Americas Biggest Brain Magnet Forbes Top City for Young Entrepreneurs Under30CEO.com City for Education Reform Thomas B. Fordham Institute

4. Change amplified exclusion and inequity

5. Louisiana Nationally, Louisiana ranks: 49 th in Indicators of Child Well-being 42 nd for teens not in school and not high school graduates 40 th for teens not in school and not working Source: KIDS COUNT 2011, Annie E. Casey Foundation

6. Opportunity Youth In New Orleans, of youth 18-24 years, 23% were not attending school, not working, and had no degree beyond high school in 2009. Source: KIDS COUNT 2011, The Annie E. Casey Foundation

7. Opportunity Youth … are young adults aged 16-24 years who are neither connected to school nor work. In the United States, 6.7 million youth aged 16-24 years are considered Opportunity Youth. In 2011, Opportunity Youth cost taxpayers approximately $93 billion in lost tax revenues and increased costs for social services. In New Orleans, between 12,195 and 15,781 low- income youth aged 16-24 years are considered Opportunity Youth. In 2011, Opportunity Youth in New Orleans cost taxpayers between $170 – 220 million in lost tax revenues and increased costs for social services. Source: Opportunity Road: The Promise and Challenge of Americas Forgotten Youth, January 2012 Source: Building and Inclusive, High-skilled Workforce in New Orleans Next Economy, March 2012

8. Opportunity Youth Risk Factors

9. Poverty Percentage living below the poverty level Of males – 16-17 years: 41% – 18-24 years: 35% Of females: – 16-17 years: 27% – 18-24 years: 39% Source: City-Data.com NOLA Poverty Rate

10. Low Educational Attainment Cohort Dropout Rates Class of 2010 – RSD: 28% – OPSB: Less than 5% – Statewide: 17% Source: Louisiana Department of Education The RSD reported 1,170 dropouts from the Class of 2010 and a cohort graduation rate of 49.7%

11. Unemployment Youth 16-19 years: New Orleans: 46% (9,800) Louisiana: 31% United States: 30% Youth 20-24 years: New Orleans: 27% (8,400) Louisiana: 17% United States: 17% Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey

12. Crime In 2009, the FBI identified New Orleans as the deadliest city in America with a murder rate 10 times the national average. Since 2000, Louisianas teen death rate has risen by 11 percent; nearly half (46%) of teen homicide victims were residents of New Orleans.

13. What factors contribute to exclusion and inequity of youth in your community?

14. Role of Tulane University

15. Youth developmentUrban and cultural renewalDisaster resilience Community healthServiceSocial innovation

16. Reconnecting Opportunity Youth National best-practices research – Education Pathways – Collective Impact Addressing the Issue locally – Data guide – Landscape analysis Proactive Role

17. Educational Pathways Key findings: – Strategy: Proactive Reactive – Approach: Youth-centric Cross-sector Comprehensive Outcome-driven

18. Defining the Issue Data Reference Guide – The issue – The impact – The opportunity for New Orleans

19. Landscape Analysis Grounded in community voice – Youth – Nonprofits – Government – Businesses Identified major assets and gaps

20. Youth Its hard to dream when youre trying to survive. Source: New Orleans Opportunity Youth Listening Session at Café Reconcile, April 2011 Every young person needs and wants help and relies on caring adults to find the right way to say it: Dont give up! Source: New Orleans Opportunity Youth Listening Session at Café Reconcile, April 2011

21. Nonprofit Service Providers Challenges/Needs: – Research and evaluation – Policy and advocacy – Resources: Funding Case managers Staff and volunteer capacity – Employment for clients

22. Government NOLA for Life: increased emphasis on crime prevention and intervention strategies Focus on symptoms, not root issue

23. Businesses There are many ways for businesses to get involved, including hiring, creating internships and apprenticeships, mentoring, providing scholarships, and teaching skills development. What is good for the community is good for businesses.

24. Businesses Businesses should be involved where they can be, but the real work should be done by professionals who are trained to deal with this population. Businesses can help when youth WANT to work. Generally, hiring at-risk youth has caused more disappointments than successes.

25. Businesses We tried to hire disconnected youth for entry level positions, but we didnt receive any interest.

26. Tulanes Assets Convener – Collective Impact: large-scale social change requires broad, cross-sector coordination – Community reputation

27. Tulanes Assets Educator – School of Continuing Studies – College readiness programs

28. Tulanes Assets Research Institution – Academic research – Evaluation expertise Cowen Institute – Child and Youth Master Plan – Applied research (K-12 Education)

29. Tulanes Assets Policy Advocate – Policy research – President Scott Cowen, a respected community leader

30. Tulanes Assets Other Resources: – School of Social Work – Center for Public Service

31. Tulanes Assets Employer: – Tulane is the largest private employer in New Orleans and has close ties to other influential employers, locally and globally. – Commitment to equity in hiring and employment

32. Action Plan Tulane Reconnects Opportunity Youth In an effort to initiate immediate change, leaders from key University departments and offices, as well as Tulane contractors, are joining together to build robust on-ramps to careers through a pilot employment program for at-risk youth. To inspire more scalable change, Tulane will prototype the workforce development model and seek to enlist other regional and eventually national employers to help address this critical socioeconomic issue.

33. www.coweninstitute.com Amy Barad abarad@tulane.eduabarad@tulane.edu Debra Vaughan dvaughan@tulane.edudvaughan@tulane.edu