CAMMY Include introduction of each of us and our role with the Alliance A multi-partisan initiative led by Minnesota Alliance With Youth, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Education & Office of the Governor

GradMN Recommendation 4 Design and Connect Services to Recover and Re--engage Youth Minnesota has an inefficient and fractured system for: finding students who have been dropped from enrollment (15 day drop) transferring credit and information between school districts ensuring services to address the educational and personal needs of students who stop out or drop out This recommendation calls for a functional and coordinated system to be developed to re-engage these students in school and learning. CAMMY

Disconnected Youth or Opportunity Youth Called opportunity youth because their potential is not fully realized due to their disengagement from education and employment Very important to note that research has documented that opportunity youth are motivated and seeking education and employment. They simply have too many barriers (poverty, racism, being a parent, being suspended or expelled, dealing with mental health, homeless) and not enough coordinated support and assistance to surmount these barriers

What Do We Know about Minnesota Opportunity Youth? Nationally, about one in seven young adults is disconnected Over ⅓ are high school dropouts and lack a high school degree and every year, in just Minneapolis and Saint Paul, another 1400 do not graduate More males than females Racial disparities •Disconnected” youth: between 14 and 24 and not connected to school or employment. Long-term impact includes lost earnings, lower economic growth, lower tax revenues and increased government spending

Twin Cities Disconnection Percentages by Race and Ethnic Groups Data from Wilder Research (2008 - 2012 aggregate estimates) White = 6% Asian = 11% Hispanic = 17% Black = 23% American Indian = 26%

Costs of Youth Disconnection

Minnesota Reengagement Centers: Ensuring Education & Employment Success Create a Twin Cities Reengagement Executive Steering Committee with existing partners for greater cooperation and accountability. Development of a Virtual Reengagement Center as an app and website. Create a central hub for Minneapolis and St. Paul as a “no wrong door” Reengagement Centers that partner with WIOA. Strengthen existing sites at MVNA and Ujaama Place. Pathway young people into existing Early/Middle College opportunities. Launch an Opportunity Youth Leadership Board to guide our work. KRISTY You get to tell folks we didn’t get the grant - but it was an amazing effort! Highlight: Social Emotional Supports as core to developing the individual service strategy. Partnering with Alternative Schools to get them back into school, connected to EMC and work based learning.

Additional Reengagement Ideas Continue with existing efforts (e.g. Gen Next 9th grade On-Track initiative) Enact the Student Inclusion and Engagement Act Enact the Student Achievement Backpack legislation Increase compulsory attendance age from 17 to 18 Assign responsibility for students who have been 15-day dropped Adequate funding for students attending ALC and charter schools Increase post-secondary education and employment Other? CHRISTA MnEEP’s Solutions Not Suspensions legislation Data Backpack legislation Federal WIOA requires that a minimum of 75% of state and local youth funding be used for out-of-school youth Minnesota law (Higher Education Attainment Goal) sets a goal that 70% of Minnesotans ages 25 - 44 will have attained post-secondary certificiation by 2025. Only 47% of Minneapolitans and 37% of Saint Paul residents have earned a BA degree.

Discussion Generate Action Ideas and Steps Large Group What components of the Reengagement Grant should be continued? What are important issues for reengagement of disconnected youth in greater Minnesota? Other reengagement issues? Consensus building! Small Group: Identify concrete next steps in the short term Report Out Cammy will bring flip charts so we can record ideas on each of the 3 bulleted areas Christa will faciliate. Cammy and Krista will do the writing on the flip chart