A young man in Little Village graduated from high school, but a year later, he has yet to enroll in community college because he doesn’t have the resources. Mental health challenges kept a 24-year-old young woman in Roseland from enrolling in a postsecondary program. Although she is working, she’d like to take classes towards a degree and greater potential earnings.
These examples show the breadth of challenges facing Chicago’s thousands of Opportunity Youth, young adults ages 16 to 24 who are out of school and out of work. They also highlight the opportunity Thrive and its partners have to support young people on the path to identifying their purpose and achieving positive outcomes in education and employment. Thrive Chicago launched its Opportunity Youth strategy in 2017, bringing together more than 300 partners for an Opportunity Youth Summit, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office. Through the years, Thrive’s Data and Learning Team has examined increasingly refined data from the U.S. Census and other sources to understand better the unique needs of Opportunity Youth. With this has come the understanding that Opportunity Youth are a highly diverse group, whether looking through the lens of education, employment, geography, or race. An understanding of this diversity helps the Opportunity Youth Action Team—a community of committed partners, convened by Thrive Chicago on a quarterly basis—better serve Opportunity Youth throughout the city. During the February Action Team meeting, Thrive defined four categories that make up Chicago’s Opportunity Youth:
Persistently disconnected youth have been or are at risk of being disconnected from school and work for long periods of time. They’re characterized by a complex set of needs related to food and/or housing insecurity or mobility, criminal justice involvement, inconsistent transportation, mental health and healthcare needs, and child care needs.
Tenuously disconnected youth have more work experience and typically have a high school degree or some college. They have a more focused set of needs and need help finding household-sustaining employment.
Tenuously connected youth are not in school and are employed only part-time or seasonally. They share many characteristics with tenuously disconnected youth, and are particularly at risk of disconnecting during an economic or personal crisis.
Stable connected youth have a household-sustaining income or are on an education pathway toward a household-sustaining income. This group includes college students who are supported by family and those without college degrees who are in a stable career with consistent work hours.
Opportunity Youth are a highly diverse group, whether looking through the lens of education, employment, geography, or race.
A more nuanced understanding of the different categories of Opportunity Youth and their specific needs ultimately helps to advance the dialog about the systemic changes needed to support Opportunity Youth on their education and employment journeys. Persistently disconnected youth require a different set of services compared to a youth who is tenuously disconnected, with work experience and housing stability. Likewise, tenuously connected youth require assistance that differs from that provided to their stable, connected peers.
As the examples of the young man in Little Village and the young woman in Roseland show, Opportunity Youth are far from a monolithic group. Recognizing the unique characteristics is an essential step toward providing young people with the targeted supports they need to thrive.
Activating data and research is among Thrive’s capabilities, and a core aspect of Collective Impact, the social impact theory that guides the organization.
