4.5 Million Young People Nationwide Are Not Working or in School. How Cities Are Working to Get Them Back on Track — & Avoid the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Nonprofits Manufacturing Renaissance and Youth Crossroads provide vocational training that Chicago's public schools have largely abandoned, particularly in disinvested communities. Manufacturing Renaissance runs free seven-week metalworking cohorts that include stipends, tools, job placement support, and an alumni network, and has trained more than 1,200 young adults since 1982. Youth Crossroads offers multiple workforce tracks, including HVAC certification and paid internships, and 88% of trade program graduates report feeling prepared to enter the workforce.

Two social enterprises in London are making significant strides in helping out the homeless and rough sleepers. One, named Beam, uses a crowdfunding platform to help finance training and qualifications for work for a variety of professions, from beauticians to electricians. The other, named Overstream Clean, hires the homeless to perform cleaning and gardening work, and they advertise themselves as a cleaning company rather than a social enterprise. Those who have gone through the programs say that they feel empowered and motivated by the help offered by their community.

The Volunteers of America's Face Forward 2 program offers a second chance to youth offenders by focusing on education and employment. Destyni Iverson believes the program potentially changed the trajectory of life. She said she felt hopeless when she enrolled, and was on the verge of becoming a high school dropout. Now she is enrolled as a nursing student at Cuyahoga Community College and believes she has a bright future.

Facing social stigma as well as other effects of being incarcerated, Philabundance Community Kitchen is using culinary education to provide much needed services to those formerly incarcerated. Via cooking classes and other life skills classes, this program has helped over 600 previously incarcerated Philadelphians attain employment in the culinary field.

Programs run by the Volunteers of America and Ohio Means Jobs|Cleveland-Cuyahoga County focus on employment, not only as a workforce issue, but also as a way to keep young people out of trouble and lower youth violence. Such programs have the research to back them up. An analysis done for The Plain Dealer by Case Western Reserve University shows a correlation between the youth idle rate, based on teens who are neither in school nor working, and youth violence.

The Claire Aid Foundation works to bridge the literacy gap in Jebbu Miango by hosting after-school classes in a newly created library in the area. About 350 children attend the after-school programs during the week where they’re taught basic grammar. The group also offers summer school programming, where students are taught more vocational skills like bead-making, tailoring, and pastry making.

At Linda Tutt High School, a student-run grocery store provides needed food aid for local families while also helping students learn workplace skills. The store is part of the school’s resiliency program, which also includes a social emotional learning curriculum and trauma-informed counseling.

To fight food insecurity—especially with those experiencing homelessness—Chicago has created a network of programs and organizations across the city to support those who need it in many different ways. One example is the Homeless Outreach Luncheon at Marillac St. Vincent Family Services, offering a meal, sleeping bag, a coat/clothing, a doctor, podiatrist, lawyer, and more. This article takes a look at a few of these responses and details how they work.

A garment factory in El Salvador combines work and education by offering classes and incentives to study for the one-fifth of its workforce without an education. Those who do not study are often let go, but have the chance to return should they resume their studies.

After generations of waiting, the Oglala Sioux prophecy of an economic, spiritual, and social renaissance is coming true. "Now the Seventh Generation is here," and they are creating dynamic change in one the least developed communities in the United States. Providing highly reduced tuition and parental efficacy at excellent schools has allowed many children to break the generational poverty chain.