Opportunity Nation

Promoting Opportunity, Social Mobility and the American Dream Opportunity Nation is a campaign for a better America -- an America where every citizen who works hard and plays by the rules has access to the American Dream; an America that provides both a safety net and ladders of opportunity. As the nation confronts challenges of public debt and economic stagnation raising the prospect that our grandchildren will live in a poorer, weaker nation we must seize this moment to prepare future generations for success. As we do, we can create more opportunities for millions of Americans to achieve their full potential and live the American Dream. Introduction In the depths of the Great Depression, historian James Truslow Adams described the American Dream as a better, richer and happier life for all citizens of every rank, which is the greatest contribution we have made to the thought and welfare of the world. That dream or hope has been present from the start. Ever since we became an independent nation, each generation has seen an uprising of ordinary Americans to save the American Dream from the forces which appear to be overwhelming it.1 Once again, that dream is at risk of being overwhelmed. Once again, we need an uprising of ordinary Americans to restore it. Opportunity, social mobility and faith in the economic future define America. It is a core value of our nation that where you start in life on the economic ladder should not determine how high you climb. In the decades following World War II, that ideal was often within reach. The share of young adults with a college degree more than doubled, the economy soared to new heights, and joining the middle class meant a good job, owning your own home, and sending your children to college. The American model of mobility inspired and reshaped the world. But that model is now questioned; its aspirations seem more distant. The recent economic downturn has left millions of Americans unemployed, reduced the value of homes and retirement accounts, left the government with unsustainable deficits and fewer resources to invest in the future. But the problem runs deeper than a downturn. The great, hopeful churn of American mobility has slowed. More than 46.2 million Americans lived in poverty in 2010, a year that saw the largest increase in poverty in four decades.2 Only 6 percent of children born to parents at the bottom of the income distribution make it to the top.3 Just as global economic competition demands greater skills, America has seemingly lost the knack for cultivating them. While the U.S. leads the world in educational attainment among 55 to 64 year olds, it is currently in 4th place among 35 to 44 year olds and 10th place among 25 to 34 year

Zakaria, Fareed. How to Restore the American Dream," TIME magazine, 21 Oct. 2010. "About Poverty - Highlights." United States Census Bureau. United States Department of Commerce, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2 "About Poverty - Highlights." United States Census Bureau. United States Department of Commerce, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/index.html>. 3 Isaacs, Julia B. Economic Mobility of Families Across Generations, Economic Mobility Project, Brookings Institution, November 2007.
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olds.4 For the first time, todays young adults risk having lower educational attainment rates, on average, than their parents. The result is stark: children in many European countries, from which so many immigrants came to the United States for more opportunities, now have greater socio-economic mobility than those in the United States.5 For millions of Americans, the pathways of success have become overgrown and unmarked. An education gap has become a skills gap that has become an opportunity gap. These developments have a disturbing human cost. In any given year, about one-third of Americans will spend at least two months in poverty; and nearly 50 percent of all children in the rising generation will spend at least one year on food stamps.6 Stalled mobility also has an undeniable economic cost. Nearly two-thirds of the jobs in todays economy are middle- and high-skill positions. Yet the American workforce has fewer than half the number of qualified candidates needed to fill those positions. American businesses currently demand 97 million middle- and high-skill employees but only 45 million Americans have the necessary skills to do the work. 7 And that lack of supply forces employers to choose among outsourcing jobs, importing skilled workers, or relocating operations to overseas markets with a rising supply of skilled workers. At the same time, the nation has an excess of workers to fill the remaining one-third of the job market, comprised of low-skill and low-wage positions. There are more than 100 million candidates for 61 million openings. 8 The resulting glut of job seekers drives up unemployment and holds down wages for the nations low-skilled workforce. Whats more, the skills gap will become even more pronounced. The evolution of the nations economy is clearly headed away from low-skill jobs. By 2020, three-quarters of the job market will be middle and high-skill and only 26 percent will be low-skill.9 The broader implication is plain: if America wants to remain competitive, we will have to expand our supply of middle- and high-skill workers. The job market of the future will demand a vast new supply of talented graduates of all ages from a diverse range of post-secondary programs, including career credentials and two-year associate degrees, and will require multiple pathways to degrees that allow students to earn and learn at the same time. In addition to these human and economic costs, Americas stalled mobility has moral implications. In a free society, some inequality is unavoidable. People differ in skills and enterprise. Some skills are more highly rewarded by a free market. But inequality without a realistic hope of economic advancement becomes more difficult to justify. Inequality without mobility amounts to a caste system. When the circumstances of ones birth become an inescapable fate, it is not only economically inefficient; it is unjust. The good news is the U.S. has succeeded in expanding economic opportunity before and this historic record points the way forward. Amid the strong economy and progressive government policies of the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2007). Education at a Glance 2007: OECD Briefing note for the United States. 5 Jantii, M., et. al. (2006). American Exceptionalism in a New Light: A Comparison on Intergenerational Earnings and Mobility in the Nordic Countries, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Discussion Paper 1938. . 6 AP/CBS. "Study: Half of U.S. Kids on Food Stamps - CBS News." CBS News. CBS, n.d. Web. 14 July 2011. 7 Gordon, E. (2009). The Global Talent Crisis, The Futurist. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. 2
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1960s, the share of Americans living below the federal poverty threshold dropped from 22.4 percent to 11.1 percent between 1959 and 1973. In the 1990s, economic growth combined with policies to promote and support work cut the poverty rate again from 15.1 percent to 11.3 percent between 1993 and 2000. In each period, a near full employment economy, sound federal and state policies, individual initiative, supportive civic institutions and communities, and a sustained national commitment led to significant progress.10 Research also shows us key levers of opportunity: only 2 percent of individuals who finish high school, work full-time, and have stable families before having children end up poor, while 75 percent of individuals who do none of these things end up poor. 11 There is nothing fated about economic and social stagnation. It is the foundational democratic ideal that greatness is found in average people. When their rights are respected and their potential is cultivated, men and women advance their lives along with the life of their country. The American people have not failed. They too often have been failed by institutions that do not adequately prepare or engage them. Given this knowledge, Opportunity Nation set out to answer several questions: How can socioeconomic mobility among disadvantaged children, youth, adults and older Americans be improved through innovative public policies and private means? What do the voices of the low and moderate income Americans tell us about their experiences, challenges, and successes so that such efforts are grounded in the realities of what will most help them? What are the bright spots of innovation that are increasing opportunities for the disadvantaged to climb out and stay out of poverty? What are the most significant institutional levers public and private -- that we can pull to reform and invest in a broken system that is failing to provide an opportunity society for more Americans right at a time when we need their talents and productivity the most? How can we make a quantum leap in restoring the American Dream for generations today and tomorrow? Our Vision We are a diverse, bipartisan group of civic leaders representing more than 150 national and community organizations that include or serve more than 50 million Americans who believe it is necessary to confront and close the opportunity gap in America. We believe that past debates on equality and economic freedom too often have focused on static categories of rich, middle class and poor. The most urgent hope of individuals is upward mobility within and between these categories. The economic story of a man or woman should be told, not in a snapshot, but in a movie and it should be a story of sustained progress. We affirm that the promotion of opportunity and mobility requires a variety of strong influences families that teach responsibility, individuals who work hard and play by the rules, non-profits that demonstrate innovation and results, faith-based and community groups that provide compassion and hope, philanthropic institutions making sustained commitments, an economy that rewards work and enterprise, and government institutions that establish justice, encourage education and skills, and care for those in the greatest need.
Center for American Progress. From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half. April 2007. Haskins, Ron, and Isabel V. Sawhill. Creating an Opportunity Society. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2009. Print.
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We believe that both markets and government have important roles to play in encouraging opportunity. Working markets provide incentives for effort and self-improvement. Private employment is a source of both advancement and dignity. But government can and should help in preparing individuals for economic success, as well as providing an effective social safety net. We reject a simplistic ideological conflict between markets and government. America needs a combination of smart government and a strong economy. We are convinced that one of the most effective roles of government is to create an atmosphere in which social enterprises can flourish. In many instances, government can encourage the provision of social services without directly providing those services. By fostering the work of social entrepreneurs, we encourage the next generation of risk-taking and innovation. Just as individuals deserve an atmosphere favorable to the cultivation of their promise, social enterprises need the same. Recognizing that a serious national conversation requires specificity, we offer a series of policy proposals and initiatives designed to accelerate this conversation about how to expand access to the American Dream. We recognize, however, that these proposals are in no way comprehensive and that many others will contribute promising ideas of their own. Starting an open discussion is one of our main goals. We also understand that difficult economic times complicate the advocacy of new public policies. But we believe this discussion is necessary precisely because our nation faces difficult economic times. America is engaged in the toughest global competition in its history. Yet some of our best players will never even get in the game. Among our youth, every dropout means we lose a future scientist, doctor or teacher. America won't be able to compete while large portions of our population are left behind. The American Dream means opportunity and mobility -- the belief that, regardless of where we start, any of us who work hard enough should get a great education, achieve success, provide for our families, and contribute to our communities. And so we offer Opportunity Nation: Promoting Opportunity, Social Mobility and the American Dream. This discussion guide represents a long-term vision leading up to the year 2025 that describes a new approach to socio-economic opportunity in America that is grounded in the real-world experiences of low- and moderate-income youth and adults; examines Bright Spot programs that are helping them climb and remain out of poverty; builds on, reforms where necessary, and invests in significant institutional levers in government; and unleashes the innovation of the private and non-profit sectors. Our approach is focused on five key areas where significant progress would restart the engine of mobility and allow millions to achieve their American Dream. From Access to Completion: Starting Early, Staying in School, and Earning a Credential! Opening Pathways to Prosperity: Expanding Options for Job Training and Success! Helping the Whole Family: A Holistic Approach for Children and Families! Achieving Economic Independence: Savings and Growth for Small Businesses and Households! 5. Promoting Communities of Opportunity: A New Opportunity Index!
1. 2. 3. 4. !

If we committed as a nation to these five areas, it would not be the first time that Americans of many beliefs and ideals, from across generations, and from all walks of life decided to intervene in the fate of the nation. James Truslow Adams himself surely bore witness to an uprising of ordinary Americans as our nation pulled out of the Great Depression and into the prosperity of the 20th century. Now we
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are called as a nation to respond again, to recognize our common purpose and our shared belief in the American Dream. Now is the time to renew that Dream and to revitalize the greatest contribution we have made to the thought and welfare of the world.!

Executive Summary
The Opportunity Nation campaign has set for itself a daunting collection of tasks, all aimed at fostering bipartisan and multi-sector support for opportunity in America: to engender a national dialogue, to advance social innovation, to change policy, and to build a permanent coalition. No single one of these objectives can be achieved without genuine cooperation across beliefs, affiliations, and sectors. The following proposals are designed to foster dialogue and bipartisan engagement around the five key areas we believe can have a significant impact on ensuring opportunity and keeping the doors to mobility open in America. We recognize this is just the start of a larger conversation, begun over two years ago in our listening sessions, submissions from the coalition, and ideas from diverse and bipartisan policy experts and practitioners, that will continue at our national summit and beyond. 1. From Access to Completion: Starting Early, Staying in School, and Earning a Credential It was once enough in America to provide access to college education while assuming that a high school degree was adequate for most jobs. That is no longer the case. Our labor market now places a premium on flexible, transferable skills. Increasingly, the completion of high school is necessary for an individual to merely get by and the completion of some college is necessary for an individual to advance up the economic ladder. A strong start in the labor market requires not just access to education, but the completion of a degree. Efforts must begin early and be sustained over time: Investing in Education Early Yields Lifetime Gains. An impressive body of research has shown that early investments in children ages 0-5 can make a significant difference in their cognitive, social and emotional development. Empirical studies have proven that investments in high-quality early learning are among the most cost-effective of any investment along the educational pipeline, returning as high as 15-17 percent on the investment each year. We have identified six key areas where meaningful and specific reforms would support early learning as a critical piece of the learning continuum. Boosting High School Graduation and College Readiness. Graduating from high school is still close to a 50-50 proposition for too many students in America today and the costs to individuals, the economy and our nation run into the hundreds of billions of dollars, resulting from lost revenues from a lack of productive workers and increased social services. A Grad Nation campaign, powered by a concrete Civic Marshall Plan to ensure we boost high school graduation rates to 90 percent by the Class of 2020 (those in 4th grade today), is mobilizing private and public stakeholders to accelerate reforms at the local, state and national levels. Encourage Postsecondary Completion, Not Just Enrollment. Today, more than 70 percent of high school graduates enroll in some kind of advanced education within two years. Yet, just over one-half of bachelors degree candidates complete their degree within six years, and less than one-third of associates degree candidates earn their degree within three years. America has a serious postsecondary completion crisis and needs to move from a culture and reforms that have focused just on access to college to those that incentivize completing a degree.

2. Opening Pathways to Prosperity: Expanding Options for Job Training and Success While bachelors degrees will continue to be important, they are not the only path to middle class success. The job market of the future will also demand a vast new supply of talented graduates of a diverse range of post-secondary programs, including those that are two-years or less. Particularly for middle-skill jobs, labor markets often require vocational, apprenticeship and associate degree credentials. We offer these ideas to open up more pathways to prosperity: Talent Development Credits. Businesses have a key role to play in preparing the workforce of tomorrow and in helping more students earn and learn hold down a job and have supports to earn further credentials at the same time -- in a meaningful way. Promote Workforce Skills Development through Stronger Workforce Investment Act Programs. The current system of federal job training programs can be aligned and strengthened to offer better skills training for workers and ensure funding reaches the programs we know work. ! Build Youth Opportunity Pathways and Expand the innovative YouthBuild Program. In communities with dropout rates exceeding 50 percent, it will take interventions at scale to put young people back on track to successful education, labor market, and civic engagement outcomes. With a track record of success, YouthBuild offers a holistic program of education, job training, personal counseling, community service, leadership development, placement in college or jobs, and follow-up support after graduation. Prevent Youth Violence and Set a Path of Opportunity for system-involved youth and adult parolees. Every 19 seconds a child is arrested. To divert youth away from delinquency, violence and prisons, we propose a coordinated, multi-sector effort to assess, monitor and implement violence reduction strategies, and provide mentoring and support for systeminvolved youth to put them on a path toward productive opportunities. Every parolee should have access to a best practices prisoner re-entry program to enable them to become productive members of society.

3. Helping the Whole Family: A Holistic Approach for Children and Families The cultivation of skills is essential to the creation of an opportunity society. But not everyone begins life with equal tools to take advantage of opportunity. Children in struggling families and broken communities have extra challenges and burdens. They need and deserve extra help. A child who experiences acute hunger does not have an equal start in life. A parent overwhelmed by the accumulated challenges of poverty can feel helpless to provide a good start for their children. We recommend the following ideas: Treat Individuals Holistically, Not According to Federal Silos. The most effective way to help someone in need is to treat him or her as a person, not as a set of discrete problems. Pilot demonstration waivers would allow local communities to develop Local Opportunity Plans that will collapse the silos of service and burdensome bureaucracy, and replace them with a locally formulated design that targets specific individual need. Promote Healthy Marriages and Responsible Parenting. There is growing research that having two married parents is the best environment for children, and both parents should play
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an active role in the lives of their children Programs that keep fathers engaged in a safe and responsible manner should be strengthened. Include Pregnancy Planning and Prevention in Home Visiting Programs. Home-visiting programs should include information on pregnancy prevention, planning, and spacing so individuals can make informed choices as one important way to help improve the health and well-being of children, women, and their families. Ensure All Children Have Access to Quality Child Care and Pre-K Programs. Many families face two critical challenges: how to ensure that their children are ready for school; and how to ensure their children are safe and well-cared for while parents work. Access to affordable, high-quality programs should be increased. End Child Hunger. In 2009, 17.2 million American children lived in households that could not always afford food. To achieve the goal of ending child hunger will require commitments from and coordination among federal, state, and local governments, as well as non-profit, private sector, and community-based groups. Efforts to end child hunger will be most successful when they build on the successes of existing programs and leverage multiple partners to work towards a common goal. Ensure Brighter Futures for Youth Through Mentoring Programs. Research shows that having a mentor decreases the likelihood that disadvantaged youth will engage in violent behavior and drug use, while improving the chances that they will attend school regularly and improve academically. School-based and community-based mentoring programs, including those reaching the particularly vulnerable children with parents in prison, should be supported through public-private partnerships.

4. Achieving Economic Independence: Savings and Growth for Small Businesses and Households Productive work and the building of wealth are the real foundations of the American Dream; excessive debt and consumption have proven to be a house built on shifting sands. But wealth and savings are also an area where inequality is most evident. The racial divide in our country is widest when it comes to assets. The median net worth of white and Asian Americans in 2004 was $142,700. The median net worth of African Americans was $20,400. This disparity has helped cause an intergenerational accumulation of economic disadvantage. If our goal is to promote broad economic advancement, we must address the asset gap. We suggest the following proposals: Make the Research and Development Tax Credit Permanent to Promote Innovation. The nations long-term economic growth depends on a host of factors, but tomorrows jobs depend largely on todays investment. Our free enterprise system that has sparked job-producing inventions must be nurtured. Establish an American Infrastructure Bank. Investment in infrastructure projects can boost our global competitiveness and create jobs at the same time. Bridge the Digital Divide. Several studies have shown that fast, reliable broadband improves the operational efficiency of businesses, making it easier for them to reach new customers, grow their business, and hire additional employees. This is particularly important for small businesses or for businesses in rural or low-income communities.
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Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to Childless Workers and Eliminate the Marriage Penalty. In 2009, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable tax credit that supplements the income of the working poor, lifted an estimated 6.6 million people out of poverty, including 3.3 million children. Without the EITC, the poverty rate among children would have been nearly one-third higher. Improve Incentives and Opportunities to Save. For many families, saving for education, a home, or retirement is key to making economic progress. Unfortunately, most low-income families lack the resources to save for the future. Expanding the Savers Credit and offering a savers bonus for tax refunds can change the equation. Roughly half of U.S. workers are not offered a 401(k) or any other type of employer-sponsored plan. The Automatic IRA (Auto IRA) offers employees not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan the opportunity to save through the powerful mechanism of regular payroll deposits that continue automatically. Alternative Data Credit Reporting. As many as 70 million Americans are excluded from the mainstream credit system not because of bad credit history, but rather due to a lack of information. That is, their lack of credit history leaves them ineligible to be scored.

5. Promoting Communities of Opportunity: A New Opportunity Index Today, the most commonly discussed measure on economic security is the poverty rate. The focus on the poverty rate continues to engender polarizing feelings among Americans and does not provide communities the data and complete picture they need to understand the progress they can make in boosting measures of economic mobility, such as graduating from high school and college. The Opportunity Index will measure our progress on economic opportunity where it matters the most at the community level.

These ideas, taken together, create a powerful framework for promoting opportunity, social mobility, and the American Dream for all of us. We invite your participation and ideas.

From Access to Completion

Starting Early, Staying in School, and Earning a Credential
It was once enough in America to provide access to college education while assuming that a high school degree was adequate for most jobs. That is no longer the case. Our labor market now places a premium on flexible, transferable skills. Increasingly, the completion of high school is necessary for an individual to merely get by and the completion of college is necessary for an individual to advance up the economic ladder. A strong start in the labor market requires not just access to education, but the completion of a degree. The challenge: Even as educational degrees have become a key qualification in our economy, some high schools and colleges seem unable to retain and graduate the students in their charge. One fifth of all American dropouts are found in just 25 school districts and 50 percent of our nations dropouts are found in just 15 percent of the schools Americas dropout factories.12 These former students are unlikely to achieve their full potential in life or contribute fully to our economy. At the same time, only about half of students who begin a four-year college end up getting a degree within six yearsand the proportion of community college students who complete a degree within three years is only around one in four. For some groups, the completion rates are worse than for others. In almost every year from 1972 to 2008, enrollment rates of high school grads from low-income families trailed the rates of those from high-income families by at least 20 percentage points.13 Even among highly qualified students, 80 percent of students from high-income families will enroll in a 4-year institution compared to 44 percent of students from low-income families.14 And although enrollment rates of African American and Hispanic students have improved, they still trail their White peers. Nationally, 73% of Whites, 56% of African Americans, and 58% of Hispanics enroll in college immediately after high school.15 Family income also influences what kind of college a student attends even if academically the student is high achieving, with only 19 percent of high-achieving lower-income students attending the nations 146 most selective colleges, compared with 29 percent of high-achieving higher-income students doing so.16 Even where one lives can have an impact on attending college. In the United States as a whole, 38 percent of high school freshmen will likely enroll in college by age 19. In the best performing states, more than one-half of students are likely to enroll in college, while in the worst performing states, fewer than 30 percent of incoming high school freshmen will likely enroll in college.17 For example, high school freshmen in California, compared with their peers in Massachusetts, are 17% less likely to enroll in college by age 19.18
Bridgeland, John M., John J. Dilulio Jr., Karen Burke Morrison, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Droputs. 2005. Print. 13 Ibid. 14 Committee for Economic Development. (2005). Cracks in the education pipeline: A business leaders guide to higher education reform. Washington, D.C. 15 The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. (2010). Measuring Up 2008: The National Report Card on Higher Education. 16 Wyner, J., Bridgeland, J. and Diiulio, Jr., J. (2007). Achievement Trap: How America is Failing Millions of HighAchieving Students from Lower-Income Families, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Civic Enterprises, LLC. 17 Committee for Economic Development. (2005). Cracks in the education pipeline: A business leaders guide to higher education reform. Washington, D.C 18 The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. (2010). Measuring Up 2008: The National Report Card on Higher Education. 10
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The consequences of educational success and of educational failure are stark. Adults who complete high school earn an average of $19,000 a year more than non-graduates more than $600,000 in added income over a working lifetime. A child from the lowest income quintile who graduates college has a 19 percent chance of joining the highest income quintile as an adult and a 62 percent chance of joining the middle class or better. But just 11 percent of children from the bottom quintile have earned college degrees in recent years compared with 53 percent of children from the highest earning families.19 The attainment of knowledge and skills is the key to economic success, for individuals and the country. As Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke has echoed, In the long term . . . the best way by far to improve economic opportunity and to reduce inequality is to increase the educational attainment and skills of American workers. The productivity surge in the decades after World War II corresponded to a period in which educational attainment was increasing rapidly; in recent decades, progress on that front has been far slower.20 Our Guiding Principle: For generations, Americans have understood the value of a good education. Its a concept that is embedded in the hearts and minds of every parent, grandparent, uncle, and aunt. We all agree on the goal, the challenge is how to get there. Policies for Discussion: No one has all the answers, and we dont pretend to. But we all agree we can do better. We believe a starting point is to put into place policies that address the core challenge of moving from educational access to completion. This includes policies that get children off to a good start so they can finish well; boost high school graduation and college readiness; and make postsecondary completion as much a priority as enrollment. Recent success in all these areas proves that progress is possible. Now it needs to be multiplied. Investing in Education Early Yields Lifetime Gains Proposal: The years prior to kindergarten are among the most significant in shaping a child's foundation for learning and school success. A robust body of evidence and research demonstrates that high quality early learning programs help children arrive at kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life. Disadvantaged children who have access to such programs from birth through age 5 are more likely to improve their cognitive, social, emotional, and language development. And empirical studies have proven that investments in high-quality early learning are among the most cost-effective of any investment along the educational pipeline, returning as high as 15-17 percent on the investment each year.21 Each day, over 11 million children under the age of 5 spend time outside of the care of their parents, and in a wide variety of environments each of which should promote and encourage their early learning and development. But the quality of early learning settings varies greatly, and despite some progress, early childhood education programs are held to inconsistent standards among and within states.
Eckholm, Erik, Higher Education Gap May Slow Economic Mobility, The New York Times, February 20, 2008. Bernanke, B. (June 4, 2008). Remarks on Class Day 2008, At Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 21 "The Early Learning Challenges Fund." ed.gov. United States Department of Education, n.d. Web. 18 July 2011. <www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/earlylearning/elcf-factsheet.html>.
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Unfortunately, it is often the most disadvantaged children who are left behind. By the time children are 3, disparities in early vocabulary growth between those whose parents are professionals and those whose families are on welfare amount to over 50 percent.22 Research also shows significant starting line disparities among 1st grade students performing in the top academic quartile only 28 percent are from lower-income families, while 72 percent are from higher-income families23. The Administration and Congress have recently agreed on the Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge, which is a $500 million state competitive grant program that rewards states for developing better early learning systems. In particular, it is focused on increasing access for young children from low-income families and communities. This is a critical and important first step, but more needs to be done to fully recognize and integrate early learning objectives into the continuum of K-12 education policy objectives. With the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) slated for reauthorization, we have the opportunity to further recognize early childhood education as a key building block for achieving our nations college- and career-readiness goals. Many states and communities have made high-quality early learning an essential part of their long-term strategy for education reform, and a reauthorized ESEA can support their efforts by better connecting early childhood programs to K-12 reform. In the years ahead, the need to improve student outcomes with limited resources will put more focus on how early learning helps children and families while providing one of the strongest returns on investment. Early learning is embedded in ESEA, with 85 references to "early childhood" in the current law, though much more must be done to formally recognize its importance and provide support for highquality programming. To that end, we have identified six key areas where meaningful and specific reforms would support early learning as a critical piece of the learning continuum: (1) Coordinate and Align Early Learning and K-12 Systems; (2) Align Early Learning with College and Career Readiness; (3) Promote Entry into the Field and Create a World-Class Early Childhood Education Workforce; (4) Develop Data Systems; (5) Spur Innovation in Early Childhood Education Programming; (6) Support State and Local Districts; and, (7) Integrate State Systems of Early Learning.24 Rationale: An impressive body of research has shown that early investments in children ages 0-5 can make a significant difference in their cognitive, social and emotional development.25 Such programs benefit not only individual children but also are sound business investments.26 27 28 As important as investments in early childhood are in laying the foundation for intellectual and social development, they do not yield optimal returns by themselves. According to an evaluation of the Head Start program by UCLAs Janet Currie and her colleagues, even when children have access to highHart, B. Risley, T. R. The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3. American Educator. (2003) Wyner, J., Bridgeland, J. Diiulio, Jr., J. Achievement Trap: How America is Failing Millions of High-Achieving Students from Lower-Income Families, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Civic Enterprises, LLC. (2007) 24 State and Local Funding Flexibility Act, H.R. Res. 2445, 112 Cong. (2011). Print. 25 National Research Council, Institute of Medicine. (2000) From Neurons to Neighborhoods- The Science of Early Childhood Development, National Academy Press 26 HighScope. Lifetime Effects: The HighScope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40 (2005). Web. 18 July 20111 27 Grunewald, Rob, and Arthur J. Rolnick. Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return. Fedgazzette. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Mar. 2003. Web. 18 July 2011. 28 Dickens, William T., Isabel Sawhil, and Jeffery Tebbs. The Effects of Investing in Early Education on Economic Growth. The Brookings Institution, Apr. 2006. Web. 18 July 2011. 12
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quality early childhood programs, children who went on to attend low-performing schools lost much of what they had gained from participating in Head Start.29 Nobel Prize-winning economic James Heckman and his University of Chicago colleague Flavio Cunha found that when investments are balanced throughout a young persons childhood -- instead of concentrated only on a particular stage, such as preschool or adolescence society reaps the greatest return.30 Building cognitive and non-cognitive skills is a process that occurs throughout a childs development. Investing at each stage of a childs development (such as during early childhood, middle childhood and adolescence) helps build skills at that particular stage. The skills developed at a particular stage will then persist into future states of development. Investments also accumulate over time. Thus, skills at a later stage build on the skills of a previous stage, which leads to more productive overall investments.31 Heckman and Cunha built an econometric model to simulate the effects of receiving balanced investments throughout childhood on children living in disadvantaged households and communities. The model studied a population of boys who were children of disadvantaged girls who were part of a federal longitudinal study begun in 1979. With no investments or supports, Heckman and Cunha estimated only 41 percent of this group would graduate from high school and less than five percent would enroll in college but with a comprehensive preschool program 66 percent would go on to graduate high school and nearly 15 percent would enroll in college. Even more astonishing, when children received continued skill-building investment throughout their adolescence on top of preschool interventions, high school graduation rates rose to nearly 85 percent. And when these young people enjoyed balanced investments throughout their childhoods, they found that more than 90 percent would graduate from high school and nearly 40 percent would attend college.32 If all the students who should have been in the class of 2010 had stayed in school and graduated, our economic would gain more than $330 billion in higher wages, greater consumer buying power and increased tax contributions. Implementation: It is clear continued investment in and support of access to high-quality early childhood education and development programs is critical to the long-term success for children. Preventing the achievement gap early is crucial and a smart investment. Therefore, Congress should amend the next Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization to include funding and objectives for (1) Coordinating and Aligning Early Learning and K-12 Systems; (2) Aligning Early Learning with College and Career Readiness; (3) Promote Entry into the Field and Create a WorldClass Early Childhood Education Workforce; (4) Develop Data Systems; (5) Spur Innovation in Early Childhood Education Programming; (6) Support State and Local Districts; and, (7) Integrate State Systems of Early Learning.

Currie, Janet, and Duncan Thomas. "School Quality and the Longer-Term Effects of Head Start." Journal of Human Resources (1999). Web. 30 Heckman, James, and Flavio Cunha. "The Economic Case for Investing in Young People." America's Promise Alliance (2006). Print 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid 13

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Bright Spot:33 Jumpstart for Young Children: Jumpstart exemplifies the work that non-profit organizations partnering with all types of early childhood education providers, from Head Start to faith-based programs, to work towards the day all children enter kindergarten prepared to succeed. With a research-driven and results-oriented curriculum focused on key language and literacy skill development, Jumpstart tracks its success and sees that young participants achieve a 29% gain in school readiness skills compared with non-participants. Through its innovative program, Jumpstart mobilizes the community to serve young children. Since 1993, Jumpstart has recruited and trained more than 20,000 college students and community members who have served more than 90,000 young children from low-income neighborhoods. Its focus on high-quality programming in addition to training thousands of young adults in early childhood education and education highlights how social enterprises can meet multiple needs in the field. Boosting High School Graduation and College Readiness Proposal: As part of the GradNation initiative, we have proposed a Civic Marshall Plan to increase high school graduation rates to 90 percent by the Class of 2020 those 3.7 million students entering 4th grade today. This will require 600,000 more diplomas than the Class of 2008 received. The plan will target the dropout factory high schools the 15 percent of schools (1,634 high schools) where half the dropouts are concentrated and their feeder elementary and middle schools. An additional 35 percent of the dropouts are found in 3,000 high schools with graduation rates between 61-75 percent. The plan establishes initial benchmarks that research has shown boosts students academic achievement and keeps students on track to graduate, from intensive supports to ensure struggling students are reading on grade level by 5th grade; chronic absenteeism is reduced; early warning and intervention systems are in place in every targeted school district and state; a non-profit mentor for every 10-15 off track students is in place; intensive supports are provided in the transition years to high school; the compulsory school age laws are raised to 18 in all states; and there are clear, multiple pathways for students to complete a rigorous high school curriculum prepared for post-secondary education and careers. The following principles and legislation should be adopted to ensure every student has access to the American Dream: 1) create rigorous standards reflected in the Common Core State Standards that foster increased graduation rates for all students and create the expectation that all students will graduate on time, ready for college or career; 2) support investments targeting the lowest performing middle and high schools by continuing and expanding the School Improvement Grants, working in partnership with other existing federal programs; 3) develop comprehensive, data-driven, and evidence-based programs to address critical conditions for learning as proposed by the Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students Act; 4) hold states, districts and schools accountable for graduating all students from high school prepared for college and career consistent with the four-year graduation rate calculation and establishing goals and annual targets as proposed by the Every Student Counts Act; 5) permit flexibility and data-driven decision-making, allowing states and local school systems to determine the best reform strategies based on data, and tailor these reforms to the unique needs of their low-performing middle and high schools as proposed by the Success in the Middle Act and Graduation Promise Act, while fostering the utilization of early warning data and intervention systems to identify and keep on track potential dropouts; 6) foster partnerships between schools and community-based organizations as proposed by the Keeping PACE Act and the DIPLOMA Act; 7) support national or
We intend to feature many more bright spots and descriptions of efforts by organizations to increase opportunity in a special companion booklet to this report. 14
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regional networks of community-based, district-based, and state charter schools that give drop-outs a second chance to complete their secondary education, such as YouthBuild, Transfer Schools in NYC, and Youth Connection Charter Schools in Chicago; 8) provide support for district, community, and statewide efforts to raise high school graduation and college and career readiness rates, such as Race to the Top, GEAR UP and matching 529 College Savings programs, including participation from school districts, the High School Graduation Initiative, and Promise Neighborhoods; 9) invest in innovation to increase high school graduation and college and career readiness as proposed in the Secondary School Innovation Act, the ATTAIN Act and the Investing in Innovation program; 10) invest in principal and teacher training to build supportive and caring school cultures that include social and emotional learning and that demonstrate to students that the staff care about their success, which will encourage them not to drop out; and11) capitalize on the nations long history of service to strengthen the capacity of schools and communities to support student success by supporting the Education Corps in the Serve America Act that mobilizes community and national service participants to help keep students in school and on-track to graduate on time. Rationale: Every year, more than one million students fail to graduate from public high school with their class, resulting in higher levels of unemployment, poverty, public assistance, crime and imprisonment than their graduating peers. Graduating from high school for African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans those disproportionately failing to access the American Dream -- is still close to a fifty-fifty proposition. The lost lifetime earnings for the Class of 2010 dropouts alone total more than $337 billion.34 Two seminal reports, Locating the Dropout Crisis and The Silent Epidemic, brought national attention to the problem and gave the nation hope it could be solved. The first report highlighted the fact that half of all the dropouts are concentrated in just 15 percent of the nations schools, enabling a highly targeted response. The second report shared the perspectives of high school dropouts, showing that most dropouts could have graduated from high school and gone on to college and productive work and offering the very solutions that research shows boost student achievement. After decades of flat-lining, high school graduation rates over the last decade have shown significant improvements with some states, school districts and schools making real progress and shattering the myth that only incremental gains are possible. In recent years, we have seen gains in high school graduation rates across 29 states and in large urban school districts thought to be chronically unfixable.35 Whats needed is a Civic Marshall Plan to build a GradNation that marries limited and existing federal investments with action at the state, school and community levels that targets the dropout factory high schools and their feeder elementary and middle schools. The effort will target the more than 1,600 dropout factory high schools and their feeder schools that graduate 60 percent or fewer of their students every year, together with a focus on the 3,000 additional high schools with graduation rates between 61 and 75 percent. To reach the 90 percent goal within the decade, these low-performing schools will have to increase their graduation rates an average of 2 percentage points every year, with Civic Marshall Plan indices provided for each state.36 Implementation: A Leadership Council of the nations leading organizations representing policymakers, educators and community-based institutions is supporting this GradNation policy agenda, prompting further action at the state level, and mobilizing resources at the community and district levels to implement this plan. Congress should consider the proposed legislation as part of the
"Nation's High Schools." All4ed.org. Alliance for Excellent Education, n.d. Web. 18 July 2011. <www.all4ed.org/files/United States> 35 Balfanz, Robert, John M. Bridgeland, Joanna Hornig Fox, and Laura A. Moore. Building a Grad Nation. America's Promise Alliance. AT@T, 2011. Web. 36 Ibid 15
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reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act, and target resources to the low graduation rate high schools that are responsible for the vast majority of the nations dropouts. The private and non-profit sectors should work in partnership with policymakers to ensure public education is a data-driven enterprise and that districts have the community-based supports they need to boost student achievement and high school graduation rates. Schools that cannot stay on track should be transformed or replaced. Annual reports to the nation should be issued by the Leadership Council every year at the GradNation Summit to show the progress made and challenges that remain in staying on track to meet the national goal. Bright Spots: Diplomas Now: Diplomas Now is a comprehensive reform model for high schools that face serious challenges with attendance, discipline, achievement scores, and dropout rates. At the core of the model is a partnership between Talent Development, City Year, and Communities in Schools. These three organizations partner with the school staff and faculty to provide structural and curricular reforms, student supports, and additional staff through City Years corps members. The model reorganizes schools into small learning communities that include a ninth grade academy and career academies for upper-grade students. Both the reorganization into small learning communities and the influx of corps members aim to reduce student isolation and anonymity, and provide sufficient adult attention to move all students towards success. The model incorporates strong instruction and curricula that emphasize high academic standards and a college-preparatory academic sequence for all students. The program incorporates an early warning system, and targets its efforts on the 9th grade, using student level data on attendance, behavior, and grades to identify which students to serve and what services to provide at what intensity they need to provide. The strength of the Diplomas Now model comes from the strategic cooperation between its three partner organizations. Talent Development High Schools are a Johns Hopkins University reform model that focuses on whole-school change to improve student outcomes. The model includes organizational and management change, curricular and instructional innovations focusing on English and math, parent and community involvement, and teacher development. Under the Diplomas Now model, this reform work is supplemented by workers from City Year and Communities in Schools. City Year provides corps members who serve for one year in the school. These recent high school graduates build student relationships, provide tutoring and support services, and closely track student successes and problems. They are supplemented by workers from Communities in Schools, who maximize relationships with local volunteers, businesses, and other partners to connect students to the supports and services they need to be successful in school. Coordinating with teachers, City Year corps members, and other school staff, they seek to ensure students are able to enter school ready and capable of learning. Together, these three organizations attempt to address the full needs of the student and school through comprehensive reform that aggressively helps students stay on-track to graduate. New Leaders for New Schools: New Leaders for New Schools recruits highly qualified current and former educators to become principals of urban public schools. In just 9 years, the program has grown to train and support over 640 New Leaders across 12 urban centers. In 2009, 2+ New Leaders principals in K-8 schools were twice as likely as other principals to lead breakthrough gains in student proficiency scores in their schools.37 Preliminary results indicate that students in elementary and
Includes all K-8 schools with available gains data as of August 2009 for the 2008-09 school year. Breakthrough is defined as 20 or more points in the percentage of students who reach proficiencyor, in schools that have reached proficiency, gains of 20 or more points in the proportion of students scoring at advanced levels. This calculation takes into account our proportional representation in a district. For example, if we are 10% of a districts principals but get 20% of their breakthrough gains, we are twice as likely as others to get breakthrough gains. The calculation excludes NYC because 16
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middle schools led by New Leaders principals for at least three years are academically outpacing their peers by statistically significant margins.38 New Leaders are turning around our urban dropout factories, graduating students at higher rates and increasing the percent of graduates by wider margins than other schools.39 Admission Possible: Founded in 2000 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Admission Possible began as a pilot program serving 35 low-income students in two high schools and has grown to serve more than 7,400 low-income high school and college students annually across the Milwaukee, WI and Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN metro areas and on nearly 200 college campuses nationwide. Recent college graduates serving as fulltime AmeriCorps coaches deliver the high school program curriculum of SAT/ACT test preparation, college admissions and financial aid consulting, and college transition guidance; and Admission Possibles college program supports students toward degree completion and workforce readiness. The organizations scalable AmeriCorps application model was the first of its kind in the United States and has achieved unparalleled student results with impressive cost efficiency. Since their founding, 98% of students have earned admission to college and nearly 80% of students who enrolled in college are still working toward their degrees or have already graduated.40 Policymakers and elected officials have endorsed the program as one that should grow. Minnesotas Former Governor Tim Pawlenty commissioned a report recommending the state expand successful programs such as Admission Possible which has a demonstrated track record of success. In June 2009, President Obama cited their work during a bi-partisan White House event highlighting innovative, results-oriented nonprofits. Admission Possible operates in just two states now," the President said. "So imagine if it was 10, or 20, or 50.41 Based on their impressive results and research conducted with the support of McKinsey & Company, Admission Possible will add 1-2 new markets per year as they grow to serve 20,000 students annually through 10 sites across the country by 2020 or earlier. The 100% Graduation Rate Program: The 100% Graduation Rate Program is an evidence-based dropout intervention and prevention program for at-risk minority male students ages 13-19, that teaches skills to build resiliency against risk factors and control early signs of emotional distress. The goal of the program is to develop collaboration among the business, academic, and service communities in inner cities to encourage high school minority males to stay in school and reach their full potential, and reduce the likelihood that young men will become involved in the criminal justice system, by addressing mental health areas (or needs) of social development. From 2000-2006, the programs high school graduation rate was 95% for males in one of the nations poorest and most violence cities, Camden, New Jersey. The program has a 89% completion rate for its participants, a 100% youth employment rate, a 69% college enrollment rate and non-juvenile offender rate of 86%. The 100% Graduation Rate Program is planning to duplicate its model in 36 cities across the country starting in the fall of 2012. 42
the sheer numbers of non-New Leaders-led schools in NYC masks the New Leaders-led school impact. Still, within the city of New York, 61% of 2+ New Leaders principals in K-8 schools had breakthrough gains compared to 37% in the district. 38 Unlike publicly available school-level data, this analysis is from student-level data from the 2007-08 school year, the most recent student-level data set available, that provides a cumulative measure of New Leaders students growth rates to comparable students growth across different cities and thus includes the impact of first year principals on student achievement. 39 Includes schools with available data through summer 2008, the most recent data set available. 40 "Admission Possible 2010-2011 Program Profile." Admission Possible. Web. 18 Jan. 2011. 41 Ibid 42 "Model Program | National Dropout Prevention Center/Network." The National Dropout Prevention Centers Portal. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2011. 17

Encourage Postsecondary Completion, Not Just Enrollment Proposal: While access to higher education has expanded significantly in the United States over the last century, a new crisis has emerged: disturbing numbers of students who enroll in postsecondary education are failing to complete their degree with huge consequences to them, society, and the economy. Today, more than 70 percent of high school graduates enroll in some kind of advanced education within two years. Yet, just over one-half of bachelors degree candidates complete their degree within six years, and less than one-third of associates degree candidates earn their degree within three years.43 America has a serious postsecondary completion crisis. Recently, a national challenge has been set: America should lead the world in postsecondary attainment by 2020. To achieve this goal will require 8 million more graduates of postsecondary credentials, two-year, and four-year degrees than we are expected to produce. If we are going to move from a higher education system focused on access to one focused on both access and completion we will need to examine and re-align incentives to ensure students, post-secondary institutions, and employers are focused on, and rewarded for, increasing graduation rates. Some proposals to provide incentives for completion are:

Partial loan forgiveness for low-income students who persist and graduate or increases in Pell grant contributions to eligible students as they progress through their courses and ultimately earn a degree or credential. Frequently on our community listening tour, teens and young adults shared their anxieties over the rising cost of higher education and the fear of having more debt and no diploma to get a good job to pay off their debt. Studies suggest that students respond positively to financial incentives to complete their degrees. Research finds that additional student financial aid dollars are associated with higher graduation rates, even after controlling for appropriation levels to schools, demonstrating a dollar given directly to a student may have an even greater impact on graduation than a dollar given directly to a school.44 !
!

Performance funding for postsecondary institutions that aligns public spending on higher education with a states goals for workforce development and economic growth. Most state higher education budgets are derived from past funding levels, student enrollment, and automatic increases for expenditures such as employee benefits and pay raises. While enrolling more students may increase an institutions budget, graduating students is rarely taken into consideration even though it is the goal of higher education institutions. This kind of budgeting, divorced from performance, does not give institutions any strong incentives to improve their completion rates. Performance-based funding links a portion of a post-secondary institutions budget to institutional success on measures that reflect state and individual priorities, including degree and credential completion, success on intermediate measures that correlate with completion (such as completing 24 credit hours in ones first year or entering a coherent program of study in ones first year in community college), and increased enrollment and completion in programs with high economic value to a state, such as STEM programs or certain allied health professions.!

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United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2010). Digest of Education Statistics, 2009 (NCES 2010-013). (These completion rates apply only to first-time, full-time students completing degrees within 150% on normal time.) 44 Doyle, W. (2010). Open-Access Colleges Responsible for Greatest Gains in Graduation Rates. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education: Making the Connections. San Jose, CA. 18

Tax incentives for businesses that support employee degree completion. It is crucial that American businesses work collaboratively with community colleges, and other associates degree granting institutions, to ensure that they are producing graduates with the competencies required by the business community. In a recent survey, business leaders reported they were more likely to engage in direct efforts to increase the number of postsecondary degree holders (such as tuition assistance programs, internships, partnerships with postsecondary institutions, etc.) if they were offered tax incentives to reduce the costs of participation.45 Talent Development Credits, detailed in the next section, can help employers support employees who are seeking a first degree or credential. !

Rationale: A high school degree is no longer the gateway to the middle class that it once was. Today there is broad agreement among business and higher education leaders that a postsecondary degree or credential is critical for success in the workplace. But while many know about the importance of higher education, more enrollment has not produced more degrees. Internationally, while the U.S. leads the world in educational attainment among 55 to 64 year olds, it is currently in 4th place among 35 to 44 year olds and 10th place among 25 to 34 year olds.46 For the first time in our history, todays cohort of young adults risks having lower educational attainment rates, on average, than their parents, threatening both Americas economic future and a fundamental tenet of American democracy a chance at the American Dream. The US completion gap between high income and low-income students threatens to further erode socio-economic mobility in the US. Despite high-achieving students from high-income and lowincome families enrolling in college at nearly the same rate (98 percent and 93 percent, respectively) their chance of successfully completing college diverges dramatically. While 77 percent of higherincome high-achieving twelfth graders can expect to graduate from college, the same is true for only 59 percent of lower-income high-achieving students.47 In fact, the bachelors degree attainment rate of students from low-income families has actually declined over time. Among first-generation graduates, 12.3 percent of the class of 1972 was from the lowest income quartile at that time. Twenty years later, only 9.5 percent of first generation graduates were from the lowest income quartile, and the same decline was found in the attainment rates of nonfirst generation students as well.48 Implementation: A goal has been set for the US to be first in the world in higher education attainment by the end of this decade. Meeting that goal will require the federal government to work collaboratively with the nations businesses and educational institutions. To encourage collaboration and to create incentives for degree completion we propose legislation that authorizes: performancebased funding for students which links degree completion to partial loan forgiveness or increases Pell Grant awards with persistence; performance-based funding for schools which links budgeting to improving graduation rates; and tax incentives for businesses that support employee degree attainment.

Bridgeland, John, Jessica Milano, and Elyse Rosenblum. Across the Great Divide: Perspectives of CEOs and College Presidents on America's Higher Education and Skills GAP. Rep. Civic Enterprises LLC, 2011. Print. 47 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2007). Education at a Glance 2007: OECD Briefing note for the United States. 47 Wyner, J., Bridgeland, J. and Diiulio, Jr., J. (2007). Achievement Trap: How America is Failing Millions of HighAchieving Students from Lower-Income Families, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Civic Enterprises, LLC. 48 Bowen, William G., Matthew M. Chingos, and Michael S. McPherson. Crossing the finish line: completing college at America's public universities. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2009. Print. 19

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Bright Spot: Early College High Schools: Early college high schools blend high school and college in a rigorous yet supportive program, compressing the time it takes to complete a high school diploma and the first two years of college. Since 2002, the partner organizations of the Early College High School Initiative have started or redesigned more than 200 schools in 24 states and the District of Columbia. The schools are designed so that low-income youth, first-generation college goers, English language learners, students of color, and other young people underrepresented in higher education can simultaneously earn a high school diploma and an Associates degree or up to two years of credit toward a Bachelors degreetuition free. Although the initiative is relatively young, early data from early college high schools are promising. In contrast to alarming national data for students with similar demographic profiles, attendance rates for early college high school students average over 90 percent, indicating high levels of student engagement and commitment to the academic program. Grade-to-grade promotion rates in early college high schools also exceed 90 percent, and the first students have graduated with impressive results.49 In 2007, more than 900 students graduated from 17 early college high schools around the country. Their achievements far surpass those of their peers from traditional high schools serving similar populations. Preliminary data shows that: Over 65 percent of the graduates were accepted to four-year colleges. Others have chosen to complete an Associates degree by spending a fifth year at their early college high school.50 More than 85 percent graduated with substantial college credit.51 More than 250 early college high school graduates earned merit-based college scholarships. Four earned the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarship, awarded to 1,000 high-achieving, lowincome students each year.52

Accelerated Learning Program at Community College of Baltimore County: Instructional leaders at the Community College of Baltimore County were frustrated by the poor outcomes of many students who entered their college underprepared for college-level work. Of those students who placed into an upper-level developmental English course, only 27 percent completed a first-year credit course (English 101) after three years. Most perplexing, many of those who failed to advance had successfully passed the remedial course but had failed to continue on. In response, the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) created an alternative approach to developmental education, called the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP). Under ALP, students placed into upper-level developmental writing are mainstreamed into English 101 classes that include students placed directly into college English. The ALP students also enroll in a companion course that meets in the class period immediately following the English 101 class. Taught by the same instructor who teaches the English 101 section, the ALP course is designed to help students maximize the likelihood of success in the 101 course. Preliminary outcomes research on this strategy for moving students more quickly and with targeted support into credit courses that count toward a degree is very promising. Compared to the conventional approach in which students first take an upper-level developmental course and then English 101, the ALP approach produced double the success rate in half the time. Almost two out of
49 50

"Early College High School Initiative." Early College High School Initiative. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2011. Ibid 51 Ibid 52 Ibid 20

three participating students completed English 101 within two years. Studies by the Community College Research Center suggest that ALP students are more likely than similar students not enrolled in the program to pass not just English 101 but also to take and pass the second-level credit English course as well. According to CBCC leaders, not only does ALP double the success rate and halve the attrition rate compared to the traditional model of developmental writing, it does so at a slightly lower cost per successful student. According to CCBC, at least 25 other community colleges around the country have either begun to offer a similar program or plan to do so within a year. New Community College Design for CUNY: In early 2008, CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein began a process to design a completely different community college for New York Citydriven by rising enrollments across the city and by a desire to dramatically improve graduation rates. The New Community College, slated to open with a first class of 500-700 students in 2012 and then expand to a capacity of 5000, is committed to increasing three-year graduation rates from the citys average of 10 percent to 40 percent within five years. How? Learning from the best for-profit and non-profit postsecondary institutions, the CUNY school will require students to attend full-time in their first year and address basic skills deficiencies in that year in courses that mix remediation, occupational training and the liberal arts. The college will offer a set of only 12 majors, tailored to employer needs and growth fields in New York City (while some NYC colleges currently offer as many as 50 majors). Internships and job opportunities related to students programs will be a feature of the learning program. A required first-year City Seminar will engage students in an examination of issues of public health, commerce, education, safety and urban development as a basis for problem solving and building both literacy and quantitative skills. As new President Scott Evenbeck explains, the New Community College will build on lessons of successful schools nationally: Our aspiration is to replicate the terrific programs now in place on so many community college campuses by putting them together at our college. Partnership for College Completion (PCC): PCC is a pioneering effort to demonstrate what it takes at scale to close the college completion gap for students from low-income families. It is an innovative, multi-faceted effort by UNCF, KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) and CFED (Corporation for Enterprise Development) and funded by the Citi Foundation that aims to ensure that students matriculate to and graduate from college in increasing numbers by addressing key educational and financial barriers. UNCF, KIPP and CFEDeach leaders in their respective fieldshave developed an ambitious new model for increasing the college completion rates of low-income students:

UNCF offers annual, renewable college scholarships, helps students secure additional grants, and administers matched college savings accounts. ! KIPP delivers a rigorous K-12 education, supplemented by an increased focus on college knowledge and college readiness skills, including life-skills training and financial education. Through PCC, KIPP will track the progress and life outcomes of PCC alumni, enabled by a robust alumni-tracking platform. KIPP continues to help students select colleges that are good individual fits, and will develop targeted partnerships with two- and four-year colleges and universities with large concentrations of KIPP alumni. ! CFED leads the policy and advocacy work associated with the PCC and oversees the evaluation conducted by academic researchers. CFED also provides technical expertise in the delivery of the matched college savings accounts and in the content development of the financial education component. !

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The ultimate goal of the PCC is to create a broadly replicable model that will increase the six-year college completion rate for low-income and minority youth from underserved communities from less than 10% today to 40% by 2035. By demonstrating what is possible at scale, PCC will inform and challenge policymakers, K-12 schools, higher education institutions and other critical stakeholders with the objective of stimulating the growth of similar college success initiatives for improving the educational outcomes of low-income and minority students beyond the KIPP network. PCC began piloting the program in fall 2010. The pilot will cover a two-year period in up to 29 KIPP schools in five different geographic regions Chicago/Gary, San Francisco Bay Area, Houston, Washington, DC and New York City (in Year Two). The post-pilot timeline includes rolling the model out in four waves over 10 years, with opportunities to reflect and refine the model along the way. The goal of the pilot is to test, adjust and create a long-term solution for college success that reaches over 50,000 low-income and minority students annually by 2020.

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Opening Pathways to Prosperity

Expanding the Options for Job Training and Success How can it be that today, with more than 14 million Americans officially unemployed53, that 53 percent of employers still find it difficult to find qualified workers?54 The answer lies in understanding the new divide that has developed within the American economy. Over the last several decades, a chasm has emerged to divide the skills of the nations workforce, as they exist, and the demands of the nations job market. The way we train our young people no longer produces workers with the types of skills that our businesses want to hire. And closing that gap is a crucial prerequisite to meeting the nations economic potential. Helping students complete degrees isnt just about their success, it is also crucial for Americas success in the global economy of the next century. The challenge: The share of jobs requiring at least some post-secondary education has increased substantially over the last four decades while the skills of the workforce have not kept pace. In 1973, 72 percent of the nations 91 million workers had a high school education or less. By 2007, despite the workforce swelling to 154 million workers, those with a high school education or less had shrunk to 41 percent. Put another way, despite the total number of jobs in America increasing by 63 million, the number of jobs for those with a high school education or less actually fell by 2 million. And this decline will continue: by 2018 the share of jobs for workers with a high school education or less will be just 36 percent.55 While the recession caused unemployment to climb for all workers, there is evidence that unemployment among young adults (aged 20-24) has been much worst due in part to this broader structural shift in the economy. The share of young adults working dropped 17 percent over the last decade compared to an 8 percent decline in employment for older workers (aged 25-54). There is one bright spot however; adults aged 25-30 who have at least an associates degree are significantly more likely to be employed than those who have a high school education or less.56 Our Guiding Principle: All of us recognize that better skills are the key to social mobility. But we will not promote opportunity and mobility by forcing students into a single, predetermined educational model. Flexible labor markets require flexible educational approaches. There are multiple paths to prosperity. Our goal is not to preselect one of those paths. It is to encourage the abilities necessary for an economy that increasingly requires postsecondary training and workforce skills development. While bachelors degrees will continue to be important they are not the only path to middle class success. The job market of the future will also demand a vast new supply of talented graduates of a diverse range of post-secondary programs, including those that are two-years or less. Particularly for middle-skill jobs, labor markets often require vocational, apprenticeship and associate degree credentials. These qualifications are often gained in community colleges, which enroll about 6.5 million students nearly half of all college undergraduates. Policies for Discussion: We will increase the prospects for success by expanding the options for success. These include policies to reconnect dropouts with second chance schools so they can get a GED or diploma and move onto college, a talent development credit to encourage firms to hire young
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Department of Labor. The Employment Situation - June 2011. June 2011. Web. Bridgeland, John. "America's Job Surplus and the College Completion Crisis." The Huffington Post. N.p., 25 Mar. 2011. Web. 18 July 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-bridgeland/americas-job-surplus_b_840148.html>. 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid. 23
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adults who want to learn on-the-job skills, consolidate workforce training programs to improve efficiency and use the money saved to fund more skills training, build Youth Opportunity Pathways for those in high poverty areas, prevent youth violence and provide a path of opportunity for systeminvolved youth, and help parolees who have paid their debt to society find valuable work. Talent Development Credits Proposal: We propose to create a Talent Development tax credit for employers who hire full-time young adults, ages 16-24, who have not been employed or in school full-time for at least six months. Employers will earn a $4,000 tax credit for each eligible young adult they hire provided the employer can demonstrate they are providing career pathway training and support for high school completion or postsecondary degree or credential attainment. Rationale: Given the higher unemployment and lower lifetime earnings among high school dropouts and adults who have earned a GED rather than a diploma, we need alternative pathways to high school diplomas, career credentials, and postsecondary degrees that align with the workforce skills of today and tomorrow. Businesses have a role to play in preparing the workforce of tomorrow and in helping more students earn and learn in a meaningful way. The Talent Development Credit benefits young adults by allowing them to earn a living while gaining valuable work experience and on the job training with an employer that is also committed to education and supports classroom time towards the completion of a GED or postsecondary credential program. The per hire employer tax credit benefits all businesses whether large or small should they hire one eligible young adult or 100. Implementation: The Talent Development Credit would be a credit that helps businesses train and employ more young adults for the jobs of the future and supports the attainment of GED certificates, career credentials or postsecondary degrees. Eligible employees must receive training for no less than 90 days and work no less than 180 days or 600 hours. Certain pre-employment training programs, such as the Year Up model described below, may also be eligible. The employee will be asked to verify that they received training and/or tuition assistance towards a qualified program from their employer. Local State Employment Security Agencies (SESA) will certify which individuals are eligible for the credit and notify the employer in writing for purposes of filing the tax credit. The proposal would help 10,000 young adults find employment each year at a cost of $400 million annually. Credits will be allocated by formula to the states. Bright Spots: Southwire: Southwire is a privately held wire and cable manufacturer headquartered in Georgia whose commitment to improving the communities in which it operates has put it on the leading edge of education initiatives for decades. With high school dropout rates approaching 30 percent around Southwires western Georgia facilities, the company partnered with Carroll County Schools to examine how they could help. In 2007, they launched 12 for Life a program that lets students combine their studies with practical real-world experience at a customized Southwire manufacturing facility. Through contextualized work-based learning, a robust support system, and a paycheck, Southwires 12 for Life program gives at-risk students a pathway to success by completing 12 years of school while meeting Southwires high production standards and filling the companys talent needs. The 12 for Life program allows students to combine a four-hour shift at a specially designed plant, with an additional four hours of school. The program runs three shifts between 8:30am and 9:30pm, and Carroll County Schools uses their open campus night school to accommodate this schedule. At the 12 for Life plant, students rotate among workstations so they gain experience in the entire
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manufacturing process. They also earn two high school credits per semester. Because the workers are students, Southwire has made some modifications in the plant and processes; however, the plant functions like other production facilities. Materials the students manufacture wind up at large distributors across the country, part of a stream of Southwire products that supply wiring to one in three new homes in the United States. Year Up: Year Up was founded in October 2000 as a one-year intensive education and internship program for urban young adults age 18-24. Year Up's program recognizes that both job skills (technical and professional) and higher education are necessary to provide a viable path to economic self-sufficiency. They created a high support, high expectation model that combines marketable job skills, stipends, internships and college credits. The holistic approach focuses on students' professional and personal development to place young adults on a viable path to economic self-sufficiency. Year Up currently serves more than 1,400 students a year at sites in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Providence, Puget Sound, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area and National Capital Region. During the first six months of the program, participants focus on skill mastery in either Desktop Support / IT Help Desk or Investment Operations. Equal emphasis is placed on developing the professional skills required in today's workplace such as effective communication, leadership, and teamwork. During the second six months of the program, students are placed in internships with local partner companies. A stipend is provided to all participants throughout the one-year, full-time educational program and 84% of graduates are employed or in college full time within four months of graduation from the program.57 Promote Workforce Skills Development through Stronger Workforce Investment Act Programs Proposal: The current system of federal job training programs is too complex. As a result, resources are not efficiently and adequately used to provide skills training for workers or reach the programs that we know work. We propose to reform and reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 to align funding for three of the biggest federal programs: WIA Adult, WIA Dislocated Worker, and the Wagner-Peyser Employment Services program (totaling $3.8 billion in FY 2010) in support of a comprehensive workforce development system; and as a result, generate both cost savings and some targeted funding. In addition, we propose to maintain a separate funding stream for WIA Youth, recognizing the very special needs of this population. From the administrative efficiencies saved through alignment, we propose a new fund open to States and to innovative non-profits and postsecondary institutions to apply for grants on the basis of how well their applications align workforce skills training with employer demand; utilize community and technical colleges and established postsecondary programs; and, where possible, can demonstrate reasonable effectiveness in either completed certificates and credentials or job placement. A key missing resource in pursuing strategies to reconnect dislocated workers and disconnected youth to the labor force is access to information that connects secondary and postsecondary learning with jobs. We also propose to develop and fund integrated data systems which link education and employment data and help workers identify the skills they need to get the job they want. Rationale: The Federal government spends approximately $13 billion annually on 47 workforce training programs administered by 9 different agencies mostly through block grants to States.

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"About Us." Year Up: Closing the Opportunity Divide. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 July 2011. <http://www.yearup.org/aboutus> 25

Programs under the Workforce Investment Act served over 9 million people last year, placing over half of those individuals in jobs and hundreds of thousands into training programs for new careers. This was an increase of over 248 percent in the demand for service over the past two years. With funding so stretched and not likely to increase for the foreseeable future, program alignment, efficiencies and training strategies that work are critical. We also know enough from federally-sponsored and other research to draw some conclusions about what does and doesnt work for whom in workforce training. Former U.S. Department of Labor Chief Economist Harry Holzer summarizes it this way: In general, for adults, modest training and work experience programs generate modest impacts.58 A Department of Labor-commissioned study of the WIA Adult and WIA Dislocated Workers program found different outcomes for the two programs: large and immediate impacts on earnings and employment for individuals who participate in the WIA adult program; but minimal benefits for dislocated workers, due, in part, to the earnings that dislocated workers forgo while in training.59 Accelerated training strategies focused on high demand industry sectors and offering clear career pathways with employer commitments offer great promise to dislocated and disadvantaged workers alike. For ex-offenders with limited work experience, evaluations of transitional jobs programs, which provide 6-12 months paid experience in either a nonprofit or for-profit setting, suggest a sizeable drop in recidivism. We also know that there is widespread evidence of employer demand for workers with credentials. A survey of business leaders in September 2010 found, despite close to 10 percent unemployment, more than half of businesses faced a major challenge recruiting non-managerial employees with the skills, training, and education their company needs. And two-thirds of small businesses, which were responsible for over 50 percent of new creation in 2007, experienced difficulties.60 Governments and communities are heavily invested in education, training and other services, but the ability to connect those opportunities with actual employment has been woefully inadequate. Given the nation's budget deficit will likely result in deep cuts in a large number of domestic programs in the coming years, to have more effective workforce training programs we will need to make better use of the money we are now spending and that starts by investing in programs that focus on real postsecondary career credentials aligned to employer needs. Over the past decade, the information systems and technology necessary to make the connection between training and jobs have become available at a reasonable cost but are grossly underutilized because of the policy and operational silos among the programs and agencies that focus exclusively on serving a specific demographic. This is manifest most clearly in the lack of connection between the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor, and trickles down to the state and local levels. The critical connection is between wage records provided by employers to state agencies that administer unemployment insurance and secondary and postsecondary school records (transcripts). Once transcript data and wage records are connected, we will be able to know much more about the extent to which particular programs or courses of study result in tangible employment outcomes: employment in field, wages, hours worked, and job persistence. Connecting these data would allow us to tell a young person looking to drop out that dropping out will mean $x dollars in lost income compared with $y salary for people that have completed the particular program.
Harry Holzer, Workforce Training: What Works? Who Benefits? Wisconsin Family Impact Seminars. http://www.familyimpactseminars.org/s_wifis28c02.pdf 59 Workforce Investment Act Non-Experimental Net Impact Evaluation, IMPAQ International, December 2008. 60 Bridgeland, John, Jessica Milano, Elyse Rosenblum. Across the Great Divide: Perspectives of CEOs and College Presidents on America's Higher Education and Skills GAP. Rep. Civic Enterprises LLC, 2011. Print. 26
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Wage records have been available for more than 70 years, and electronic transcript data is increasingly available online because of federal funding and measures that seek accountability in education. Many states have made the connections between wage records and educational data from schools and training institutes, but almost none use them effectively to advise youth or provide accountability for programs. In fact, the U.S. Department of Educations proposed gainful employment rule seeks to do just that, by linking wage record data with program information and punishing programs that do not help their students obtain jobs that will allow them to pay back their student debt. Currently, 26 states connect wage record data with postsecondary transcript data. Even those states (like Florida) that have these systems and use them in their policy decisions, have not allowed access to the data that would make it available to a broad array of institutions or individuals. Making this information more widely available could increase graduation rates, reduce student loan defaults, lower unemployment insurance costs, and reduce costs in other government expenditures related to social welfare programs. Ultimately, these systems are about helping individuals and institutions make better decisions in utilizing available education and training funds. Implementation: Amend the next Workforce Investment Act reauthorization to align funding for three of the biggest federal programs: WIA Adult, WIA Dislocated Worker, and the Wagner-Peyser Employment Services program (totaling $3.8 billion in FY 2010) in an attempt to eliminate unwarranted duplication of workforce training programs and to achieve administrative efficiencies. The U.S. Department of Labor will administer the WIA Adult grant programs and encourage employment and training strategies that we know work with the adult population, as well as other system innovations. With savings achieved through alignment, a separate innovation training fund for which the Department of Labor will review and accept applications for grants from States and nonprofits and postsecondary institutions on the basis of how well their applications align workforce skills training with employer demand, utilize community and technical colleges and established postsecondary programs, and where possible can demonstrate reasonable effectiveness in either completed certificates and credentials or job placement. Congress should also authorize existing research budgets to fund the development of data systems which link education to employment data by credential and regional job market. We believe this will go a long way towards matching youth and adults to the workforce skills needed to get the jobs they want and to promoting more effective workforce training programs. Bright Spot: Sectoral Employment Programs: Over the past two decades an innovative approach to workforce development known as sectoral employment has emerged, resulting in the creation of industry-specific training programs that prepare under-employed and under skilled workers for skilled positions and connect them with employers seeking to fill such vacancies. Several communities across the country have embraced a sectoral approach to training and job placement that identifies jobs in the local community that pay higher wages and require relatively short-term training (often less than six months). An evaluation completed by Public/Private Ventures in Philadelphia showed impressive results from three of these programs. The Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership focused on providing short-term training and placing individuals in union and other jobs that provided higher wages and benefits. Jewish Vocation Services in Boston provided training and support for jobs, primarily in the healthcare sector. Per Scholas in New York provided training and job placement in computer repair. The study's findings show that program participants earned about $4,500 or 18
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percent more than a control group over the course of the two-year study period, and $4,000 or 29 percent more in the second year alone. Study participants were also more likely to find employment, work more consistently, work in jobs that paid higher wages, and work in jobs that offered benefits. Furthermore, there were earnings gains for each subgroup analyzed, including African Americans, Latinos, immigrants, formerly incarcerated individuals and young adults. These results are far better than we see in most employment and training programs that have been rigorously evaluated.61 Transitional Jobs: For many individuals, opportunity means a chance at getting back into the labor market on a track to a career. Transitional Jobs is a workforce strategy that helps people with multiple employment obstacles or limited work experience and those who have been chronically unemployed enter and succeed in the workforce. Placing very hard-to-employ individuals in time-limited, wagepaying jobs that combine real work, skill development, and support services, Transitional Jobs programs have helped more than 100,000 individuals in over 30 states around the country acquire work skills and habits, build an employment record and generate references that better equip them for private sector employment. A rigorous research study of a Transitional Jobs program for individuals reentering their communities from prison run by the Center for Employment Opportunities in New York City found a significant reduction in re-incarceration rates. Another study of Transitional Jobs programs across New York State concluded that the net savings to the state for serving longtime welfare recipients and formerly incarcerated individuals in Transitional Jobs was $106 million after three years. A Transitional Jobs program in Minnesota for homeless, long-term welfare recipients moved about half of participants into unsubsidized employment by programs end, compared to about a third of homeless welfare recipients who were not enrolled in Transitional Jobs. Long-term employment gains have been limited and employability improvement is more common for women than men. But according to MDRCs review of the studies on these innovations, The evidence suggests that giving these groups opportunities to work for pay could produce spillover benefits by reducing crime, improving communities, connecting alienated young people to mainstream institutions and lifestyles, or helping to reduce the stigma of welfare receipt. Career Pathways Programs: Many states and localities have recognized that large numbers of lowincome and underprepared youth or adults need more than short-term training and credentials to secure a family-supporting wage in a high demand industry or occupation. To address this challenge, many have turned to a kind of sector-based initiative that maps and connects varied skill development opportunities that together form a pathway from low skills to successful completion of a credential and to career employment. These Career Pathways initiatives address the fragmentation and misalignment of learning opportunities, progressions, and funding streams across the education continuum. They typically combine and integrate educational programs with support services, work experience and onthe-job training, bringing disparate public agencies, service providers, and employers into close collaboration to fill gaps in local labor markets. Not a separate program in itself, Career Pathways provide a framework for weaving existing adult education, training, and college programs, based upon careful alignment of a high demand sector, one or more target populations, and specification of what it takes to support the target population in its progression to higher skills, credentials, and employment. The State of Oregon, which has one of the most fully-developed statewide Career Pathways programs, has issued completion certificates to over 2300 students in the last two years, after having scaled the program across all 17 community colleges in the state and their partners in the workforce, adult education, ESL, and employer communities. Other states such as Arkansas, Kentucky, Virginia, and
Maguire, Sheila, Joshua Freely, Carol Clymer, Maureen Conway, and Deena Schwartz. "P/PV Program Areas | Employment | Major Initiatives | Initiative Detail." Public/Private Ventures. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 July 2011. <http://www.ppv.org/ppv/initiative.asp?section_id=26&initiative_id=9> 28
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Washington Have used Career Pathways to align economic development, workforce development and occupational education investments. Build Youth Opportunity Pathways Proposal: Redesign and restore funding for Youth Opportunity Grants to catalyze the building of youth recovery and re-engagement systems in high poverty communities across the nation. Build on the successful experience of Youth Opportunity Grants that were originally authorized in WIA legislation and awarded in May 2000 by the United States Department of Labor to 36 high-poverty urban, rural, and Native American communities, but also learn from the first grants to foster more flexibility to achieve results through partnerships that foster multi-sector collaboration, engagement of successful programs such as YouthBuild, and better coordination among federal programs that support this work. The communities targeted by the Youth Opportunity Grants were among the most economically distressed communities in the nation, all characterized by high drop out rates, high youth unemployment rates, greater incidence of juvenile crime, violence, and gang activity. The Youth Opportunity Grantsranging from $3.1 to $43.8 million over five yearsprovided the resources to put in place comprehensive approaches at considerable scale. The Departments expressed intent in awarding these grants was to demonstrate that the educational outcomes and economic prospects for young people in high-poverty communities could be dramatically improved by infusing these communities with resources; building capacity and infrastructure; connecting systems; and developing comprehensive, age-appropriate opportunities for youth. We propose transferring the Youth Opportunity Grant program from the Department of Labor, where they are currently unfunded, to the Department of Education using the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as an opportunity to direct funding to areas of high youth distress to bring the education system, the justice system, community providers, and employers together to build pathways to opportunity for youth who are disconnected or at high risk of disconnection from school or work including dropout recovery efforts for disconnected youth that have dropped out of school. Rationale: In communities with dropout rates exceeding 50%, it will take interventions at scale to put these young people back on track to successful education, labor market, and civic engagement outcomes. It will require constructive engagement of our youth service systems and our public and private resources to build these pathways to opportunities and support young people over time as they navigate from the streets, to the programs and campuses, to the labor market, to adult success. Youth Opportunity Grants should target communities adopting systemic approaches to re-enrolling drop-outs into local charter or back on track schools focused on dropout recovery and preparation for the labor market. This investment should include both scaling up successful recovery efforts and the invention of new solutions based on evidence-based practices. Specifically, innovation funding streams should encourage effective approaches for back on track pathways to postsecondary education, including:

A focus on scaling up evidence-based approaches for recouping and re-engaging students who are off track or who have dropped out of secondary school, and accelerating and supporting their transition into postsecondary education; and! Ongoing research and development of new school models that show promise in serving off29

track students and dropouts, especially English learners, students with disabilities, and students in rural areas.
!

Successful examples of this type of innovation have begun to yield compelling outcomes in a small number of cities and towns that range from major districts such as New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago to smaller cities such as Mobile, Alabama and the towns of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Far from dropouts being an intractable problem, such efforts indicate that LEAs and charter networks, such as the Youth Connection Charter Schools in Chicago, can make significant progress when they start from a well-designed data analysis and draw upon lessons from groundbreaking interventions and school designs. For example, in the last four years the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo district in south Texas, has improved its graduation rate from 68% to over 85%, in part by reengaging over 750 dropouts in its College and Career Technical Academy (CCTA), many of whom are now on a path to college. New York City used data analyses to put in place a system of 46 multiple pathways that are tripling the graduation rates of returning dropouts and over-age, under-credited youth, and have graduated over 10,000 youth in the last four years. Implementation: Congress should authorize $1 billion in funding over 5 years in Title I: part H of ESEA (School Dropout Prevention) for the restoration of a Youth Opportunity Grant type program to be based at the Department of Education (rather than the Dept of Labor as previously). Grants should be targeted to high poverty communities and should work to support the creation of youth recovery systems that will put young people back on track. The Department of Education should award grants to the 100 communities with the highest dropout rates to provide programs and supports at scale to change the education and labor market outcomes for 16 to 24 year old youth. In applying for these grants, communities should agree to establish Youth Opportunity Community Centers to provide safe and accessible places where youth can connect with programs that will increase education and employment skills as well as receive long-term supportive services, such as life skills training and mentoring; to build multiple education and training pathways leading to education and labor market credentials in areas of demand; and to build partnerships among employers, public, private, and nonprofit organizations to leverage resources and expand outcomes. Bright Spots: Our Piece of the Pie: Our Piece of the Pie (OPP) is a leading youth development nonprofit that helps urban young people, ages 14 to 24, become successful adults, by effectively collaborating and partnering with schools, colleges, community agencies and businesses to promote independence and economic success. OPP engages urban youth in long-term relationships and program services to help youth complete high school, receive occupational skill certificates, obtain 2- or 4-year college degrees and/or obtain long-term employment. In August of 2009, OPP, in partnership with the Hartford Public Schools, opened Opportunity High School. The school focuses on students who are over-aged and under-credited and who are at risk of dropping out of high school. Communities Collaborating to Reconnect Youth (CCRY) Network: Managed by CLASP, CCRY Network is comprised of workforce and youth development professionals representing 15 member communities across the country who were recipients of Youth Opportunity Grants and wanted to remain connected even after the grant funding ended. The Networks goal is to improve young
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peoples opportunities and well-being by establishing innovative partnerships among local youthserving systems. Since 2006 CCRY Network member communities have met semi-annually to share ideas, challenges, lessons and best practices for reconnecting youth. They have used these lessons to expand innovative practice in their local communities, including connecting the juvenile justice and workforce systems; building bridge programs to postsecondary options; expanding employer engagement; and addressing the mental health challenges presented by these youth. The network also seeks to raise awareness of issues affecting disconnected youth at the local, state and federal levels and provide recommendations to policymakers for how to best serve these young people. Neighboring: Points of Light Institute and HandsOn Network have embraced Neighboring as a grant making strategy to strengthen families since 1996. Through Neighboring, natural neighbor-to-neighbor helping that strengthens children, families, and communities is encouraged and supported. This helping does not replace the assistance provided by traditional volunteers. Instead, Neighboring underscores that help need not come from outside a community, but from within. Neighboring helps children and youth succeed by providing opportunities, resources, and role models necessary to become successful adults. Neighboring also helps to provide low-income workers with the support they need to get and keep good jobs, and build assets and savings and helps to promote workforce participation through job creation and skill development. Opportunity Corps: Strategies to increase opportunity for low-income individuals often depend on three things: (1) human resources to impart skills, provide help to individuals, and increase the capacity of nonprofit organizations; (2) bonding social capital to build a strong positive culture in schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods; and (3) bridging social capital to connect people to opportunities and helps them navigate unfamiliar worlds. National service is an important strategy in all three areas. In 2009, Congress created an Opportunity Corps through the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act to provide AmeriCorps support to organizations that:
!

assist individuals and families that are homeless or at risk of homelessness; ! provide financial literacy training and tools designed to improve financial security; or ! expand employment possibilities.!

Opportunity Corps programs include those that engage economically vulnerable Americans as AmeriCorps members leading to positive employment or educational outcomes as well as programs that undertake community-based strategies to redevelop local areas that are struggling with underinvestment and other barriers to economic opportunity. Expanding these programs does not require new legislative authorizations. Expand the U.S. Department of Labors YouthBuild Program Proposal: We propose to build on the success of the YouthBuild program already demonstrated over three decades with over 100,000 of the most disadvantaged 16 to 24 year old, low-income, urban and rural, American youth in 273 communities in 45 states. YouthBuild is a full-time, six to 24 month, non-residential program sponsored by local non-profit faith- and community-based organizations and public entities. It offers a holistic program of education, job training, personal counseling, community service, leadership development, placement in college or jobs, and follow-up support after graduation. More than half of the unemployed and under-educated young people who enroll in YouthBuild turn their lives around and get back on track for a productive adulthood.
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YouthBuild started as a local innovation in 1978 in East Harlem, was replicated in NYC and then nationally with local and private funds. It was evaluated by researchers at MIT and Harvard Universities and found to be exceeding the outcomes of other national dropout recovery programs. As a result, legislation authorizing it as a federal program was introduced with bi-partisan support and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1992. It now has an established national delivery system effectively managed by the Employment and Training Administration of the US Department of Labor. It has generated enormous demand from disadvantaged youth who are lining up at the doors in large numbers; and hundreds of community-based entities apply annually to offer this opportunity to young people in their communities who left high school without a diploma and need a second chance. It has generated consistent bi-partisan support in both Houses of Congress through four administrations. We recommend doubling YouthBuild steadily over the next five years to a total of 20,000 young people, ending up at an annual federal cost of $350M in FY2016, with a required 25% non-federal match. The YouthBuild appropriation in 2010 was $102.5M. This expansion should be accompanied by a diversification of career paths to include health care and technology in addition to construction. Major national non-profits that each currently sponsor small numbers of local YouthBuild programs such as the YMCA, Urban League, United Way, Goodwill Industries, The Corps Network, Habitat for Humanity, Community Action Agencies, Enterprise Foundation, and Rebuilding Together, should be empowered to operate as national intermediaries for a network of ten to 30 YouthBuild programs sponsored by their affiliates. Rationale: We recommend expansion of YouthBuild for the following reasons: Program design and philosophy: YouthBuild is uniquely comprehensive and on target for low income disconnected youth. By law it includes 50% classroom education; 40% on-site training building affordable housing for low-income residents; 10% counseling and leadership development. It also provides follow-up for 9 months after completion. Its philosophy emphasizes mutual respect, personal responsibility, hard work, and the creation of a caring community of adults and peers committed to each others success. Market Demand: It has a good reputation among youth, and therefore attracts them in large numbers through word of mouth. Virtually no funds are spent on recruitment. If at-risk youth had vouchers in their hands, YouthBuild would expand exponentially. 18,600 young people were turned away in 2010 for lack of funds. Similarly, leaders of community-based organizations are attracted to the comprehensive program design and apply in large numbers: over 1,600 separate organizations applied for federal funds between 1996 and 2006 to bring YouthBuild to their communities. Population Served: YouthBuild is reaching the so-called hardest to serve disconnected young people more consistently than any other national program: its students are 100% from low-income families, 93% dropouts, 73% male, 40% court involved, 49% African American, 23% Latino/a, 22% white, 26% parents and 10% foster care youth. It accepts young people convicted of felonies. Established and Effective Delivery System: The direct funding to local entities from DOL, combined with DOLs provision of training and technical assistance through an experienced contractor, provides a non-political, non-bureaucratic system for selecting, inspiring, training, and assisting all local YouthBuild programs. The organizational autonomy of each program attracts committed entrepreneurial talent at the local level.
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Robust Public-Private Partnership: YouthBuild USA, Inc., a national non-profit organization dedicated to the success of the YouthBuild program, brings private funding into the system to test innovations prior to their being disseminated throughout the system by DOL. Currently funding from the Mott, Gates, Bank of America, Open Society, Wal-Mart, Saint-Gobain, Annie E. Casey, American Express, Knight, and Skoll Foundations is strengthening the system with demonstrations of postsecondary success, volunteer mentoring, healthy relations curriculum, advanced leadership training, green construction training, health care tracks, and development of small green businesses to hire graduates. YouthBuild USA, Inc. has brought more than $100M of non-federal funds into the partnership to sustain its robust innovative cutting edge. Cross-system Collaboration: At the local level, YouthBuild programs are successfully linking with Workforce Investment Boards, public schools, AmeriCorps, parole and probation departments, public housing authorities, non-profit housing developers, community and four year colleges, trade unions and employers. Accountability for Success: Numerous independent evaluations of YouthBuild have been done since 1992. All show remarkable success on many measures. Meanwhile both the US Department of Labor and YouthBuild USA, Inc. have established well functioning real time data systems for tracking demographics, academic gains, academic and industry-recognized credentials, placement, wages, and retention in jobs and college. Currently more than 50% of all enrollees are achieving their GED or high school diploma; 78% are completing the program and 64% of these are going on to college or jobs averaging over $9/hour. An evaluation by Brandeis University in 2003 showed 75% of completers studied were in college or employed at an average wage of $10/hour up to seven years after completion, and only 15% of those previously convicted of a felony had recidivated. An evaluation by Vanderbilt University (2007) showed a minimum lifetime return on investment of $7.80 for every dollar spent on any YouthBuild student, and a minimum of $10.90 and up to $43.80 for every courtinvolved YouthBuild student. In several studies, YouthBuild lowers recidivism rates by about 40 percentage points. A recent study of YouthBuild USA Inc.s pilot programs focused on post-secondary success show 39% of enrollees entering college and over 50% remaining for a second year. Implementation: Congress should appropriate an additional $50 million each successive year for each of the next five years, raising the appropriation from $102.5M in FY2010 to $350M in FY2016. DOL should continue to require a 25% non-federal match from grantees. This will allow a steady but powerful ramp-up of this sound delivery system. The delivery system should be modified by DOL for efficiency at scale, allowing the major national non-profits whose affiliates currently sponsor local YouthBuild programs such as the YMCA, United Way, Goodwill Industries, Urban League, The Corps Network, Habitat for Humanity, Community Action Agencies, Enterprise Foundation, Rebuilding Together, YouthBuild USA, Inc., and others - to operate as national intermediaries for manageable networks of 10 to 30 YouthBuild programs sponsored by their local affiliates, as the Corporation for National and Community Service does for its AmeriCorps program. DOL would still provide training and TA to maintain fidelity to the proven model. Prevent youth violence and provide a path of opportunity for system-involved youth! ! Proposal: To divert youth away from delinquency, violence and prisons, we propose a coordinated, multi-sector effort to assess, monitor and implement violence reduction strategies, and provide mentoring and support for system-involved youth to put them on a path toward productive
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opportunities. Communities that receive funding over the time-limited period will recapture a portion of governmental cost savings to fund the strategies in the future.! Rationale: Every 19 seconds a child is arrested.62 The United States incarcerates more of its youth than any other country in the world, a reflection of the larger trends in incarceration practices in the United States. In 2008, almost 93,000 juveniles were incarcerated in youth detention facilities. 63! ! States spend a staggering $5.7 billion each year imprisoning youth, even as the majority are held for nonviolent offenses. American Correctional Association estimates that, on average, it costs states $240.99 per day -- around $88,000 a year -- for every youth in a juvenile facility in direct costs.64! ! The social and emotional costs of involvement with the criminal justice system are high as well, and impact the individual as well as the community for years to come. Imprisonment has a detrimental effect on a young persons academic opportunities, strains family relationships and drastically reduces their long-term economic productivity. ! ! As high costs, overcrowding and policy changes have reduced the rehabilitative value of many detention centers, and with challenges to community reintegration, many youth who are incarcerated return. Several studies have shown that youth who are incarcerated are more likely to recidivate than youth who are supervised in a community-based setting, or not detained at all.! ! Teenagers and young adults from all backgrounds have time and talent to contribute, but if one poor decision puts them on a permanent path away from school and employment, we are all worse off. Given this, strategies that prevent youth delinquency and violence, and strategically redirect youth that have become system involved are beneficial for young adults, their communities and the nation at large.! ! Implementation: We propose passage of the bi-partisan Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education (Youth PROMISE) Act. ! ! The Youth PROMISE Act will provide resources to communities to engage in comprehensive prevention and intervention strategies to decrease juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity. Under the Youth PROMISE Act, communities facing the greatest youth gang and crime challenges will each form a local council called a Promise Coordinating Council (PCC). The PCC will include representatives from law enforcement, court services, schools, social service organizations, health and mental health providers and community-based organizations, including faithbased organizations. The PCC will then develop a comprehensive plan for implementing evidencebased prevention and intervention strategies. These strategies will target young people who are at-risk of becoming involved, or who are already involved in, gangs or the criminal justice system to redirect them toward productive and law-abiding alternatives.65 ! ! Aside from reducing crime and providing better results in the lives of our youth, many of the programs funded under the Youth PROMISE Act will save more money than they cost. The State of
"Moments in America for Children." Children's Defense Fund (CDF) : Health Care Coverage for All of America's Children, Ending Child Poverty, Child Advocacy Programs. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2011. 63 "Juvenile Justice." Justice Policy Institute Mobile site . N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2011. . <http://www.justicepolicy.org/research/category/38> 64 Ibid 65 Office of Congressman Bobby Scott. Rep. Scott Introduces Youth PROMISE Act. 16 Oct. 2007. Web. <http://www.house.gov/list/press/va03_scott/pr_071016.html>. 34
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Pennsylvania implemented a process very similar to the one provided for in the Youth PROMISE Act in 100 communities across the state. The state found that it saved, on average, $5 for every $1 spent during the study period. Cities that receive grants under the Youth PROMISE Act will be required to track governmental cost savings that accompany a drop in crime, and recapture a portion of those savings to keep the PROMISE programs alive after the four year federal grant period ends.66 ! Help Parolees Find Valuable Work Proposal: Change Federal policies governing parole so that all Federal and State parolees, whatever their past crimes of conviction, are in a best practices prisoner re-entry program. Unfortunately, there remains almost no rigorously experimental or quasi-experimental research in this area. Certain programs, however, have attracted widespread attention or are considered especially promising by many experts. Two in that category are the Ready4Work program for non-violent offenders and the Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative for all including violent and sex offenders. Rationale: Most people released from prison face multiple barriers to becoming law-abiding citizens and tax-paying community members. Typically, parolees who recidivate have had almost no postrelease connection to a stable family, friends, or other community supports. Most parolees experience much trouble finding affordable and decent housing; few find steady, living-wage employment with health benefits; and a plurality engage in the occasional or regular use or abuse of alcohol or illegal drugs. Parolees are responsible for a significant fraction of all murders, rapes, robberies, burglaries, and other felony crimes that are committed each year. Nationally, parole needs to be reinvented as prisoner re-entry so that most ex-prisoners have a real opportunity to become law-abiding citizens and tax-paying community members. Most States restrict ex-prisoners access to many different types of public education and human services benefits programs, while permitting blanket employment discrimination against ex-prisoners. Implementation: The Federal Second Chance Act of 2007 has involved hundreds of millions of dollars of Federal funding for numerous different types of State and Local prisoner re-entry programs. The Act has been implemented with little regard for identifying best practices, and no real regard for monitoring of program expenditures or performance and results. While the Act led State and Local officials to engage more faith-based organizations as partners in prisoner re-entry efforts, the efficacy of those partnerships has not been subjected to any systematic empirical research. Also, the Act has so far done little, if anything, to promote or require changes in State laws that restrict ex-prisoners access to many different types of public education and human services benefits programs, and even less to promote or require changes in State laws that permit near-blanket employment discrimination against ex-prisoners. The extant government audits of the Second Chance Act are suggestive, but the Acts implementation, and the performance and results of programs funded via the Act, should be rigorously and independently evaluated. Federal policymakers should consider scrapping, replacing, or amending the Act so that all future Federal funding for prisoner re-entry programs requires evidence-based assessments and follows best practices protocols. Whether or not they have received Federal funding via the Act, programs that have received widespread attention or are considered especially promising by many experts should be high on the list for systematic assessment. Ready4Work and the MPRI are prime examples.
Office of Congressman Bobby Scott. Youth PROMISE Act . Web. <http://www.bobbyscott.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=291>. 35
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Bright Spots: Ready4Work: Launched in 2003, the U.S. Department of Labor Ready4Work demonstration project operated in eleven cities: Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee, New York, Oakland, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. It dealt mainly with non-violent exoffenders. In all, some 4,450 parolees had participated in Ready4Work.67 The quasi-experimental (comparison group) outcomes research documented that the program reduced recidivism The size of the Ready4Work recidivism reduction effect, it seemed, was inter-correlated with the probability of getting a job (which 56 percent of all participants did).68 The size of the recidivism reduction effect also seemed to vary directly with the probability of getting a job mentor (many participants elected not to have one), and, more generally, with the extent to which all community support program components (including wraparound services) were actualized.

The Ready4Work programs pattern of outcomes suggested that mentoring, in combination with other supportive services, helps ex-prisoners find and retain employment and avoid recidivism...Participants stayed in the program, and many found jobs and avoided recidivism69 Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative: Launched in 2005 but begun in earnest in 2007, the Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative (MPRI) is a statewide program that begins with in-prison counseling prior to release for all including long-term violent repeat offenders and sex offenders. The single largest MPRI program, Washtenaw County MPRI (WC MPRI), defines its mission as implementing a seamless plan of services and supervision developed with each offender delivered through state and local collaborationfrom the time of their entry to prison through their transition, reintegration, and aftercare in the community. The WC MPRIs official community partners range from AmeriCorps VISTA and the Ann Arbor Police Department to the local United Church of Christ, from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Michigan to United Way agencies to the County affordable housing coalitions. Since the MPRI went into effect, recidivism has reportedly dropped statewide from 55 percent to 38 percent70

Civic Justice Corps: Civic Justice Corps (CJC) has developed and been supported in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, the Corporation for National and Community Service, Open Society Foundations and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Enrollment is focused on formerly incarcerated and court involved young men and women. An enhanced version of the traditional Youth Corps program, CJC includes specialized staff development, formal partnerships with justice agencies and employers and adds intensive supports, services and educational opportunities based on an individual plan for each participant. When possible, relationships begin in the institution and young people exit incarceration directly into CJC. Parole and probation officers are partners in assuring
Bauldry, Shawn, Danijela Korom-Djakovic, Wendy S. McClanahan, Jennifer McMaken, and Lauren J. Kotloff. Mentoring Formerly Incarcerated Adults: Insights from the Ready4Work Reentry Initiative. Public/Private Ventures. Web. Jan. 2009. 68 Ibid 69 Ibid 70 Johnson, Kevin, Unlikely Mentors Give Felons Hope, USA Today, July 27, 2010 36
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successful reentry into the community. Principles of restorative justice are utilized and lives are transformed as participants become leaders and problem solvers in their communities. To date, 21 Corps have implemented CJC. In 14 original sites, 47% received a GED or high school diploma, 79% were placed in jobs and/or postsecondary education (72% retention) and the recidivism rate was 10.2%, well below the prevailing rate of 50 to 70%.71

Juvenile Justice." Justice Policy Institute Mobile site . N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2011. <http://www.corpsnetwork.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59&Itemid=77> 37

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Helping the Whole Family

A Holistic Approach for Children and Families The cultivation of skills is essential to the creation of an opportunity society. But not everyone begins life with equal tools to take advantage of opportunity. Children in struggling families and broken communities have extra challenges and burdens. They need and deserve extra help. A child who experiences acute hunger does not have an equal start in life. A parent overwhelmed by the accumulated challenges of poverty can feel helpless to provide a good start for their children. The challenge: Over the last several decades, states and the federal government have created a safety net of public programs designed to help disadvantaged children and families. These efforts are important and compassionate. They can also be uncoordinated, bureaucratic and confusing. Families can have a difficult time navigating a maze of programs, which are often designed to deliver a single service instead of helping an individual advance in life. And when services are poorly coordinated, it is possible for people in need to slip through the cracks entirely. Government has an essential role to play in promoting equality of opportunity. But good intentions are never an excuse for inefficiency or poor results. On the contrary, precisely because the stakes of programs for families and children are so high, the highest standards of efficiency and effectiveness are required. And the most effective way to help someone in need is to treat him or her as a person, not as a set of discrete problems. Our Guiding Principle: We help best when we help the whole family. Individual success and advancement require and have always required values such as responsibility, deferred gratification and a strong work ethic. But these values dont come from nowhere. They are cultivated in healthy families and communities. This kind of health has both physical and spiritual dimensions. Children need physical health to have a fair start in life. They also need to be valued, guided and loved. The need for a healthy social environment is consistent with our own experience and intuitions. None of us came into the world with the values and confidence we needed later in life. All of us owe a debt to parents and mentors, to coaches and teachers, to pastors and grandparents, who modeled the meaning of character. Strong, healthy families require adequate nutrition for children and responsible fatherhood, economic opportunity and stable homes, early childhood education and faith-based institutions that provide values and hope. Policies for Discussion: The policies that follow are designed to empower families that need a helping hand rather than programmatic rules and bureaucracy. These include proposals to make public benefits more client-centric and breakdown the programmatic silos that serve as barriers to success; promote healthy marriages and responsible fatherhood; include pregnancy planning and prevention in home visiting programs; ensure all children have access to quality child care and pre-k programs; and expand efforts to end child hunger. Treat Individuals Holistically, Not According to Federal Silos Proposal: We propose to establish an interdepartmental taskforce to investigate and lead the process of making public benefits more client-centric. Opportunity comes through economic stability for families. A path to that goal utilizing existing resources is through increasing access to them. In a time of limited federal legislative action and governmental revenue, this can be done through greater coordination between departments that deliver benefits to Americans. Agencies that handle low38

income benefit programs, such as Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Treasury, and others, should be brought together to focus on opportunities for simplifying access to government resources. In recent years, several states have implemented integrated approaches to the delivery of federal and federal/state benefit programs. These approaches should be studied and effective, translatable ones should be adopted on the federal level. Promising practices can also be incentivized or encouraged for adoption in additional states. Concepts that should be examined include; 1) express lane eligibility (conferring eligibility based on findings from other programs or data sources) for certain enrollments and renewals; 2) joint-application for multiple programs; 3) paperless applications; 4) aligning eligibility criteria across programs; 4) reducing documentation burdens by cross-departmental sharing; 5) eliminating asset tests that discourage savings; 5) increasing enrollment periods; 6) limiting inperson requirements; 7) using technology to facilitate enrollment and renewals; and 8) supporting innovative strategies that facilitate coordinated access in nontraditional locations, including one-stop sites. In addition, the taskforce should identify and make recommendations on the regulatory barriers that need to be removed to promote the above integration objectives and should identify the ways federal dollars can be better allocated to facilitate integration. Rationale: We currently have a paper-based, 1970s-style eligibility determination system, when the complex challenges facing American families require 21st century tools and strategies. Furthermore, with various departments overseeing different parts of the safety net, better coordination is needed to make the system people-centric instead of agency-centric. This complex web of bureaucracies should be easier for those on the ground to navigate. There are administrative funding issues in human services that should be considered. Too much government money is spent as a result of people losing their enrollment through unnecessarily complex reenrollment processes.72 Almost half of those in Illinois who were closed out of the SNAP program reentered it within two years, half of those cases being within the first year.73 This suggests that these were people who should never have lost the benefit in the first place. The Urban Justice Center found when looking at 9,500 SNAP clients that less than 20 percent of cases closed at recertification were financially ineligible. 74 Others that need nutritional assistance do not get that far. A report found that a quarter of applicants drop out of the process, citing long lines, onerous documentation, poor customer service and general confusion.75 For those that do complete the process of registering for food stamps, it takes an average of five hours and two trips.76 For those balancing low-income jobs and family responsibilities, this time commitment is a weighty one.

Fairbrother, Gerry. How Much Does Churning in Medi-Cal Cost. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Apr. 2005. Web. <http://ccf.georgetown.edu/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=research/program+design/tce04222005_how_much_does_.pdf>. 73 Rangarajan, Anu, Philip M. Gleason, Food Stamp Leavers in Illinois: How Are They Doing Two Years Later? Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. 2001 74 Widom, Rebecca, Olivia Arvizu Martinez, Keeping Food On The Table: Challenges to Food Stamps Retention in New York City. New York: Urban Justice Center, September 2007. 75!Bartlett,!Susan!and!Nancy!Burstein.!Food!Stamp!Program!Access!Study.!USDA%Economic%Research%! Service. Nov. 2004. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/efan03013/efan03013-3/efan03013-3fm.pdf. 76 Customer Service in the Food Stamp Program. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. prepared for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Michael Ponza, James C. Ohls, Lorenzo Moreno, Amy Zambrowski and Rhoda Cohen, July 1999. 39

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These trends of administrative inefficiency can also be seen in health programs. In New York it costs $280 to enroll a person into public health insurance. 77 At $180, California may have a lower per enrollee cost, yet the churning in Californias CHIP cost them $120 million over three years. In 2000, 12 to 21 percent of California, Colorado, and Michigan SCHIP denials were due to families inability to adhere to application process procedures, rather than their no longer being financially eligible.78 Considering our countrys current economic challenges, it should be noted that churning trends heighten during recessions, costing government agencies even more time and money.79 The end result comes not only as a financial cost to government, but to the wellbeing of struggling families. One in four working poor families do not receive any of the three major benefits (food stamps/SNAP, Medicaid and child care subsidies), which could help them achieve economic stability. Furthermore, only 7% of working poor families receive all four of the governments major benefits and tax credits EITC, food stamps, Medicaid, and child care assistance. These benefits have a critical impact. A recent New York Times article detailed how an aggressive effort to enroll people in food stamps and ensure they received tax benefits kept about 250,000 New Yorkersa difference of three percent in the poverty rate-- from slipping into poverty at the height of the recession in 2009.80 During the same year, the EITC alone raised 6.5 million families, including 3.3 million children, above the poverty line.81 Implementation: Convening an intergovernmental task force would allow the group to recommend ways to make public benefit programs work better together in states, as well as taking concrete steps forward on the federal level. Careful study should be done around how the government can better use data matching to be more efficient, while getting children and their families the help they need. For instance, examining how Louisiana automatically enrolls children receiving SNAP benefits in public health insurance or how Oklahoma uses birth certificates to automatically enroll eligible newborns in health insurance programs. The taskforce should look at both enrollment strategies, as well as best practice renewal policies, determining when automatic renewals using existing data makes sense. Arkansas does this by using food stamp data for Medicaid renewals. Whenever renewals can be coordinated between programs, or simplified, without compromising program integrity, the government should consider that policy. In addition, using the longest eligibility periods available makes sense from a government efficiency and client prospective. Documentation issues are important, as the taskforce should recommend ways to eliminate unnecessary requests placed upon clients. When paper verification is required, methods to share verification documents across programs, as is done in Utah, should be identified. The taskforce should also articulate what the best practices for information technology enrollment systems would be. This guidance could include allowing citizens to do the following online: screen for eligibility, calculate potential benefit amounts, apply for benefits, save and return to applications later, check application statuses, change personal information and complete renewal forms.
Seifert, Robert, Garrett Kirk, and Margaret Oakes. Enrollment and Disenrollment in MassHealth and Commonwealth Care. Center for Health Law and Economics. Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute, Apr. 2010. Web. <http://massmedicaid.org/~/media/MMPI/Files/2010_4_21_disenrollment_mh_cc.pdf>. 78 Hill, Ian, Amy Westphal Lutzky, Getting In, Not Getting In, and Why: Understanding SCHIP Enrollment. Washington DC: The Urban Institute, 2003. 79Mills, Gregory, Jessica F. Compton, Olivia Golden, Assessing the Evidence about Work Support Benefits and LowIncome Families: Rationale for a Demonstration and Evaluation, Washington DC: The Urban Institute, 2011.! 80 Roberts, Sam, Food Stamps and Tax Aid Kept Poverty Rate in Check New York Times, 20 March, 2011. 81 Johnson, Nicholas, Erica Williams , A Hand Up: How State Earned Income Tax Credits Help Working Families Escape Poverty in 2011. Washington DC: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 2011. 40
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For all of these matters that the group considers, privacy issues should be taken into account so that they can be successfully managed. If handled carefully, these concerns should not obstruct progress towards interoperability. Overall, our government agencies should be moving towards a no wrong door approach for its citizens, in which any entry point leads towards multiple programs. Local Opportunity Plans Proposal: We support pilot demonstration waivers to allow local communities to develop a Local Opportunity Plan that will collapse the silos of service and burdensome bureaucracy, and replace it with a locally formulated design that targets specific individual need. Rationale: While there are a variety of tools available to low-income Americans for trying to improve their situation, the coordination and availability of these services is too often scattershot, confusing and sometimes contradictory. As a result, many services that could help low-income people get a foothold are undersubscribed and used less than needed. Services that can help with public benefits application assistance, low-income tax preparation services, financial education and planning, job training, or resources for improving educational options are sometimes underutilized by the very people who could use them as they work their way into the middle class. By and large, the problem is not caused deliberately. Rather, it is the result of multiple service programs created over many years, and originated and run by different levels of federal, state, and local government. Implementation: Enact a pilot demonstration program that could be expanded nationally later if proven successful. Bright Spots: Single Stop: Expanding services and access to low-income families, Single Stop provides benefits counseling, free tax preparation, legal assistance, and financial counseling, and is making great efforts to improve financial, educational, vocational, and health in families with low-income. Initially, individuals are taken to a computerized system to determine the qualification for their benefits; then counselors or assistants are allocated to each individual to help apply for those benefits. Although Single Stop has served nearly 120,000 families, they are constantly working to reach more poor families in the United States.82 For example, Single Stop reports, it will pilot initiatives to offer a streamlined package of its services through partnerships with government entities, large employers and commercial chains. Through their expansion, Single Stop clients will surpass their current service and benefits worth $300 million. 83 Aiming to lower the national poverty rate, Single Stop has discovered food stamps combat childhood hunger and increase the purchasing power of family by 40% a year. Alicia, a young woman in Cincinnati has testified to the effectiveness of food stamps. Recalling when she was 13 years old, Alicia states, Without the food stamps, we probably wouldnt have ate. Although Single Stop is not limited to serving populations with food insecurity, they have made significant efforts towards improving health, financial security, and education.

Single Stop USA." Single Stop USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2011. <http://www.singlestopusa.org/AboutUs/FAQS.shtml>. 83 Ibid 41

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LIFT: Recognizing that more than 46.2 million Americans (one in seven) live below the poverty line,84 LIFT has initiated programs to work one-on-one with clients to find jobs, secure housing, and health care to one day give individuals the opportunity to achieve security and pursue their aspiration. LIFT is a volunteer based program, which addresses all aspects of poverty such as, homelessness, hunger, illiteracy, health care costs, and unemployment. Currently it serves low-income families in Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. Influencing hundreds of individuals daily, LIFT clients have testified the success of its programs. Francois Desjardins, a lowincome Somerville citizen contacted lift due to unemployment. Although he had years of experience, he was not able to find a secure job. LIFT stepped in and provided food assistance, discount for living expenses, and an emergency cell phone. He states, Now I know there is almost always a solution out there and I do not have to be afraid to ask about it. Currently LIFT has helped more than 40,000 individuals and works with over 6,000 clients with 10,000 LIFT volunteers.85 LIFT has built a roadmap out of poverty through five essential elements for success: 1) Employment/Financial stability 2) Health Care 3) Housing 4) Education 5) Training. Strive Partnership: The Strive Partnership, now a broad-based southern Ohio and northern Kentucky effort with more than 300 partners dedicated to supporting Cincinnati area children from cradle to career, emerged in 2006 from the vision of greater Cincinnati leaders at all levels of the education, nonprofit, community, civic, and philanthropic sectors. The Strive Partnership serves as a catalyst for working together, across sectors, and along the educational continuum, to drive better results in education, so that every child is prepared for school, supported inside and outside of school, succeeds in school, enrolls in some form of postsecondary education and graduates and enters a career (the five Strive goal areas). After three years of reporting on ten key student success indicators in the Strive footprint (Cincinnati, Newport and Covington), the Strive Partnership will rally around seven priority outcomes: kindergarten readiness, 4th grade reading proficiency, 8th grade math proficiency, high school graduation rates and ACT scores, and postsecondary enrollment and completion. In addition, they organized Student Success Networks, later called Collaboratives, and provide data analysts and facilitators to help multiple agencies arrive at a single agenda with a few goals, as well as metrics for assessing outcomes. Seedco: Even when employed, many workers earn wages too low to support themselves and their families. Public and private benefits such as affordable health insurance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), child care subsidies, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can offer an important lifeline. But in many cases, people who are eligible for these benefits dont actually receive them. In fact, McKinsey & Company has estimated that Americans fail to claim at least $65 billion in government services and supports, and the Urban Institute has determined that only five percent of low-income working families receive all of the three key supports for which they qualify child care assistance, Medicaid and SNAP. The reasons for this benefits gap are varied. In some cases, people simply dont know about available benefits or dont think that they are eligible for them. Other potential applicants are turned off by arcane and burdensome application and recertification policies. Still others dont apply because

"About Poverty - Highlights." United States Census Bureau. United States Department of Commerce, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/index.html>. 85 "Our Impact on Families, Individuals, Volunteers, and Communities | LIFT." LIFT: Combating Poverty and Expanding Opportunity | LIFT. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2011. <http://www.liftcommunities.org/about/impact> 42

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of the stigma associated with government support or because they have had a bad experience with a government agency. The EarnBenefits Solution Currently operating in eight states, Seedcos EarnBenefits helps families bridge the gap between their wages and their needs by making it easier for them to connect to a variety of available benefits, thus promoting job stability and economic advancement. The program has three key components: . Technology Solution: EarnBenefits Online, a password-protected, web based software application developed and maintained by Seedco, streamlines the process of screening for benefit eligibility, applying for benefits, and reporting outcomes. In addition to providing access to EarnBenefits Online through community partners, Seedco also offers its community-based partners technical assistance, training, help desk support, and counselor tools and resources. Community Partners: Seedco implements EarnBenefits by working with more than 100 community partnersincluding faith-based and community organizations, community colleges, career centers, child care centers, and housing counseling agenciesto provide direct benefits access to low-income individuals and families. Counselors with these community partners meet with clients, educate them about benefits access, leverage the EarnBenefits technology, and provide supportive case-management services. Partner Management: At sites where Seedco operates offices, Seedco performs an intermediary role, providing its community-based network with access to the EarnBenefits technology, program development, management services, training and technical assistance, result reporting, and access to funding. At other sites, a local nonprofit or government agency provides these services to the community-based partner, and Seedco offers significant guidance, technical assistance and access to EarnBenefits Online to build local capacity. For resource-strapped community agencies, Seedcos support is vital to their ability to offer the services of EarnBenefits. Promote Healthy Marriages Proposal: The Healthy Marriage Initiative was passed in 2005 to help couples who have chosen marriage for themselves, gain greater access to marriage education services, on a voluntary basis, where they can acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to form and sustain a healthy marriage. Funding has declined from $100 million to $75 million. We propose reauthorizing funding of $100 million per year for five years for Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grants administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), together with evaluations of programs. Rationale: There is growing research that having two married parents is the best environment for children. In 2009 an analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Hill, Holzer, and Chen followed white, black, and Hispanic children from age 12 into their twenties and found that growing up without both biological parents was correlated with modest reductions in wages and

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weeks worked for young adults, and more substantial reductions in educational attainment or achievement as well as greater participation in risky or illegal behaviors.86 Marriage also brings significant economic benefits to families. In a study based on a simulation model, Isabel Sawhill and Adam Thomas showed that, if the marriage rate in 2001 had been the same it was in 1970, the poverty rate would have been 20-30 percent lower than its actual 1998 value.87 Given this growing evidence, it is good public policy to support healthy marriages and research suggests marriage education is a good way to achieve this goal. Implementation: We propose reauthorizing funding for Healthy Marriage Demonstration Grants administered by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Grants are awarded to state and local community and faith-based organizations that support marriage education and counseling. Education is delivered in a variety of settings, including classrooms, community centers, childbirth clinics, houses of worship, courts, prisons, extension agencies, schools, and military bases. Include Pregnancy Planning and Prevention in Home Visiting Programs Proposal: Home-visiting programs should include information on pregnancy prevention, planning, and spacing so individuals can make informed choices as one important way to help improve the health and well-being of children, women, and their families. Discussions should focus on helping families achieve the goals they set for themselves. Rationale: Research has shown many positive effects of home visitation on improving maternal and child health, parenting skills, and self-sufficiency, and many of these programs incorporate discussions about pregnancy planning and prevention and provide birth spacing education. Home visiting programs often serve first-time parents, many of whom are low-income teens or young adults, who are at risk for welfare dependence. Home visitors range from nurses and social workers, to parents in the community. Investments in home visiting programs offer an important opportunity to ensure that families at the highest risk receive education, services, and support to discuss personal goals for family size and to plan accordingly.!! The Nurse Family Partnership a high quality, evidence-based, voluntary home visiting model resulted in fewer subsequent unplanned pregnancies and increased intervals between births. Implementation: The Affordable Care Act already provides $1.5 billion over five years for grants to states to provide evidence-based, voluntary home visiting programs.88 As HHS oversees this new funding, it should provide flexibility and support for states to include improved pregnancy planning and prevention and birth spacing within the topics they cover in home visits. Bright Spots: Nurse-Family Partnership: The Nurse Family Partnership program sends qualified nurses to meet with first time, low-income, pregnant women to help them maintain their prenatal health and develop their parenting skills from their first trimester through the childs second birthday. Over fifteen years this program has achieved stunning results: 48 percent less incidence of child abuse and neglect; an 83
Cited in Haskins, Ron, and Isabel V. Sawhill. Creating an Opportunity Society. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2009. Print. 87 Haskins, Ron, and Isabel V. Sawhill. Creating an Opportunity Society. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2009. Print. 88 H.R. 3962, 111 Cong. (2010) (enacted). Print. 44
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percent increase in workforce participation by low-income unmarried mothers; 69 percent fewer convictions at age 15; 56 percent fewer doctor and hospital visits due to childhood injuries through child age; and a 25 percent reduction in cigarette smoking by mothers during pregnancy. Planning for Children: Helping Couples Get on the Same Page about If or When to Have More Children: With so few, if any, healthy relationship or marriage education programs including a focus on pregnancy planning and prevention, Planning for Children: Helping Couples Get on the Same Page about If or When to Have More Children was created to fill that void and provide a much needed supplement to comprehensive relationship and/or marriage education programs. This curriculum was developed collaboratively in 2009 by the Center for Urban Families, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The overall goals of the module are to 1) promote the importance of timing pregnancies in order to reach family goals and achieve family stability and 2) enable couples to create a shared vision about if or when to have another child and how to use contraception if they are not both trying to have another child. The module consists of three 2-hour sessions, which includes an optional introductory session on sexuality. Partnering to Prevent Unplanned Pregnancy: Initiated by Annie E. Casey Foundation, the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center and the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development, Partnering to Prevent Unplanned Pregnancy is a project that gathers leaders from local and state levels to emphasize the importance of relationship education in preventing unplanned pregnancy. Research shows teaching relationship skills such as communication and conflict resolution, self-knowledge, self-efficacy, handling crisis, and evaluating a relationship lowers the incidence of unplanned teen pregnancy. The Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development also builds strong support systems to help young teens in distressed relationships. With the support of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and health reform legislation in 2010, Partnering to Prevent Unplanned Pregnancy is able to push forward the agenda to create two parent families, a healthy couple, and improve family relationships. Partnering to Prevent Unplanned Pregnancy works through six strategic actions to help overall relationships and personal health in young teens: 1) Demonstration and testing: launch pilot projects and projects to test promising practices and assess the effectiveness of blended strategies; 2) youth involvement: include youth voices in the dialogue about relationship education and teen pregnancy prevention; 3) information sharing: building a dynamic system for two way communication between the fields of relationship education and teen pregnancy prevention, 4) identification of leaders and structure: identify a formal leadership structure to spearhead efforts to integrate relationship education and teen pregnancy prevention; 5) Concept mapping and gap analysis: analyze current data, research, curriculum and emerging practices in teen pregnancy prevention and healthy relationship education; and 6) Maximizing Personal Responsibility and Education Program (PREP) resources Strengthen Responsible Fatherhood Programs Proposal: We propose strengthening existing responsible fatherhood programs by: (1) expanding the notion of responsible fatherhood to include that a father waits to have children until he is ready to emotionally and financially support them; (2) embedding the discussion of pregnancy planning and prevention in existing responsible fatherhood programs; (3) focusing on reducing early and unplanned pregnancy through the Child Support Enforcement Program; and (4) strengthening father involvement in helping to break the cycle of early parenthood.
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Rationale: Fathers play an important role in helping families realize opportunity and their potential. Too often the notion of responsible fatherhood starts once someone becomes a father. Because becoming a father is such a profound responsibility with such economic consequences, and so deeply affects the life chances of the next generation, a responsible father waits to have children until he is prepared emotionally and financially to support a child (or additional children). Although responsible fatherhood programs focus on how to be involved in a positive way in their childrens lives, to date most programs have not addressed issues related to prevention of subsequent unplanned pregnancy. While the Child Support Enforcement Program primarily aims to ensure that fathers take financial responsibility for the children they already have, there is now an opportunity to build on the Office of Child Support Enforcements expanded mission that includes preventing additional unplanned pregnancies that would increase child support responsibilities. This would help young men understand the consequences of early and non-marital fatherhood and avoid becoming a father until they are ready to assume the financial, emotional, and other responsibilities entailed in becoming a parent, whether for the first or subsequent time. Father involvement is important for family and child prospects. Over two decades of research confirms that parents including fathers are an important influence on their childrens decisions about sex, love, relationships, values, and whether their teens become pregnant or cause a pregnancy. Teens continue to say they want to hear from their parents, not just friends or the media. Teen girls raised by both parents are less likely to have sex or become teen mothers than are teens who grow up under any other family structure. Helping fathers talk to their sons and daughters about avoiding early pregnancy and teaching responsible parenting is an important part of preventing teen and unplanned pregnancy. Implementation: We recommend that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services incorporate activities in Responsible Fatherhood and Child Support Programs that help men prevent unplanned pregnancy, share parenting responsibility for their children, and support their children financially. Ensure All Children Have Access to Quality Child Care and Pre-K Programs Proposal: Many families face two critical challenges: how to ensure that their children are ready for school; and how to ensure that their children are safe and well-cared for while parents work. Because public schooling typically begins at age five or six, most American families are largely left to make their own arrangements for early care and education. The United States lacks a comprehensive system of early care and education for its pre-school children. According to the Center for American Progress, Head Start only reaches about half of eligible poor three- and four-year olds, typically in part-day, part-year programs. Federal block grants and state funds provide child care subsidy assistance to low-income families, but funding is only enough to reach about one in seven families eligible under federal law.89 We propose to make the temporary expansion of Child Tax Credit under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) permanent for low income working families to help them pay for quality child care or after school enrichment programs. We also support removing the barriers homeless families face enrolling their young children in high quality child care and propose extending
Greenberg, Mark. "Next Steps for Federal Child Care Policy." Future of Children Fall 2001: n. pag. Georgetown Law Center. Web. 20 July 2011. 46
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the protections afforded K-12 homeless children by the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act to preschool programs funded or administered by Local Education Authorities (LEAs) or by States. Rationale: The Child Tax Credit helps low-and moderate-income families with the expenses of raising children. Under ARRA, the Child Tax Credit was expanded for lower income families by lowering the minimum amount of earned income from about $12,500 to $3,000 as part of the stimulus. Eight million women and 6 million families headed by a single mother benefit from the larger CTC. The Job Creation Act of 2010 reauthorized this expansion again. However, the extension is temporary. If not extended or made permanent when the current extension expires at the end of 2011, families that earn less than $12,850 would be entirely shut out of the credit, and families earning modestly more than that would experience deep cuts in the credit.90 In addition, more than 2.3 million children experience homelessness each year; downturns in the economy and increases in housing foreclosures have seen this number grow. HUD estimates that the number of homeless families in shelters increased 30 percent between 2007 and 2009, and that more than half of the children in these families were under the age of six.91 Young homeless children face unique barriers to enrolling and participating in early learning programs. For young children, losing their housing doesn't just mean having to change preschools, it often means going without any early education at all, either because there is no program where they are temporarily living, or because the local program is full with a wait list. This is not a small problem. According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, there are 750,000 young homeless children aged 0 to 6 in the United States. A recent study on the preschool-age children of homeless families found that 47 percent were a year behind the average child in mental development. The same study said that 31 percent of homeless children over 5 were suffering from clinical depression. Another 54 percent suffered from intense anxiety. 92 The McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act provided much needed infrastructure and funding for K-12 schools to effectively identify homeless children and address the obstacles they encounter as they access public education. The law is intended to remove the barriers to enrollment and attendance and ensure success of homeless children and youth in school. While the program has not been without funding and implementation challenges, it has helped to develop an infrastructure to support homeless students and their families at the local level. Regrettably, the law did not extend to federal early education and child care programs that exist outside of the public school system. Under current law, it is unclear if homeless preschool children are afforded the main protections of the McKinney-Vento Act, including immediate enrollment and the right to stay in the same preschool placement, and receive transportation, if it is in the childs best interest. Implementation: Make the current Child Tax Credit permanent whereby low-income families start receiving a credit after their first $3,000 of wages of 15 cents for each dollar of wages above that level. Passing recently introduced legislation to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Act would align the
Sherman, Arloc, Avi Feller, and Chuck Marr. Failure to Extend Improvements in Child Tax Credit Would Harm Millions of Low-Income Working Families. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 16 Feb. 2010. Web. 91 Mostrous, Alexi. "More Families Are Becoming Homeless, Study Finds." The Washington Post 19 July 2009. Print. 92 "Children." National Center for Family Homelessness. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2011. <http://www.familyhomelessness.org/children.php?p=ts>. 47
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preschool provisions of the Act with the school-age provisions, providing immediate enrollment and continuity of services when a family moves. It would also expand the authorized funding levels and address the unique challenges of access to preschool programs administered or funded by States or Local Education Authorities. We support extending McKinney-Vento protections to preschool age children in the next reauthorization. End Child Hunger Proposal: We propose to help end child hunger in America through a comprehensive plan that provides government incentives, reforms where necessary, and engages diverse stakeholders. In 2009, 17.2 million American children lived in households that could not always afford food.93 Another one million children went hungry, meaning they had their normal food intake reduced and their eating habits disrupted.94 Further, 65 percent of America's teachers regularly see kids who come to school hungry because they aren't getting enough to eat at home. Many of these teachers buy food with their own money to compensate.95 These children are more likely to be malnourished and overweight, often struggle to pay attention in school and see their health and education suffer, putting them at a lifetime disadvantage. To achieve the goal of ending child hunger will require commitments from and coordination among federal, state, and local governments, as well as non-profit, private sector, and community-based groups. Efforts to end child hunger will be most successful when they build on the successes of existing programs and leverage multiple partners to work towards a common goal. With these considerations in mind, we propose several possible activities that can contribute to ending child hunger in America.
1. Free School Breakfast in the Classroom for All Children: only 47.2 percent of students who

participate in school lunch programs participate in school breakfast programs.96 A school breakfast program open to all children would eliminate the logistical hurdles and the stigma involved in receiving a meal seen too often as being just for poor kids, which keeps many students from participating. Moreover, when breakfast is served in the classroom, more students participate in the program and show up on time for school and teachers report a decrease in behavioral problems and trips to the nurses office97!

! 2. Expanded Summer Nutrition Programs: only 16.1 percent of children who participated in

reduced or free lunch programs during the year participated in summer nutrition programs in 2009.98 Compared to school lunch sites, there are far fewer summer feeding sites,99 making it much more difficult for children to access healthy meals during the summer. Improving
Hanson, Kenneth. ERS Report Summary. Economic Research Service. United States Department of Agriculture, Oct. 2010. Web. <http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR103/ERR103_ReportSummary.pdf 94 Ibid. 95 Hunger In Our School: Share Our Strength's Teachers Report Second Annual Survey Among K-8 Pubic School Teachers Nationwide. Share Our Strength. C&S Wholesale Grocers. Web. <http://www.strength.org/school_breakfast/pdfs/report_full.pdf>. 96 "School Breakfast Program 2009-2010 Participation." Food Research & Action Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2011. <http://frac.org/federal-foodnutrition-programs/school-breakfast-and-lunch/school-breakfast-program/>. 97 Ibid. 98 Food Research and Action Center. Summer Nutrition Programs in Trouble; Failing to Meet Growing Need. 29 June 2010. Web. <http://www.frac.org/Press_Release/summer_10_report_release.htm>. 99 Ibid. 48
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awareness of and access to summer nutrition programs will go a long way towards improving childrens health when school is out of session!
! 3. Expanded WIC: one in two babies is enrolled in the Women, Infants, and Children Program

(WIC), and the program has very high (81 percent) participation rates for eligible pregnant women and infants.100 After age one, however, the participation rate drops below 50 percent.101 These children, ages one to four, lack the nutritional support they need to develop. Improving education on WIC benefits, adding resources and streamlining and combining of services would help this program to better reach young children!
! 4. Increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation through Improved

Outreach: according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), only 66 percent of all eligible Americans participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) program in 2008 and 26 states are at or below the national SNAP participation rate.!102 Forty-nine percent of SNAP recipients were children in FY 2008, 103 and many of those left out of the SNAP program are families with children. Those not participating in the program are missing opportunities to access food and are at risk of hunger. This needs to be a priority for policymakers!
! 5. Expanded SNAP Benefits: one of the most effective ways to improve childhood nutrition is

through the SNAP program. SNAP benefits are currently too low to ensure that all families have the resources they need to provide their children with a healthy diet. Increasing SNAP benefits would help low-income families gain consistent access to nutritious food!
! 6. Improved Program Efficiency for Other Key Supports: applying for nutritional assistance

can be a maddening process. Many families who qualify for assistance do not apply or give up in the maze of forms and out-of-date requirements. Streamlining forms and processes by combining, simplifying and updating applications to programs such as SNAP, WIC, school breakfast and lunch programs and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) will lead to administrative savings that can be re-invested back into the programs themselves!
! 7. Support for Working Families: in combination with SNAP, wage and income supports for

working families are among the most effective tools to keep children from going hungry. Measures that would help working families, and thereby reduce child hunger, include indexing the minimum wage to inflation and expanding the EITC to make work pay!
! 8. Public-Private Partnerships: many non-profits and community organizations are already

working to combat hunger in America. Greater coordination and collaboration among these groups and well-designed partnerships with federal, state, and local governments will increase the effectiveness of government programs to help ensure they reach target populations and take full advantage of appropriated federal and state dollars!
! 9. Accountability and Evaluation of Efforts by a Federal Agency: many nutrition assistance

programs do not reach enough people and we can improve performance targets. To ensure
Ibid. Ibid. 102 Reaching Those in Need: STATE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION RATES IN 2008. Food and Nutrition Service. United States Department of Agriculture. Web. <http://www.fns.usda.gov/ora/menu/Published/snap/FILES/Participation/Reaching2008.pdf> 103 "Effects on Children." Food Research and Action Center. Web.
101 100

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genuine accountability, the USDA should set quantifiable targets and evaluate performance against them. In addition, efforts should be evaluated and tracked through a national report including regular reporting on program participation! Rationale: In one of the worlds wealthiest countries, there is no excuse for large numbers of children to have to suffer poor nutrition. Research shows that food insecurity hurts our economy and our international competitiveness. Furthermore, hunger leads many low-income Americans to buy the least expensive and least nutritious foods, ultimately contributing to obesity and accompanying long-term health problems like heart disease and diabetes. In light of these significant costs, America can no longer afford for one in five children to live in a household struggling with hunger.104 Providing support to families and children to reduce hunger will not only lower the costs hunger levies on the economy, but will also inject much needed funds into the market. For every $5 spent on SNAP, $9 is put back into the economy. 105 This multiplier effect results from the fact that recipients utilize nutrition benefits almost immediately. In addition to important economic reasons for ending child hunger, doing so is a goal that has strong public support. Recent public polling suggests that Americans care deeply about this issue and are willing to contribute additional resources to reducing child hunger. It is past time to take on child hunger. America has made great leaps forward in combating hunger in the past. We must come together to succeed in this new challenge. Implementation: There is national momentum to reduce child hunger at the state and local levels. To build on these efforts, Congress should consider a range of supports for hunger programs, including streamlining federal benefits programs, expanding school feeding programs and SNAP, and implementing other supports for working families. As federal and state governments move forward on these issues, private sector groups should partner with these efforts to connect children to federal nutrition programs, to help distribute nutritious food, to provide nutrition education, to assist non-profit and community-based efforts to fight child hunger and raise awareness. Ensuring Brighter Futures for Youth Through Mentoring Programs Proposal: We propose to invest $300 million over three years in a program at the U.S. Department of Education to support the development, expansion, and strengthening of exemplary mentoring programs targeted at disadvantaged middle school students in order to cultivate mentors for these young people. This initiative builds on the proposal of President George W. Bush in his 2003 State of the Union Address. These new funds will be used as grants to nationally-affiliated youth-serving organizations, independent community and faith-based organizations, and local education agencies that will link one million students with disadvantaged backgrounds to adult mentors through school-based programs. The program will be based on the successful mentoring program the Department of Education operated from 2003-2006. In addition, we propose to restore funding to the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help children of prisoners between the ages of 10 and 14
Nord, Mark, Alisha Coleman-Jensen, Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson. Household Food Security in the United States, 2009. Measuring Food Security in the United States. United States Department of Agriculture, Nov. 2010. Web. <http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR108/ERR108.pdf>. 105 Hanson, Kenneth. ERS Report Summary. Economic Research Service. United States Department of Agriculture, Oct. 2010. Web. <http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ERR103/ERR103_ReportSummary.pdf 50
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to find an adult mentor. The FY2012 budget justification cuts program funding from $50 million to $25 million. While we recognize the difficult financial choices the present budget crisis will force our country to make, we do not believe that we can restore fiscal confidence and a healthy economy on the backs of the young and vulnerable Americans who need our help the most. This program works with the U.S. Department of Justice and a network of other agencies with a budget of $50 million annually to offer grants to nationally-affiliated youth serving programs, as well as independent community and faith-based organizations, to support school and community-based mentoring programs. Grantees of both programs must fulfill the essential features of successful mentoring programs: screening and matchmaking, orientation and training, and ongoing support and supervision. And the grantees will be rigorously evaluated according to their outcomes both in terms of inputs (volunteer hours, youth served) and outcomes for youth (academic achievement, school attendance, juvenile crime, and the avoidance of risky behaviors, such as substance abuse). Rationale: According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2001), one out of every ten children in America is at great risk of failure because he or she experiences four or more factors that adversely influence their future prospects, such as: not living with two parents, having an underemployed parent, living below the poverty line, having a parent or guardian who is a high school dropout, not having health insurance, and/or receiving welfare benefits. Any one risk factor increases the likelihood of negative outcomes for children, but the presence of four or more places the child at a tremendous risk of failure. The Census Bureau has identified 7.1 million children who fall into this high-risk category.106 Research shows that having a mentor decreases the likelihood that disadvantaged youth will engage in violent behavior and drug use, while improving the chances that they will attend school regularly and improve academically. According to MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, 2.5 million young people in the United States are enjoying mentoring relationships with caring adult volunteers. Unfortunately, millions more disadvantaged young people have not found mentors.107 100,000 mentors for children of prisoners were provided under this initiative and thousands of schoolbased mentors acted as tutors and mentors to promote student engagement in school and academic success. Implementation: Authorize funding of $300 million over 3 years for a mentoring grant program administered by the Department of Education and targeted to nationally-affiliated youth-serving organizations, independent community and faith-based organizations, and local education agencies that will link one million students with disadvantaged backgrounds to adult mentors through school-based programs. Maintain current funding levels at $50 million annually for the successful Mentoring Children of Prisoners program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Bright Spot: MENTOR: For more than 20 years, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR) has been the lead champion for youth mentoring in the United States. MENTOR helps children by providing a public voice, developing and delivering resources to mentoring programs nationwide and
106 107

http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030130-3.html http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030130-3.html 51

promoting quality for mentoring through standards, cutting-edge research and state of the art tools. MENTOR works closely with State Mentoring Partnerships and more than 5,000 mentoring programs and volunteer centers throughout the country, serving more than three million children in all 50 states. There are currently 18 million children in the United States who want and need a mentor, but only three million have one. MENTOR's mission is to close that gap so that every one of those 15 million children has a caring adult in their life. MENTOR serves young people between the ages of 6 and 18, and its work over the last two decades has helped millions of young people find the support and guidance they need to build productive and meaningful lives.

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Achieving Economic Independence

Savings and Growth for Small Businesses and Households From the perspective of the individual, the most urgent economic priority is to gain the skills necessary for the jobs of the future. Education and effective workforce training are primary. But the success of this individual strategy depends on an economy that produces jobs at a variety of skill levels. A job is the ultimate source of economic security. And a working engine of job creation is necessary for men and women to advance as far as their talent and ambition can take them. Economic fairness depends on economic dynamism; the two cannot be separated. Social mobility is a more realistic prospect when opportunity is increasing for all. For those who are healthy and able, a job can also be a source of fulfillment and dignity. Productive work is a form of social contribution. Every person would want the ability to say: I have contributed to the success and welfare of my family and the community in which I live. This is part of the tragedy of persistent unemployment a kind of deprivation deeper than economic need. But persistent unemployment is exactly what America is now facing. Millions of Americans lack jobs and many of those have been unemployed for an extended period. Millions more have left the job market entirely in frustration. Economic recovery has not been accompanied by an adequate surge in job creation, leaving many to question if our economy is really in recovery at all. Certainly, in many parts of America, the economic recovery is well disguised. To be clear, a comprehensive job creation agenda is beyond the reach of this document, which focuses mainly on social mobility within a growing economy. But advancing social mobility and growing opportunity is not skill driven alone. A healthy labor market is equally vital. The challenge: To promote a sustainable recovery, we need to create an economic climate for businesses to invest and innovate again. Low levels of job creation in the last decade can be directly linked to historically low levels of investment. New research finds that investment recovered within a year and a half of the seven recessions prior to 2001. After the 2001 recession, however, it never fully came back.108 If we are serious about creating jobs we need to take the long view and encourage a climate of investment and innovation again in America. Our Guiding Principle: We have seen the revenge of truths our grandparents taught that there is dignity in living within our means, that too much debt provides only the illusion of prosperity, that hard work and savings are the true sources of security and independence. Productive work and the building of wealth are the real foundations of the American Dream; excessive debt and consumption have proven to be a house built on shifting sands. But wealth and savings are also an area where inequality is most evident. The racial divide in our country is widest when it comes to assets. The median net worth of white and Asian Americans in 2004 was $142,700. The median net worth of African Americans was $20,400. This disparity has helped cause an intergenerational accumulation of economic disadvantage. If our goal is to promote broad economic advancement, we must address the asset gap. Wise public policy will increase the rewards for honest labor, expand the incentives for asset accumulation and encourage financial literacy. These are the firm foundations for personal economic
Faberman, R. Jason, Gross Job Flows over the Past Two Business Cycles: Not all Recoveries are Created Equal, BLS Working Paper 372, June 2004. 53
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independence. They allow individuals to build a better life for themselves, to weather economic shocks and reverses, and eventually to provide an inheritance to the next generation. Rewarding work and savings also creates a more reliable basis for future economic prosperity making it less fragile and more durable. We need to make work pay and make savings more attractive. Policies for Discussion: The policies that follow are designed to encourage Americans to save more and America to invest in what works. These include proposals to jumpstart investment and job creation such as a permanent R&D tax credit; and American Infrastructure Bank; and bringing all businesses and communities into the digital age. And proposals to encourage hard work and savings such as expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); giving all Americans access to retirement savings through Automatic IRAs; and providing banking services to communities that are most underserved. Make the Research and Development Tax Credit Permanent to Promote Innovation Proposal: The nations long-term economic growth depends on a host of factors, but tomorrows jobs depend largely on todays investment. As Alan Greenspan once said, Capitalism expands wealth primarily through creative destruction the process by which the cash flow from obsolescent, lowreturn capital is invested in high-return, cutting-edge technologies.109 Long-term economic growth is tied intimately to our willingness to innovate.110 However, investment must be sustained in good times and bad for the economy to continue to grow. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Spending on research and development (R&D), the process by which firms increase the nations stock of knowledge and find applications for new ideas, is also strongly influenced by the business cycle. This is because firms typically finance R&D from retained earnings, which are smaller when business is slow. Outside sources of capital can also be more difficult to come by when banks and investors are more risk adverse or simply have less credit themselves to extend. As a result, when the economy cools, new R&D spending slows down, frequently compounding the recession: when growth declines by 2%, R&D spending drops by 3%.111 And investment dries up, just when the economy needs a boost. Moreover, the American economy has become even more dependent on innovation in recent years. According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), R&D accounts for 5 percent of real GDP growth between 1959 and 2004, and 7 percent between 1995 and 2004. This ramp-up in R&D's contribution [to GDP growth] helps explain the pickup in economic growth and productivity since 1995.112 Conversely, it also partly explains why it has been difficult for the economy to recover and to create jobs when investment in R&D is stalled. We propose a simplified, more generous, and permanent R&D credit as embodied in the American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2011 (HR 942). Rationale: When filing their taxes, companies engaged in research and development are currently required to choose between one of two possible credits:
Stock Options and Related Matters, Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan at the 2002 Financial Markets Conference of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Sea Island, Georgia, May 3, 2002. 110 For discussion of endogenous growth theory see Romer (1987, 1990), Aghion and Howitt (1992), Grossman and Helpman (1991, Ch 3, 4), and Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1995, Ch 6, 7). 111 Can governments help revive innovation and trade?, The Economist, October 1, 2009. 112 Research and Development Bolsters U.S. Economic Growth, National Science Foundation Press Release 07-129, October 1, 2007. 54
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The federal Research and Experimentation (R&E) tax credit, which was first introduced in 1981 as a temporary tax break, and has subsequently been extended thirteen times. The R&E credit, currently set to expire at the end of the year, applies to 20 percent of qualified research expenditures (QREs) performed in the United States above a base amount. The formula for determining the base amount requires firms to multiply the average R&D-to-sales ratio from 1984 to 1988 by the average gross receipts for the most recent four years. Firms established after 1988 are considered start-ups, and are therefore required to employ a modified formula. The Alternative Simplified Credit (ASC) was first introduced in 2006 in order to provide additional incentives for R&D investment to companies that derived little benefit from the R&E credit. Companies that claim the ASC do not have to measure their gross receipts against a set base period. Instead, the ASC applies to 14 percent of QREs performed in the United States, over 50 percent of the average QREs for the prior three years.

Both credits are temporary and dependant on Congress for continual extensions, leaving many businesses in the lurch, unsure of whether additional investments will receive the same favorable tax consideration. Congress has even let the R&E credit lapse in recent years, diminishing the incentive for businesses considering whether to invest new dollars in American researchers. While the system is complex its various iterations have had the effect of applying different standards, and providing varying credits, to competing companies most experts agree that the credit has, on the whole, been successful. Studies on the R&E credit have revealed that (1) nearly 80 percent of the credit is, as a rule, applied to domestic salaries in the United States; and (2) the credit benefits small businesses as well as large corporations.113 In 2005, 29 percent of firms claiming the credit had assets of less than $1 million.114 Given the success of the credit in meeting its policy objectives, we should make it permanent, allowing small businesses to budget for long-term innovative projects, including hiring salaried workers, without the risk of funding coming up short because the credit expires. But beyond making it permanent, we should level the playing field, requiring all firms to calculate their benefit using the same simple formula, the ASC. Implementation: We recommend that Congress pass, and the President sign, the American Research and Competitiveness Act of 2011 (HR 942). This bill would make permanent the ASC at 20 percent of 50 percent of QREs performed in the United States above the average QREs invested over the previous three years, while phasing out the regular credit after 2012. Establish an American Infrastructure Bank Proposal: Investment in infrastructure projects can boost our global competitiveness and create jobs at the same time. Several studies have pointed to a positive correlation between infrastructure investment and economic growth. In particular, spending on infrastructure benefits the economy by reducing the cost of private business transactions.115 Efficient networks are the lubricant that keeps the economy moving and helps U.S. businesses compete in a fast changing global marketplace.
Research and Development Tax Credit, R&D Credit Coalition, July 2009. Ernst & Young Supporting innovation and economic growth: The broad impact of the R&D credit in 2005,, April 2008. 115 Congressional Budget Office, Issues and Options in Infrastructure Investment, May 2008.
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While public investment in infrastructure is needed, government should not and does not have to shoulder the burden alone. According to McKinsey & Company, the worlds 20 largest private infrastructure funds had nearly $130 billion under management in 2008, with 77 percent of it raised in just two years.116 This represents an enormous opportunity for funding our infrastructure needs. One way to seize that opportunity is to pass the bipartisan Building and Upgrading Infrastructure for LongTerm Development (BUILD) Act currently before Congress. The BUILD Act, supported by a unique coalition of business and labor including the US Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, would establish an American Infrastructure Financing Authority (AIFA) a kind of infrastructure bank. AIFA would be an independent, government-owned entity that after an initial capital stake of $10 billion from the government would be fully self-sustaining and expected to leverage up to $600 billion in private investments to repair, modernize, and expand the nations failing infrastructure systems. Investments that would be expected to create many thousands of jobs through direct and indirect effects. Rationale: Infrastructure is the nerves, sinews and muscles of our economy and our society. When these networks and systems get fatigued and run down, its impossible for America to operate at full health yet our nations physical infrastructure is failing. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) grades it a D and estimates the U.S. will need to raise $2.2 trillion just to repair and maintain our existing infrastructure stock.117 At the same time, we are being outspent by our competitors. The U.S. spends about 2 percent of GDP per year on infrastructure investment (this includes federal, state and local, and private sector spending) compared to about 5 percent in Europe and 9 percent in China.118 And the demand on our rail, roads, ports, and air is growing. By 2020, U.S. freight volumes are expected to be 70 percent greater than in 1998. Over $8 trillion of goods are moved by freight annually in the U.S. and three-quarters of this traffic is by trucks on interstate highways.119 Road congestion costs $78 billion annually, driven by 4.8 billion hours of delay and 2.8 billion gallons of wasted fuel. And flight delays add up to an additional $15 billion of lost productivity annually.120 In much of the country, the electrical grid still depends on the same technology deployed immediately after World War II. A report from the Presidents National Economic Council found that power interruptions and outages cost American individuals and businesses at least $80 billion each year.121 Smart Grid technology utilizes broadband networks to monitor consumer usage in real time and return unused energy to the grid, smoothing wide fluctuations in electricity demand. A recent survey of 15 dynamic electricity pricing experiments found when consumers had access to real time information such as smart thermostats at home, critical peak demand fell by 27% to 44%.122 And deploying Smart

Spellman, James. Building on Strong Foundations, Financial Times, March 13, 2008. 2009 report card for America's infrastructure . Reston, Va.: American Society of Civil Engineers, 2009. Print.. 118 The cracks are showing, The Economist, June 26, 2008. 119 Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, http://www.bts.gov/programs/freight_transportation/ 120 Ibid. 121 A Strategy for American Innovation: Driving Towards Sustainable Growth and Quality Jobs, National Economic Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy, September 2009. 122 Network Developments in Support of Innovation and User Needs, OECD, December 9, 2009.
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Grid technology creates jobs. A report for the GridWise Alliance, an industry group, estimates up to 278,000 direct jobs could be created by deployment.123 Implementation: Congress should pass, and the President should sign, the BUILD Act establishing AIFA. AIFA would provide loan and loan guarantees to the private sector for eligible infrastructure projects including transportation, water, and energy infrastructure projects. Projects would have to be at least $100 million in size, be of national or regional significance, and 50 percent or more of the projects costs must be funded by private investment. In addition, the BUILD Act includes strong rural protections for AIFA including establishing an Office of Rural Assistance within AIFA to provide technical assistance on developing and financing projects and a lower financing threshold for rural projects. Rural projects would only need to be $25 million in size. Bridge the Digital Divide Proposal: High-speed broadband internet services can help improve the quality and lower the cost of healthcare through health IT and improved data capture and use; enable improvements in education through e-learning and online content; play a major role in the transition to a clean energy economy through efficient use of smart grids; expand access to jobs and training; support entrepreneurship and small business growth; and strengthen community development efforts. But it can do none of these things if rural and low-income communities do not have access to affordable broadband. Therefore we support the National Broadband Plans proposal to repurpose the Universal Service Fund to deploy broadband technology in communities that would otherwise be unable to afford it. The Universal Service Fund was created to support universal telephone service in America but telephone service has since become affordable and accessible for nearly all Americans. It is the FCCs recommendation that this fund should be repurposed to support deployment of newer and more expensive technologies such as broadband. Rationale: Several studies have shown that fast, reliable broadband improves the operational efficiency of businesses, making it easier for them to reach new customers, grow their business, and hire additional employees. This is particularly important for small businesses or for businesses in rural or low-income communities. Research using data from 1999 to 2006 revealed that communities with new access to broadband experienced 6.4 percent higher employment growth on average than before they had broadband. Rural communities benefited more than major cities by gaining access to larger markets for the first time.124 Businesses are not the only ones to benefit. Individuals benefit from having access to job search tools, online education and news, health information, access to financial services, and the ability to comparison shop across a large number of retailers for the best prices. A 2009 study estimated the value of broadband to connected consumers was $32 billion a year but cautioned there were still significant adoption gaps among consumers.125 Among all households in 2008 (including those that werent connected): 82 percent of Asian households were connected to broadband, while only 57
KEMA, The U.S. Smart Grid Revolution: KEMAs Perspective for Job Creation, Prepared for GridWise Alliance, January 2009. 124 Kolko, Jed. Does Broadband Boost Local Economic Development?, Public Policy Institute of California, January 2010. 125 Dutz, Mark, Jonathan Orszag, and Robert Willig. The Substantial Consumer Benefits of Broadband Connectivity for US Households, Compass Lexecon, July 2009. 57
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percent of black/African-American households had adopted it; 84 percent of GenY households (ages between 18 and 24) were connected to broadband at home, while only 43 percent of senior households (ages 65+) had adopted it; and 83 percent of college graduate households were connected to broadband at home, while only 38 percent of households with less than high school diplomas had adopted it.126 Implementation: Pass legislation amending the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to allow the Universal Service Fund funds to be allocated to rural and low-income communities to support subsidized broadband adoption. Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to Childless Workers & Eliminate the Marriage Penalty Proposal: In 2009, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a refundable tax credit that supplements the income of the working poor, lifted an estimated 6.6 million people out of poverty, including 3.3 million children. Without the EITC, the poverty rate among children would have been nearly one-third higher.127 While the EITC has been successful in reducing poverty among children and families, poverty rates for workers without children have remained largely unchanged. The majority of the poor today (56.7%) are working age adults aged 18 to 64 years old and about 60% have no children or are non-custodial parents who do not reside with their children. Among this group 2.6 million adults worked full-time, year-round in 2009 and yet still lived below the poverty line. Every American that works full-time year-round should be able to earn enough to afford their basic needs. Based on the proven success of the EITC and mindful of current fiscal constraints, we propose tripling the EITC benefit for childless workers ($457 in 2010) to a maximum $1,500 credit. Lifting 2.6 million working adults above the poverty line, will not only benefit these individuals, but save the federal government on services they would have otherwise been eligible for such as food stamps and Medicaid. We also propose eliminating the EITC marriage penalty. When a single parent is already working and qualifying for the full EITC, marriage to another worker will result in an EITC penalty if their new combined family income is high enough that the family qualifies for less than the single parent did alone. To ensure the tax code doesnt disincent marriage, we propose allowing married couples to file their taxes as married filing separately so long as their joint married income does not exceed a new threshold equal to double the EITC income threshold for individual tax filers. For example, earned income thresholds for 2011 under this proposal would be:

$43,998 ($49,078 married filing jointly; $87,996 married filing separately) with three or more qualifying children! $40,964 ($46,044 married filing jointly; $81,928 married filing separately) with two qualifying children! $36,052 ($41,132 married filing jointly; $72,104 married filing separately) with one qualifying child! $13,660 ($18,740 married filing jointly; $27,320 married filing separately) with no qualifying children!

Ibid " Policy Basics: The Earned Income Tax Credit." Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2011. <http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2505>. 58
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Rationale: The federal EITC has been supported and expanded by presidents of both parties. EITC started in 1975 under President Nixon as a temporary program to return a portion of the Social Security taxes paid by low-income workers. It was made permanent in 1978, expanded as part of tax reform in 1986, and most famously became a major component of federal efforts to reduce poverty in the 1990s under President Clinton. It is now the largest anti-poverty cash entitlement program. Even President Ronald Regan, famous for his skepticism about social programs, praised it as the best antipoverty bill, the best pro-family measure, and the best job creation program to ever come out of the Congress of the United States.128 Childless adults in 2008 (the latest year for which data are available) received an average EITC of $252, families with one child received an average EITC of $1,996, and families with two or more children received an average EITC of $3,105.129 A low-income worker must file an annual income tax return to receive the EITC and meet certain requirements for income and age. A tax filer cannot be a dependent of another tax filer and must be a resident of the United States unless overseas because of military duty. The EITC is based on income and whether the tax filer has a qualifying child. 130 The main policy issues for reforming or enhancing the EITC include the work incentive effects of the credit; the marriage penalty for couples filing joint tax returns; the family size issue; and potential abuse (i.e., compliance with credit law and regulations). For tax year 2010, the maximum EITC for tax filers without children was $457, and it will increase to $464 in 2011. For families with one child, the maximum credit was $3,050 in tax year 2010, and it will increase to $3,094 in 2011. For families with two children, in tax year 2010 the maximum was $5,036, and it will increase to $5,112 in 2011. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) made significant changes to the EITC, allowing more people to access credits. Last year, though the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, an extension of ARRA, families with three or more children had a provision in the EITC to receive additional funds, where previously only the first two children in a family received credit. Childless workers also now receive a benefit, although the credit only allows an 8% of initial income, compared to a 34% return for a family with one child. Implementation: The maximum Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for childless workers should be increased to 20 percent of initial earnings, nearly triple its current level. The EITC provides a very small benefit to childless workers, less than 8 percent of initial earnings compared to 40 percent of initial earnings for families with two or more children and 34 percent for families with one child.131 Among working age poor adults, about 60 percent do not have children or are non-custodial parents who do not reside with their children. A larger EITC for this group would encourage increased labor force participation as well as reduce poverty among those that are working.

Haskins, Ron, and Isabel V. Sawhill. Creating an Opportunity Society. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2009. Print. 129 Scott, Christine. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): An Overview, Congressional Research Service, January 4, 2011. 130 Ibid. 131 From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half. Center for American Progress. Print April 2007. 59

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We also propose eliminating the EITC marriage penalty by allowing married couples to file their taxes as married filing separately so long as their joint married income does not exceed the EITC income threshold for individual tax filers. Expand the Savers Credit, Offer a Savers Bonus for Tax Refunds, and Eliminate Disincentives to Save Proposal: Asset building protects workers and families against the economic vulnerabilities that come with unexpected events like automotive repair, job loss, or medical emergencies. It also provides a foundation for economic opportunity. Families who save are able to buy a home, send their children to school, and move up the economic ladder. Seventy-one percent of children born to high-saving, low income parents move up from the bottom income quartile over a generation, compared to only 50 percent of children of low-saving, low income parents.132 We propose expanding and simplifying the Savers Credit to encourage saving for education, homeownership and retirement; offer a Savers Bonus to those lower-income families that commit to saving a portion of their tax refund; and eliminate asset limits for most means-tested programs that create disincentives to work and save. Rationale: For many families, saving for education, a home, or retirement is key to making economic progress. Unfortunately, most low-income families lack the resources to save for the future. According to the Brookings Institution, Families with income below $40,000 have low rates of coverage under employer-provided pensions, are extremely unlikely to contribute to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), and in 2001 had median net financial wealth outside of retirement accounts of just $2,200.133 The Savers Credit is a tax credit for low-income workers which acts like a government match for voluntary contributions to retirement savings accounts like 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). However, since the credit is not refundable, meaning it cannot exceed a filers income tax liability like the EITC, it currently provides little help to low-income workers and families. Making the credit refundable would enable very low-income individuals and families with no tax liability to benefit from the credit. And adding a Savers Bonus for those families that chose to save their refund is a way to further incent long-term planning and savings. However, encouraging savings among low-income families is difficult when saving for a car to get to work, classes at the local community college to get a career credential, or enough money to move your children to a better neighborhood with better schools prevents you from accessing the public services you need today to feed your family and pay your bills. Most asset limits in means-tested programs are counterproductive. Asset limits may deny short-term assistance to a worker because he or she owns a car even though having a car may be necessary to finding and keeping a job. Asset limits may force workers to divest themselves of savings for education, homeownership, or retirement in order to get short-term urgent assistance. Asset limits can also result in families losing assistance because children with after school jobs are saving for their future. A review of economic literature found that asset tests represented the most substantial financial disincentive for workers to save for retirement. There are certain circumstances where asset limits play a legitimate policy role. For example, in the case of long-term care it is reasonable for rules to address
Cramer, Reid, Rourke O'Brien, Daniel Cooper, Maria Luengo-Prado. "A Penny Saved Is a Penny Earned." Pew Economic Mobility Project. 19 November, 2009 133 From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half. Center for American Progress. Print April 2007. 60
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the extent to which beneficiaries must exhaust their own resources before turning to public assistance. But asset tests are perverse when they discourage work, education, and homeownership the pillars of the American Dream. Implementation: The federal Savers Credit should be reformed to make it fully refundable up to a maximum of $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for joint filers. The credit should also be broadened to apply to other non-retirement savings vehicles intended to foster asset accumulation including individual development accounts, childrens saving accounts, and college savings plans. In addition, low-income families with incomes of up to 120 percent of the federal EITC should be eligible for a $500 Savers Bonus if they commit to save $500 or more of their tax refund in an eligible retirement, individual development, childrens saving account, or college savings plan. In addition, asset limits should be phased out for eligibility to receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Program (food stamps) and State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Asset limits for Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and the Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI) should be raised from $2,000 to $5,000. However, income limits should remain to ensure these programs are appropriately targeted. Bright Spot: American Dream Match Fund: For 30 years, the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) has been
combining community practice, private markets and public policy education to open real economic opportunity for families on the margins of the economy. Over the last two decades, they have led the development of matched savings programs across the country. Their new endeavor, the American Dream Match Fund (ADMF) is making headway by working to unlock new streams of private and public funding that will catalyze the growth and capacity of matched savings opportunities to thousands of families. ADMF is developing technology platforms that connect individual donorslarge and smallto savers in a personalized, easy to use, accountable and electronic. Based on market research, CFED believes these platforms (similar to KIVA.org, but for domestic matched savings) will appeal to new donors and help strengthen programs that are selected to participate with ADMF. Having centralized fundraising platforms will allow the matched savings field to partner with private and nonprofit institutions on cause-related marketing projects and other relationships. ADMF is currently exploring such efforts with Virgin Money US, Virgin Unite and E*TRADE and additional partnerships will be pursued in the coming months. Finally, connecting donors and savers via online platforms will enable the creation and mobilization of a broad new coalition of individuals and institutions united by a common interest in furthering asset building. CFED will look to network these thousands of voices through online educational tools to open additional asset building opportunities for low-income families. This year we plan to establish the cornerstone of the American Dream Match Fund in the San Francisco Bay Area with an investment of $500,000 in operating costs and $1 million in savings matches and financial education. In ensuing years we intend to expand the public website nationally, and to add communities for large donor cultivation.

Impact
ADMF is an innovative, low cost and sustainable way to coordinate hundreds of autonomous matched savings programs in to an efficient and streamlined national infrastructurea key evolutionary step to take matched savings to scale in the United States. ADMF will mobilize new donors by communicating to them the stories and ambitions of individual savers as well as the matched savings model itself, as a means of breaking the cycle of poverty for individuals and their families and communities.
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ADMF will establish positively reinforcing incentives that leverage public and private funding. Every $1 in public funding, for example, will leverage $1 in private infrastructure investment, $6 in savings and savings matches, and $2 in financial education and support that will ultimately be invested in education, homeownership or entrepreneurship for a low-income American family.

ADMF is an essential, scalable building block for a savings and investment economy, which offers to add the productive and entrepreneurial capacities of thousands (and through policy leadership, millions) of working families to the mainstream economy, building savings, investment, entrepreneurship, postsecondary education and sustainable home ownership simultaneously.

Auto IRAs Proposal: The Automatic IRA (Auto IRA) offers employees not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan the opportunity to save through the powerful mechanism of regular payroll deposits that continue automatically. There is no significant cost to employers, making it attractive to entrepreneurs and small business operations. This simple idea also enjoys broad bipartisan support and has been endorsed by the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation. Rationale: Roughly half of U.S. workers are not offered a 401(k) or any other type of employersponsored plan. Automatic payroll deductions have been shown to be remarkably effective at boosting participation in 401(k) plans, extending this feature to those who do not have access to a 401 (k) plan could greatly expand the use of retirement savings vehicles and improve retirement security for millions of Americans. Implementation: If enacted, an Auto IRA law would require that employers with more than 10 employees, have been operating for a minimum of two years, and do not offer any retirement plan to employees, open their payroll system to channel employees' own money to an IRA. Employers would still retain the option of setting up a 401(k), SIMPLE, or other retirement plan instead of payroll deposit IRAs later. All qualified employees would be automatically enrolled unless they affirmatively choose to opt-out. The contributions of employees who do not choose an investment option would be placed in default investments. The Auto-IRA is market-oriented: Auto-IRAs are offered by the same private financial institutions that currently provide them. Employers choose whether the Auto IRA provider is selected (1) by the employer (but allowing employees to transfer to other Auto IRA providers if they so choose), or (2) directly by each employee. As a fallback, individuals and employers who cannot find an acceptable Auto IRA on the market can use ready-made, low-cost Auto IRA accounts provided by an entity somewhat similar to the federal employees' Thrift Savings Plan (which might alternatively take the form of an industry consortium or nonprofit organization) with investments that are contracted out to the financial services industry. Banking Development Districts Proposal: Establish banking development districts in communities that are not adequately served by traditional financial institutions. To encourage participation, financial institutions including commercial banks, S&L, and credit unions, will receive incentives such as federal or state government deposits to develop enhanced and expanded products and services for lower-income consumers. Participating financial institutions would be encouraged to locate branches, ATMs, and other bank
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operations in underserved communities. This policy is modeled after New York States successful Banking Development District program. Rationale: Studies show that 9.5 percent of Americans, including nearly one-quarter of the minority population, are unbanked.134 As a result, they pay exorbitant fees to have checks cashed, transfer funds, take out a short-term loan, and other services. Banking Development Districts are designed to encourage the establishment of bank branches in areas with a demonstrated need for banking services. For communities undergoing or planning revitalization, there are few more potent symbols of hope than the opening of a new bank branch. It can be a key element to making revitalization a reality: facilitating access to the credit, investments and services that individuals, businesses and community institutions need to grow and prosper. A new branch signals confidence in the future, regardless of what may have taken place in the past. Implementation: Encourage state legislatures to launch Banking Development Districts based on the successful model utilized in New York state. Bright Spot: New York States successful Banking Development District program: In New York City alone close to 800,000 people lack banking services for one reason or another. They do not use banks when cashing checks, paying bills or transmitting money. They have been left outside the financial mainstream. The BDD program was created in 1997 and the first BDD branch opened in 1999. An incentive of public deposits and other benefits is provided to those banks that open a BDD branch in an underserved community to better ensure that the new branch will have sufficient deposits to provide loans and other services. A 10th anniversary review of the program found the program was successful at offering innovative and affordable banking services in communities where they previously did not exist. The findings from the initial assessments informed the goals set by the banks for their BDD branches, and every branch had created or adopted at least one new product or service specifically designed for its BDD community based on these needs. Some of the products/services are described below: Second Chance Checking/Savings Account: The account allows an individual who previously held a bank account but lost it as a result of overdrafts or some other non-fraudulent error, to open a new account with some restrictions. Remote Capture: They partner with the NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) to allow tenants to make rent payments at their branches. Although the branches do charge a fee for this service, the banks state that the amount of the fee is lower than the amount an individual would pay to a neighborhood check-cashing establishment with bill pay services. Bank at Work Program: One branch partners with eight local businesses to offer the branchs products and services to the businesses employees through a Bank at Work program. Enhanced Basic Banking Account: A basic banking checking account that has more favorable features than the state-mandated basic checking account, such as, unlimited ATM/debit card transactions and 12 withdrawals per month free of charge. Opportunity NYC: The program is designed by the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs, Office of Financial Empowerment to help reduce poverty and increase economic opportunities for poor city residents. The program offers financial incentives in the form of cash transfers to families in three areas correlated to poverty: childrens education, family health, and adult workforce skills
New York State Banking Department. Banking Development Factsheet, http://www.banking.state.ny.us/bddfact.pdf 63

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and job training. As a participant in this program, banks must offer a no fee, no minimum balance, savings account with an ATM card. Remittance Products: One branch in NYC even offers a low-cost remittance product for customers wishing to send money between the United States and Mexico, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, or the Dominican Republic.

Despite its successes, the review included recommendations for improving the BDD program including mandating that BDD branches provide financial education, encouraging the development of more affordable products and services and encouraging more collaboration between the BDD branches and local community groups. Alternative Data Credit Reporting Proposal: Alternative data credit reporting is a no-cost policy mechanism to expand access to mainstream credit to millions of households that currently lack access to affordable credit and instead must rely on expensive alternative financial services providers such as payday lenders. As many as 70 million Americans are excluded from the mainstream credit system not because of bad credit history, but rather due to a lack of information.135 That is, their lack of credit history leaves them ineligible to be scored. Tens of millions of Americans have no credit files or no payment histories in their credit files, and consequently have no credit score. Tens of millions more have too few payment histories in their credit files to be scored with precision. Employers, landlords, banks and credit unions check consumers credit scores before hiring workers, renting apartments and approving applicants for checking accounts and other financial services. No or low scores translate into reduced access to mainstream credit, forcing borrowers to rely on higher priced lenders and preventing them from investing in their homes or businesses in economically productive ways. A straightforward solution is to simply add more information to credit files. Utility and telecommunications bills are nearly universal; including all payment information for these transactions would enhance credit access for millions of households. This market-driven policy response will help lenders better assess credit applicants and decrease the nations persistentand wideningwealth gap. Rationale: Including utility and telecom payment information in consumer credit files can be predictive of future delinquency by individuals in general. And through the pervasive reporting of such non-financial payment data to consumer reporting agencies, millions of Americans with little or no credit history can establish payment histories and gain access to mainstream affordable credit. Studies on this issue by PERC and the Brookings Institution Urban Market Initiative show that the reporting of customer payment data will substantially benefit those with lower incomes, members of ethnic minority groups, young adults and the elderly. Moreover, there is no evidence that reporting utility and telecom payments leads consumers to overextend themselves by borrowing too much. Implementation: Despite compelling evidence that alternative data credit reporting is a win-win scenario for borrowers and lenders, utility and telecom firms are reluctant to report full payment histories to the credit bureaus due to regulatory uncertainty; currently most firms only report late payments. Some states have introduced legislation to promote alternative data credit reporting while others have moved to prohibit the practice. At the federal level, some companies that previously

Wayman, Carol. "Reporting On-Time Payments Low Cost and Easy Way to Improve Credit Access." CFED 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 64

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reported full payment histories to the credit bureaus have stopped due to uncertainty about privacy requirements. Congress can resolve the uncertainty through legislation that provides affirmative permission to utilities and telecom firms to report all payment history to the consumer credit bureaus. Bright Spot: Bank On: The first Bank On program began in San Francisco in 2006. City officials were concerned that nearly 20% of residents did not have a bank account, leaving them little choice but to rely on higher priced alternatives such as check cashing and payday loans in order to manage their finances. Indeed, nearly 8% of U.S. households are unbankedthey do not have any savings or checking accounts with banks or credit unions. An additional 18% are under-banked, meaning they have bank accounts but still rely on alternative financial services to conduct basic financial transactions. In response to the problem, city leaders developed Bank On San Francisco, a coalition of financial institutions, nonprofit organizations and government agencies with the goal of creating and implementing a strategy to incent 10,000 residents to open and actively manage bank accounts. They quickly exceeded their goal and opened more than 11,000 new accounts in the first year. Five years later, Bank On programs exist in dozens of cities and counties across the country; several states have launched or are planning state-wide initiatives; and President Obama has proposed to establish Bank On USA. Bank On is built on voluntary private-public partnerships that leverage the strengths of different institutions to equip people with the tools they need to improve their financial wellbeing. Bank Ons basic premise is that helping unbanked and under-banked households to open and manage free or low-cost bank accounts can help them improve their financial security and open up additional economic opportunities in the future. Two distinct financial services systems exist in the United Statesone considered the financial mainstream and another alternative system, the financial fringe. Those in the financial mainstream may choose from a variety of institutions with which to safely save and access their income, obtain loans to buy homes and build businesses, and create financial stability and prosperity. But for those on the outside, there are significant obstacles to gaining access to the mainstream, causing them to turn to financial fringe services. This alternative system includes check cashers, payday loan providers, pawn shops, auto title lenders, and rent-to-own stores that charge high fees for services the majority access for much less. Without the most basic financial toola checking accountfamilies are hard-pressed to build savings and assets, and to respond to emergencies. Unbanked people are unable to benefit from the stabilizing benefits that bank accounts provide, including: Cost savings: The average unbanked person spends 5% of net income on unnecessary fees. For a low- to moderate-income worker, this amounts to about $1,000 in fees per year. Public safety: Without a safe place to keep their money, unbanked people are more likely to be victims of crime. They often carry large sums of cash and keep cash savings in their homes. Disaster preparedness: In the event of a disaster or evacuation, unbanked families are unable to access their money and any cash kept in the home may be lost. Asset building: Without a bank account, a family lacks the ability to save for the future, establish credit, and access asset-building instrument such as loans for a car, a small business, or home mortgage.
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Within the Bank On framework, local governments use their broad influence to convene key partners and negotiate with financial institutions on behalf of unbanked consumers. Community organizations serve as a trusted voice in reaching unbanked residents and delivering financial education. Financial institutions bring to the table affordable and appropriate account products, along with significant outreach and marketing resources. Bank On programs located in diverse areas of the country are sharing knowledge and experience through meetings and their website: www.joinbankon.org. They are developing and sharing best practices and innovative new approaches with new cities and states, spreading the impact of the Bank On movement. President Obamas proposal to create a Bank On USA program within the CDFI Fund would help existing Bank Ons build their capacity and would ensure that new and startup Bank Ons have access to technical assistance and support as the model scales up to reach millions of financially vulnerable Americans.

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Promoting Communities of Opportunity

A New Opportunity Index
Opportunity Index Proposal: Today, the most commonly discussed measure on economic security is the poverty rate. The focus on the poverty rate is too limited and does not provide communities the data they need to understand the progress they can make in boosting measures of economic mobility, such as graduating from high school and college. This led us to our interest in developing an Opportunity Index that measures a number of indicators at the county and state levels that contribute to economic opportunity and mobility. We include indicators that have a demonstrated connection to expanding or restricting economic mobility and opportunity. This measure will become a respected marker for our progress on economic opportunity where it matters the most at the community level. Rationale: Fundamental to the idea of opportunity is the notion that the zip code into which you are born does not determine your life chances. Yet in America today, too often it does. Children born into the lowest 20 percent of the income distribution are five times more likely to find themselves there as adults as are children born into the top 20 percent of the income distribution.136 Mediocre students from affluent families are more likely to go to college than are top students from poor families. To the surprise of those brought up believing in the American Dream, today there is greater economic mobility in Germany, France, Sweden, and several other European countries than in the United States. What determines the opportunities open to people? Three factors are key. The first relates to family -the education, income, occupational category, and martial status of parents have strong effects on the trajectory of their childrens lives. The second relates to individual attributes -- differences in peoples characteristics and behaviors, such as their motivation, hard work, agreeableness, and talent can expand the opportunities open to individuals. The third relates to the communities into which people are born and grow to adulthood research shows that the places where people live are pivotal to the opportunities open to them. This index focuses on the third categorycommunitiesand how their characteristics and assets affect the opportunities available to the people living in them. Communities, from the neighborhood to the state level, matter for employment, education, housing, law enforcement and public safety, and civic institutions. And each of these areas are interlinked. Some communities have characteristics that, combined together, open many windows of opportunity for their residents; others do not. Some provide a wealth of opportunities today that will change peoples lives for the better tomorrow; others offer few footholds on which residents can gain purchase for the climb to a better life. Four types of community assets are particularly important to creating opportunity; these opportunity windows include: 1. A robust local economy. The state of the local economy -- from the climate for businesses to operate and create jobs, to the structure and health of the labor market, to the assets held by households -- is fundamental to economic opportunity. If low wage jobs are the only jobs available, economic
Haskins, Ron, and Isabel V. Sawhill. Creating an Opportunity Society. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2009. Print. 67
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security will be out of reach; if no jobs at all are available, young people cannot get a foothold in the labor market. Furthermore, there are more than 100 million candidates for 61 million low-skill, lowwage positions.137 Economic mobility requires an economy that fosters a spirit of free enterprise and innovation and provides opportunities for entry-level jobs, for career advancement, for business creation, and for asset-building. Having the opportunity to earn a decent living is fundamental to adult economic security and mobility. The wages of parents also have a profound effect on children -children who live in poverty do worse in school (even low-income high achievers fare far worse at every step of the educational pipeline compared to their higher-income peers)138 have a higher likelihood of becoming teen parents, and earn less as adults. In addition, economic hardship in childhood predicts well-being in early adulthood, and the effects are magnified when poverty is longlasting.139 2. A quality education. Vital to the concept of opportunity is education. As Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernake has said, in the long termthe best way by far to improve economic opportunity and to reduce inequality is to increase the educational attainment and skills of American workers. The productivity surge in the decades after World War II corresponded to a period in which educational attainment was increasing rapidly; in recent decades, progress on that front has been far slower. High school and college graduates earn significantly more every year and over their lifetimes than high school and college dropouts. Furthermore, the failure to educate more Americans has resulted in a skills gap that is affecting Americas global competitiveness. In the midst of the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression and millions of Americans seeking work, how can it be that 53 percent of employers find it difficult to find qualified workers? Nearly two-thirds of the jobs in todays economy are high-skill positions, yet the American workforce has fewer than half the number of qualified candidates needed to fill those positions.140 America has a high school and college completion crisis, with among the highest dropout rates in the developed world.141 The estimated cost to the American economy simply from the high school dropout epidemic is more than $320 billion annually.142 Yet not everyone has an equal opportunity to benefit from a good education. Many students live in communities with dropout factory high schools those schools graduating 60 percent or fewer of their students every year.143 The quality of a public school is typically tied closely the socioeconomic status of the families it serves. Several studies show positive outcomes for children and adolescents who live in the same community as more affluent neighbors, including increased childhood IQ and developmental test scores and a decrease in leaving school prematurely.144 145 Research also finds that living in a disadvantaged neighborhood can lower college aspirations,

Gordon, E. (2009). The Global Talent Crisis, The Futurist. Wyner, J., Bridgeland, J. and Diiulio, Jr., J. (2007). Achievement Trap: How America is Failing Millions of HighAchieving Students from Lower-Income Families, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Civic Enterprises, LLC. 139 Sobolewski, Juliana M., and Paul R. Amato. "Parents' Discord and Divorce, Parent-Child Relationships and Subjective Well-Being in Early Adulthood: Is Feeling Close to Two Parents Always Better than Feeling Close to One?" Social Forces 85.3 (2007): 1105-124. Print. 140 Gordon, E. (2009). The Global Talent Crisis, The Futurist. 141 "'High School Dropout Crisis' Continues in U.S., Study Says - CNN." CNN.com. 05 May 2009. Web. 27 July 2011. <http://articles.cnn.com/2009-05-05/us/dropout.rate.study_1_dropouts-enrollment-graduations?_s=PM:US>. 142 "High School Dropouts: How They Affect Taxpayers And The Economy." The Huffington Post. Web. 27 July 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/high-school-dropouts-how-_n_908600.html>. 143 Balfanz, Robert, John M. Bridgeland, Joanna Hornig Fox, and Laura A. Moore. Building a Grad Nation. America's Promise Alliance. AT@T, 2011. Web. 144 Brooks Gunn, J., Duncan, G.J., Klebanov, P.K., & Sealand, N. (1993). Do neighborhoods influence child and adolescent development? American Journal of Sociology, 99(2), 353 395. 145 Klebanov, P.K., Brooks-Gunn, J., McCarton, C., & McCormick, M.C. (1998). The contribution of neighborhood and family income to developmental test scores over the first three years of life. Child Development, 69, 1420-1436. 68
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particularly among African American adolescents.146 In a globalized economy in which knowledge is paramount, education is a key factor in expanding opportunity and protecting people from the most severe consequences of economic downturns. During the last quarter of the Great Recession, the combined unemployment and underemployment rate of college graduates was 10 percent; among those who completed high school only, it was 20 percent; and among those without a high school diploma, it was 35 percent.147 Education is closely correlated to economic security. Boosting high school and college completion rates will boost the economic mobility of more Americans, and save the nations economy billions of dollars. 3. Community Health and Civic Life. Evidence shows that community institutions, norms, and relationships, together known as social capital, play an important role in expanding peoples opportunities, including attending good schools and finding good jobs.148 All parents want to give their children the best possible start in life, and research shows that early childhood experiences cast a long shadow, affecting myriad outcomes in adulthood. Youth who are have lower economic mobility and, in turn, those who do not attend school or work are completely missing from the civic lives of their communities they dont volunteer, participate in community projects or otherwise engage in the civic life of their community.149 Volunteering on a regular basis has been shown to be a good bridge to successful employment, as young people develop the skills, leadership and social networks.150 Individuals in communities with high levels of crime and drug abuse lack a community in which schools and businesses can thrive the two key pillars of economic mobility. In turn, adolescents who live in neighborhoods with a high number of unemployed men, a core characteristic of disadvantaged communities, are at increased risk of drug use.151 Youth and families are caught in a vicious cycle of poverty and lack of opportunity in part because of the conditions in their local communities. Implementation: The Opportunity Index will measure a small set of indicators in each of these three areas for over 2,500 counties in the United States and for every U.S. state. Counties and states will not be graded or ranked, but we will provide a national benchmark to enable average citizens and community leaders to see how they compare to the national data or the adjacent county.

Stewart, E. B., E. A. Stewart, and R. L. Simons. "The Effect of Neighborhood Context on the College Aspirations of African American Adolescents." American Educational Research Journal 44.4 (2007): 896-919. Print. 147 Burd-Sharps, Sarah. The Measure of America: American Human Development Report, 2010 - 2011. New York: Columbia Univ., 2010. Print. 148 Putnam, Robert. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster. 149 Proc. of National Conference on Citizenship, Library of Congress, Washington DC. Print. 150 Reed, Bruce, John M. Bridgeland, Mary McNaught, and Marc Dunkelman. The Quiet Crisis: The Impact of Economic Downturn on the Nonprofit Sector. W.K. Reed, Bruce, John M. Bridgeland, Mary McNaught, and Marc Dunkelman. The Quiet Crisis: The Impact of Economic Downturn on the Nonprofit Sector. W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Mar. 2009. Web.Kellogg Foundation, Mar. 2009. Web. 151 Hoffmann, John P. "A Contextual Analysis of Differential Association, Social Control, and Strain Theories of Delinquency." Social Forces 81.3 (2003): 753-85. Print. 69

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