young adult

A California senator introduced groundbreaking legislation this week to extend the state’s foster care system through age 25 – a bill that acknowledges the continued failure to prepare young people severed from families for life on their own.

In the wake of President Trump’s call for increased attention to workforce development during the State of the Union address, the Urban Alliance released a white paper with recommendations focused on job training and career planning for youth and young adults.

There are dozens of potential pay-for-success (PFS) ventures that are being gauged for feasibility, or have moved into a planning stage. But few of these projects, in which funders assume risk and taxpayers only pay if certain benchmarks are met, have actually gotten off the ground.

The traditional view in the United States – which is codified in law – is that youths become adults when they turn 18. But the reality is that many young adults continue to depend on their families, and most of the experiences that will establish them as independent citizens occur in the years after that.

In a policy paper published exclusively by The Chronicle of Social Change, juvenile and criminal justice consultant Tracy Velázquez argues that it is time for U.S. systems of justice to explore the notion of creating a third court process for young adults, one that balances the need for accountability with the reality that jeopardizing the future of young lawbreakers is the best way to produce career criminals and intergenerational poverty.