This powerpoint discusses Disconnected Youth, the causes of disconnection, numbers of disconnected nationally and in Wisconsin

1. The
Disconnected
Who they are. How they got there.

2. Who am I, and why should you
listen to me?
• Currently the Director of Teen Central
at Burton Barr Library - Phoenix Public
Library
• Worked for several years on a city-
wide committee to address
Disconnected Youth
• 13+ years of working with Teens in
low-income neighborhoods
• Phoenix is the 5th worst city in the
nation as far as Disconnected Youth (1
in 5)
• Also, grew up in a low income
neighborhood 

3. Who are they?

4. CHARACTERISTICS
Disconnected Youth
Low No
Ages Not in Not
Familial Degree
16-24 School Working
Support

5. Other Factors of DY
Disconnected Youth
Foster
Poverty
Care
Kids
Having
Kids Causes Gay/
Gender
Issues
Juvenile
Justice
Abusive System
Parents

6. Factors Leading to Vulnerability
• Institutional Challenges
– Unsafe schools or with few
resources, unsafe or deprived
neighborhoods, services in silo
• Educational Challenges
– ELL, special ed needs, older for
grade, low literacy skills
• Social Challenges
– Poverty, racism, abuse, juvenile
justice
• Personal Challenges
– Lack of self-efficacy,
mental/physical health problems

7. What do youth need to become
healthy, functioning adults?

8. Tasks of Adolescence
• Being, Becoming, Belonging
– Physical
– Social
– Emotional
– Vocational
– Spiritual
 Healthy Youth Development
– Confidence
– Connection
– Competence
– Caring
– Contribution

9. Youth Transitions Funders
Group: Connected by 25
• A young person who is Connected by 25
has attained 4 critical outcomes
– Educational achievement in
preparation for career and
civic participation
– Gainful employment and/or
access to career training
– Ability to be a responsible
and nurturing parent
– Capacity to participate in the
civic life of one’s community

10. Developmentally Supportive
Places
• Features*:
– Physical and psychological safety
– Appropriate structure
– Supportive adult relationships
– Feelings of belonging and being
valued
– Opportunities to develop positive
social values and norms
– Support for efficacy and mattering
– Opportunities for skill building and
mastery
– *National Academies of
Sciences/National Research
Council’s Panel on Community
Youth Development Programs

11. What’s going on in the US?

12. The bad news
• In America, an estimated 2.3 million to
5.2 million young people between the
ages of 14 and 24 are not enrolled in
school, not working, and lack family or
other support networks. That’s 1 in 7
• In 2011, 14% of young people in
America ages 16-19 are not in school
or the workforce.
• And last year alone, youth
disconnection cost taxpayers $93.7
billion in government support and lost
tax revenue.

13. Foster care = higher risk
• Only 3% of foster children nationwide
have a degree beyond high +school.
• Nearly 20,000 foster care teens "age-
out" of the foster care system each
year.
• 25 percent of "aged-out" youth have
been homeless
• 42 percent have become parents
themselves
• fewer than 20 percent are able to
support themselves,
• only 46 percent have graduated from
high school

14. Race and sex matter
• African American young people have
the highest rate of youth disconnection,
22.5 percent nationally. In Pittsburgh,
Seattle, Detroit, and Phoenix, more
than one in four African American
young people are disconnected.
• Boys are slightly more likely to be
disconnected than girls. The gender
gap is largest among African
Americans; nationally, 26 percent of
African American male youth are
disconnected, compared to 19 percent
of their female counterparts.

15. Family matters
• Youth disconnection mirrors adult
disconnection: household poverty rates
and the employment and educational
status of adults in a community are
strongly associated with youth
disconnection.
• The disparities between wealthy and
poor communities are striking. For
example, in New York, disconnection
rates range from 3.7 percent in parts of
Long Island to 35.6 percent in parts of
the South Bronx.

16. What’s going on in WI?

17. Some bad news
• Lowest indicators
– Equal Wage Gap - 48th
– % of Unemployed
Receiving UI Benefits -
32nd
– Food Insecurity Rate -
26th
• Poverty Rate: Percentage of people in
the state who fell below the official
poverty line
– 13.1% or 15th

18. • Unemployment Rate: Percentage of unemployed
workers in the state during an average month
– 7.5% or 20th
• Equal Wage Gap: Amount a woman earns for
every dollar a man would earn in the same job
– 70.0¢ or 48th
• % of Unemployed Receiving UI Benefits:
Percentage of unemployed workers in the state
receiving unemployment insurance benefits
– 49% or 32nd
• Food Insecurity Rate: Percentage of households
unable to acquire enough food to meet the needs
of all their members at some point during the
year
– 14.1% or 26th

19. But, some really good stuff is
going on too
• High School Graduation High school
graduation rate
– 90.7% or 1st
• Percentage of young people ages 25-34
in the state with an associate’s degree
or higher
– 40.8% or 22nd
• Disconnected youth: Percentage of
young people aged 16-19 who are
neither in school nor the workforce
– 7% or 11th

20. • Teen Birth Rate per 1000 Number of births
to teenagers (15-19 year olds) per 1,000
births in the state
– 26.2 or 10th
• Foster Care Population per 100,000
children Number of children in foster care
per 1,000 children under age 18 in the state
– 51 or 6th
• Affordable Housing Gap: Number of
affordable and available units per 100
tenants at or below 0-50 percent of state
median family income.
– 73 or 15th

21. Back to the bad news
7% DY is up from 6% in 2010.

22. Graduation rates
• Wisconsin’s black-white graduation gap is third
highest in the country behind Nevada and
Minnesota.
– 64% black student graduation
rate is 15th from the bottom.
• Wisconsin’s graduation gap between Hispanic
and white students is ninth highest.
– 72% Hispanic graduation rate.
• 74% low-income graduation rate tied for 12th
highest. South Dakota had the highest rate at 86
percent and Nevada had the lowest at 53 percent.
• 67% graduation rate among students with
disabilities.

23. Human Development Index

26. Yeah, but what about Rural
Wisconsin?

27. Percent of Disconnected
Teens by County Type, 2006-
2010

28. Graduation Rates
• About 44 percent of Wisconsin’s
public school students attend school in
a rural school district.
• Wisconsin’s rural schools can boast
better graduation rates than their urban
neighbors. In 2009, rural high schools
had a 93 percent graduation rate. The
rate for the state as a whole was 89
percent, and 87 percent for
metropolitan schools.

29. Diversity
• as rural areas become more diverse
culturally, an increased number of
students who are English Language
Learners (ELL) are attending school in
rural districts. Unlike larger districts
that receive funding to serve ELL
students appropriately, many smaller
districts are unprepared for these new
students. In the 2008-2009 school year,
47 percent of ELL students (almost
28,000) went to school in districts that
did not receive state support for
bilingual/bicultural programs.

30. Rural Support Networks
• Workers in rural northern parts of
Wisconsin were disproportionately
affected by the recession. The
unemployment rate for rural
Wisconsin was 9 percent, compared to
8.3% for the urban counties over the
last few years.
• This has gotten better in metropolitan
areas, but hasn’t gotten much better in
rural areas. Current numbers are 8.1
and 7.3 respectively.

31. Rural Support Networks
• The state as a whole is below the
national average in terms of adults with
a post-secondary education. Of adults
in rural areas, only 1 in 5 (20 percent)
hold a bachelor’s degree or higher,
whereas in urban areas of the state, 28
percent of adults hold a bachelor’s
degree or higher.
• In 2009, 48,415 (16 percent) of
children in rural Wisconsin lived in
poverty (below $22,050 for a family of
four). In particular, many of the
northern counties have some of the
state’s worst rates of poverty.

32. Some other things to consider
about rural areas

33. That food insecurity thing? It is a
really big deal.
• According to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), in 2009 11.4% of
households in rural Wisconsin were
food insecure – an increase of 21%
since 2005.

34. Homelessness
• Temperatures drop well below zero in
winter
• Homelessness is a rising issue among
rural counties in WI
• For example, by October 2011 in
Green County, the number of homeless
or near-homeless families that
contacted county agencies for help had
surpassed 2010's figures.

35. Rural Schools Struggle
• Of Wisconsin's 220 rural districts, 182
(82.7%) had enrollment declines in 2000-
10. Over half had declines of at least 10%,
and nearly one-quarter saw enrollment fall
more than 20%.
• Seven rural districts had smaller revenue
limits in 2010 than in 2001. Another 20 had
their limits rise less than 1% per year
during this period.
• The average rural district offered three
Advanced Placement classes, compared to
nine elsewhere in the state.
• In rural districts, nearly 40% of students
were eligible for free or reduced lunch,
compared to 31% elsewhere.

36. Health and healthcare is an issue
• Only about ten percent of physicians
practice in rural America despite the fact
that nearly one-fourth of the population
lives in these areas
• Rural residents are less likely to have
employer-provided health care coverage
or prescription drug coverage, and the
rural poor are less likely to be covered by
Medicaid benefits than their urban
counterparts.

37. Dental Care – a really bad issue
• The most common reason for kids to
call off of school is a toothache
• Nine of 10 dentists in the state accept
few or no Medicaid patients, mostly
because they say the state pays too
little for the care.

38. Child Care struggles
• Because families in rural areas lack
resources and have lower incomes,
parents are not able to afford child care
fees.
• The corporate model today is based on
a capacity of 75-85 children. In a rural
community, this number of children
does not usually exist in one location.
Rural programs often serve only 40-45
children. Generally programs are
operated by not-for-profit agencies,
Head Start, or public schools.

39. Child Abuse/Neglect
• In WI, during calendar year 2011, CPS
agencies received a total of 64,132
referrals; 38,623 of these were
screened-out and 25,509 were
screened-in
• Out of a population of 1,000 Wisconsin
children, about 29 children were
involved in a report of alleged
maltreatment in 2011.

40. Costs of Juvenile Justice
• Juvenile arrests were relatively stable
in the mid-1980s, but increased each
year from 1989 to 1997. Over the 10-
year period from 1999 to 2008,
however, total juvenile arrests declined
by 26.9%, from 137,872 in 1999 to
100,744 in 2008. In comparison, over
the same period, total adult arrests
decreased 2.2%, from 321,610 arrests
in 1999 to 314,271 arrests in 2008.

41. GLBT
• That’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,
Transgendered
• Strengths and Silences reveals
heightened incidents of student
victimization based on sexual
orientation and gender
identity/expression in rural schools
compared to suburban or urban
schools.

42. And some other, other issues
• About 80% of Wisconsin residents
have access to some type of broadband
through cable television providers or
telephone companies, according to
industry figures. But coverage gaps in
rural areas are a problem as businesses
and individuals increasingly turn to the
Internet for everything from online
sales to entertainment.
• The lack of broadband access has put
children in rural schools at a
competitive disadvantage. Unable to
quickly access podcasts, videos and
Webinars, these children are a step
behind in a technological society.

43. • Lack of federal and commercial funding
in rural communities can mean less
access to programs like GED help,
Leadership programs, job skills
programs, and more.
• In addition, children have fewer
avenues for creative outlets and
experimentation with creative and
artistic skills.
• People who must rely solely on over-
strapped charities and churches have far
fewer opportunities for robust, diverse
programs allowing for a ‘leg up’.

44. Let’s talk about Rural Libraries

45. Rural and Small Libraries:
Providers for Lifelong Learning
• library financing;
• traditionally conservative nature of
rural and small towns;
• lack of academically trained staff;
• need for skill development of library
trustees;
• limited, if any, analysis of community
needs;
• perception that rural library typically is
a place of books;
• technology is huge challenge; and
• provision of targeted services to Native
Americans and tribal libraries

46. Let’s imagine

47. being a disconnected youth
• Age 18
• Live in rural area
• Dropped out of HS due to pregnancy
• Seasonally employed
• No access to childcare
• Limited access to healthcare
• No access to dental care
• No plans for college
• No permanent residence

48. And, on that depressing note…
• Libraries can help.
• Librarians are a GREAT resource for
these young people.
• We are a source of inspiration.
• We are good role models.
• Libraries are a safe place to be.
• You CAN make an impact.
• Every life you touch matters.

49. Stay tuned for part II next week
where we’ll talk about specific
services you can offer your
Disconnected community.
Questions? Comments?
Hit me up!
Terry Ann Lawler
602-534-5014
Terry.lawler@phoenix.gov
Look me up on Google+ or check
out my online profile @
https://sites.google.com/site/terryannlawler/