Today, the federal government announced a new pilot program to enable communities, states and tribal governments to better address the needs of their disconnected youth.
The Performance Partnership Pilots, also known as P3, are designed to grant communities more flexibility in using discretionary funding across federal programs to improve the education, employment, health and well-being for more than 5 million disconnected youth across the country by leveraging existing partnerships and supporting promising local strategies.
The federal government defines disconnected youth as being between the ages of 14-24, are low income and either homeless, in foster care, involved in the juvenile justice system, unemployed or not enrolled in or at risk of dropping out of an educational institution. Depending on a person’s circumstances, he or she may have as many as four case managers in order to access the full range of services needed. This means duplicative paperwork for the youth as well as the social worker and a multitude of other barriers to service.
Through P3, the Obama Administration is hoping to identify and scale up innovative community solutions that address the challenges of reaching disconnected youth. Local, state and tribal agencies are encouraged to re-imagine its current funding streams and services to breakdown program silos for a more coordinated approach. This could include blending competitive and formula grants or obtaining waivers for nonessential program requirements in order to create more opportunities for communities and states to design approaches that best meet their needs and build on their strengths.
To apply, send a letter of interest to [email protected].
Andrea Zimmermann, State Policy Associate