Letter to Chairman Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro - Donovan Pushes for Federal Support for YouthBuild

Letter

Dear Chairman Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro,

We write to express our support for the U.S. Department of Labor's YouthBuild program in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill. We respectfully request ample funding for this critical program.

YouthBuild programs engage low-income youth in a holistic, full-time program with equal emphasis on education and hands-on, productive job training, coupled with mentoring, leadership development, and opportunities to serve the community. An evidence based model developed over decades, YouthBuild produces graduates who are more likely to be living on their own, enrolling in post-secondary education at higher rates and volunteering to give back to their communities compared to similar cohorts. The latest available data shows that 61% of all enrollees were placed in either employment or post-secondary education immediately following the program.

Young people between the ages of 16 and 24, who left high school without a diploma, apply and enroll in YouthBuild for an average of ten months. The program includes an equal division between helping them earn their high school diploma or the equivalent, and teaching job skills by building affordable housing for homeless and low-income people in their communities. While construction is a skill versatile enough to come in handy in almost any community, some of these individuals train for jobs in other growing sectors in their area, such as health care, technology, and customer service. The program is flexible to transform with the needs of the local community so that participants aren't just learning a skill, they're learning one that will lead to employment upon completion of the program. For example, at the Crispus Attucks YouthBuild program in York, PA, students receive 120 hours of state certified nursing assistant training taught by a staff member from a local community college, designed to meet the needs of local area hospitals.

Since YouthBuild began as a federal program in 1992, more than 148,000 students in 45 states have built over 32,000 units of affordable housing in low-income communities and performed more than 48 million hours of community service. The U.S. Department of Labor manages this program with a heavy focus on performance, providing evidence that YouthBuild works. Moreover, local programs are required to raise a 25 percent non-federal match, leveraging private funds to maximize impact.

Currently, there are 147 locally sponsored Department of Labor grantees operating YouthBuild programs, but there are three times more applicants than capacity, indicating the need for federal support for this critical program. Nationwide, there are at least 4.9 million individuals aged 16 to 24 who are neither in school nor employed. This program removes these individuals from relying on safety net programs that can be extremely costly over the course of their life. We believe that adequate funding for YouthBuild to meet the strong demand in thousands of communities nationally is an effective, strategic investment in putting these disconnected youth on a path to success while building an educated, connected, and skilled workforce.

We hope that the Committee will provide ample funding for the Department of Labor YouthBuild program. As always, we appreciate your consideration of our request, and thank you for your previous support of YouthBuild's work and mission.

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