Youth Reconnection Requires ‘The Big Picture’

In the cacophony of issues facing residents in the state of Connecticut, the disconnected youth crisis has been catapulted to the forefront. The issue of disconnected youth is jarring to some, but for many this isn’t a novel issue, especially in their own communities. The plight of disconnected youth is not just one of moral concern, it is an economic one too. While the moral imperative to support these youth is undeniable, there are significant financial dividends that can be yielded from addressing the crisis.

The youth disconnection addressed in House Bill 5213: An Act Concerning Disconnected Youth describes a disconnected system and underscores the importance of applying a person-in-environment perspective: understanding an individual and individual behavior considering the environmental contexts in which that person lives and acts. Students are not individually, by themselves, at-risk or disconnected. Environmental factors, systems, and structures impact a wide range of health, networking and access to social and economic opportunities, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks along the path to emerging adulthood.

Dalio Education’s recently commissioned report, Connecticut’s Unspoken Crisis: Getting Young People Back on Track, captures this immediately in the Executive Summary: Across our state, “factors such as poverty, racism, and trauma increase the likelihood that [these] young people will become disconnected from educational and employment systems as well as other major institutions.”

Exclusionary zoning has caused our state to remain one of the most racially and economically segregated in the country, with devastating consequences. Connecticut’s public school districts remain highly segregated with inadequate funding gaps that favor districts with predominantly white student populations. Our state is among the worst in the nation for disproportionately incarcerating people of color, detaining Black youth at ten times the rate of white youth. Racial inequity of unemployment exists, with rates for Black workers historically and consistently twice that of white workers, regardless of education attainment.

Cumulative adversity, particularly when endured during critical developmental stages, can significantly impede biopsychosocial functioning, and contributes to some of the most severe and enduring health issues in our country. Research links Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) with nine out of the ten leading causes of death, chronic health conditions, and risky behaviors like substance misuse. This also encompasses various forms of environmental adversity, including racism, community violence, and food and housing insecurity. In Connecticut alone, the annual cost of ACEs is $174 billion due to direct medical spending, lost productivity, and impact to other systems such as child welfare and education.

Let’s look at Norwalk where the disconnected youth crisis is even more dire than that of the state on average. A concerning reality in Norwalk is 28% of youth, amounting to 1114 individuals are currently disconnected. Amongst this group, a particularly alarming trend is the presence of 242 newly disconnected youth.

This crisis is further highlighted among recent Norwalk Public School graduates. An average of 29% of the last five graduating classes from Norwalk Public Schools (2018-2022), representing approximately 220 graduates each year, have not enrolled in 2 or 4-year degree colleges or universities. This statistic sheds light on a significant portion of our youth who face barriers to accessing higher education opportunities and job training opportunities that connect them to livable wage career pathways. What’s particularly alarming is that 80% of these non-enrolled students are individuals of color. This stark racial disparity underscores the urgency of addressing the disconnected youth crisis, as it disproportionately affects marginalized communities.

The reality in Norwalk is that there are a growing number of youth that do not have the education and skills needed to fill the employer driven demand that exists in the Greater Norwalk area after graduation. Most importantly, they do not have the skills and credentials needed to access livable wage career pathway opportunities. This is detrimental to Norwalk’s, and by extension, the state’s economy because approximately 42% of Norwalk households are classified as ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — earning more than the Federal Poverty Level, but not enough to afford the basics where they live. Given the rise in disconnected youth, that figure is at risk of increasing.

This reality highlights the need for support of House Bill 5213. This legislation provides much-needed support to those who find themselves disconnected from educational and employment opportunities, but also aims to improve school district data systems and practices to identify and support at-risk students and to establish coalitions and partnerships focused on supporting at-risk and disconnected youth.

Norwalk ACTS is a local collective impact partnership, whose data efforts and capabilities have been used to build a data driven decision making culture in the community. While the Norwalk community is fortunate to have an organization dedicated to collecting and disseminating this data, many communities do not have such an entity committed to this kind of data collection and tracking efforts for disconnected youth and youth at risk of being disconnected. This further supports the need for House Bill 5213 which would help expand school district data systems.

As we continue through multiple interconnected crises – the pandemic, systemic racism, climate change, wars and conflict, opioid overdoses, youth suicidality, punishing economic inequality, and a toxic political divide that breeds distrust, hatred, and isolation – we cannot forget that this has been the only experience for our youngest residents. As these events continue to transform the lives of adults, we have a glimpse of how the youth are faring. Enacting this legislation offers a broader perspective and is essential for fostering connection and opportunity.

Rhea Henry (she/her)
Norwalk ACTS
Workforce Development Coordinator

Kathleen Callahan (she/her)
CT Cradle to Career Coalition
Policy and Civic Engagement Director

The Connecticut Cradle to Career Coalition represents five of the seven most populous cities in the state with close to 80,000 students enrolled in their public school districts – 15% of the total state student enrollment. Within our place-based community we collaborate on early childhood development, social emotional health, social justice, racial equity, parent and caregiver education, early literacy, health equity, school transitions, college and workforce readiness, afterschool programming, and more. Coalition members have well established relationships with the youth in their communities and have active leadership and advocacy programming with youth civic influencer training plans underway.

Norwalk ACTS is a Collective Impact partnership that brings people, organizations, and systems together, in a structured way, to achieve social change.