This grant will provide partial support to the Youth Transition Funders Group, a project of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. This network of grantmakers was formed in 2001 to focus specifically on working to improve the transition of youth into adulthood as productive members of society. The group provides a forum for foundations to network and develop complementary grantmaking strategies to create opportunities for youth in transition. Key activities in 2010 will include supporting funder collaborations, increasing field collaborations, and raising awareness on cross-cutting issues.

This grant will enable the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University to further analyze the social and economic consequences of students failing to complete school in Michigan. During the most recent phase of this project, the center analyzed the links between the educational attainment of adults in Michigan and an array of labor market indicators. In addition to deepening the analysis on the fiscal and economic costs that Michigan incurs due to completion and graduation issues, the center will also examine state and local efforts that address the labor market difficulties of youth between the ages of 16-24 in the U.S.

This grant will enable the Kalamazoo Community Foundation to continue to support a countywide partnership aimed at improving the educational supports and opportunities for out-of-school youth. Through this project, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation has led and convened a partnership of stakeholders in building a framework that addresses the issue of dropouts and disconnected youth in Kalamazoo. During the next stage of this project, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation will deepen its work and continue to develop partnerships with key stakeholders to reconnect dropouts to education and/or career training opportunities.