Last September, Congress passed the FY2019 funding to provide key investments for our nation’s education and workforce programs. Education and workforce programs saw level funding or slight increases for programs that serve the nation’s most vulnerable youth and young adults: those who are disconnected from both education and work and often referred to as “opportunity youth.”

However, particularly for programming at the state and local levels, federal investments for opportunity youth remain at historic lows when adjusting for inflation.

In this brief, JFF discusses how the right kind ofassistance helps opportunity youth access the high-qualityeducation and skills training that lead togood jobs, and why investing in these opportunities leads to critical economic gains.

This brief was made possible by generous support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The findings, conclusions, and recommendations presented in this report are those of JFF alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.