Federal Resources

The Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) addresses a variety of policy-relevant issues related to the health and development of children, youth, and families. It does so by convening experts to weigh in on matters from the perspective of the behavioral, social, and health sciences.

Youth Jobs+ is an initiative intended to connect young people with jobs, internships, and other employment opportunities by bringing together businesses, nonprofit and faith-based organizations, and elected officials to help create pathways to employment for youth. 

The My Brother’s Keeper Initiative was launched in February 2014 to address the persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color. This 90-day report outlines the initial recommendations developed by the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force and offers a blueprint for action by government, business, nonprofit, philanthropic, faith and community partners.

This document outlines how President Obama’s budget for fiscal year 2015 takes steps to support and create opportunities for Asian American and Pacific Islander families (PDF, 8 pages) in education, employment, health care, and economic growth. 

White House interns reflect on their experiences interning for the Executive Office of the President. The White House Internship Program provides a unique opportunity to gain valuable professional experience and build leadership skills. This hands-on program is designed to mentor and cultivate today's young leaders, strengthen their understanding of the Executive Office, and prepare them for future public service opportunities. 

This report (PDF, 36 pages) describes the barriers that disadvantaged youth, particularly young men of color, face related to education, exposure to the criminal justice system, and employment, and how improving the opportunities would benefit the United States economy and individual communities. The report also highlights promising programs shown to improve outcomes for young people by helping them reach important life milestones.

This report (PDF, 29 pages) highlights the condition of Hispanic girls and women in the United States and their participation in areas such as education, health, labor, housing, and politics. 

This website provides a one-stop shop for American Indians and Alaska Natives to access resources available from the federal government. Users can complete a prescreening questionnaire to determine their eligibility criteria for resources and programs and learn how to apply. Resource categories include youth, education, food, employment, loans, and environment. 

USICH hosted a webinar, “Non-Time-Limited Housing for Youth,” on August 13, 2015, which highlighted two models of non-time-limited housing for youth, explaining how those programs were developed and financed, what the programs offer to youth, as well as outcomes and challenges. 

This document aims to improve practices and collaboration among SSA field offices, VA Medical Center staff, organizations and agencies that provide services to people experiencing homelessness, and other community-based partners. The strategies focus on assisting individuals experiencing homelessness with the initial disability application and medical determination process. 

USICH hosted a webinar that highlighted two models of non-time-limited housing for youth, explaining how those programs were developed and financed, what the programs offer to youth, as well as outcomes and challenges. 

This blog post, written by a USICH intern, describes how she found the position and highlights her experiences working on the policy team at USICH. 

This event brought together stakeholders from multiple sectors, as well as youth from diverse backgrounds, to assess progress toward the Opening Doors goal of ending youth homelessness by 2020. 

This fact sheet (PDF, 2 pages) describes the negative impact of family homelessness on children’s health, education, and well-being. It also illustrates current federal investments and initiatives that aim to end family homelessness by lifting households out of poverty and supporting early educational success. 

This resource provides specific criteria and benchmarks for ending unaccompanied youth homelessness. Communities can use this resource to reduce the number of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness and build lasting solutions to respond to future needs. 

This resource (PDF, 4 pages) includes questions that can help communities assess their progress toward USICH’s benchmarks for reaching the goal of ending youth homelessness. 

These resources provide information and tools on topics related to ending youth homelessness:

1. Coordinated Entry for Youth Brief — Provides an overview of the four core elements of coordinated entry for youth: access, assessment, prioritization, and referral.
2. Engaging Youth in Decision Making — Provides guidance on how to engage youth in project development and governance.
3. Using a Housing First Philosophy When Serving Youth — Provides an overview of housing first philosophy and how it applies to youth-serving projects.
4. Rapid Re-Housing for Youth — Provides a suite of tools and products on rapid re-housing for youth, including a Jump Start Tool, set of frequently asked questions, and a checklist.