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How Analytics Can Reveal a Big-Picture
View of At-Risk Youth, and the Service
Mix that Can Help Them
By Elizabeth Gaines and
Gary Glickman
December 2015
Policy&Practice
13
outh deserve all the help they can get to be ready
for college, work, and life. Currently, disadvantaged
youth have access to a variety of uncoordinated,
inflexible, and imprecise services. Juvenile justice,
labor, health, education, housing, and human service
agencies work independently, creating a fragmented system
in which youth can be overlooked and underserved.
It is difficult and confusing enough to transition from child-
hood to adulthood. But imagine the complexity as vulnerable
young people try to navigate a multifaceted system—and in
some cases—on their own. Even fundamentals, such as the
age at which a youth is considered an adult and eligible for
programs and services, vary from system to system.
Illustration by Chris Campbell