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My Brother’s Keeper Task Force 

Report to the President

May 2014
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 (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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May 28, 2014

Dear Mr. President: 

It is our privilege and duty to submit the first progress report from the My Brother’s 

Keeper Task Force. As the proud fathers of sons, it is an honor to lead this initiative on 

your behalf. 

Since the day of the Task Force’s announcement, we have been overwhelmed with the 

public response to and support for your initiative. The country knows you are listening 

intently, and that you have made it a lasting presidential and personal commitment to 

ensure that all young people in America have ladders of opportunity.

 

In your Presidential Memorandum, dated February 27, 2014, you asked for a 90-day 

report on the Task Force’s progress. This report is just that – a statement of progress. 

After 90 days, we have just scratched the surface of this complex issue and opportunity.

To understand the context, opportunities and challenges in the lives of boys and young 

men of color and other youth, we reviewed statistics, research and government 

programs and policies; we also went into communities – literally and virtually – to hear 

the perspectives of thousands of community members and leaders. These listening 

sessions have profoundly shaped our perspective on the path forward and have made

several things abundantly clear. 

First, across this country, there are communities and individuals already doing 

incredible work, making meaningful, often transformative, differences in the lives of boys 

and young men of color and helping to ensure that all young people have the tools and 

opportunities they need to succeed. Your initiative has created a catalytic moment even 

for those who have been involved in this work for decades. As importantly, there are 

many more people and institutions ready and looking for a productive and impactful way 

to engage. 

Second, we heard from many boys like Damon, a third grader in Nevada. Damon

shared that he had been chronically absent and not doing well in school until March, but 

now was doing better. When asked what happened in March, he said that he had seen 

his father after a long time; and that his father told him to do well in school. The 

presence and positive engagement of parents and other caring adults is and always will 

make the greatest difference in these young people’s lives.

 

When talking to people in middle and low income neighborhoods, they make clear the 

inextricable dependence of this initiative on your broader agenda for economic growth 

and expanding opportunity. Children’s wellbeing is heavily dependent on that of their 

families. Creating good jobs and increasing access to quality health care, childcare and 

education builds ladders of opportunity critical to parents and children. 
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We also heard from many young men who are in college or working – doing great things 

for their families and communities, and often overcoming devastating personal 

circumstances. Though disproving the prevalent negative narrative about boys and 

young men of color with their own example, these young men often made two 

heartbreaking admissions. First, that they had internalized parts of the negative 

narrative and thus (at times) felt the shame of being fearful of other boys and young 

men of color; and second, that they often diminish themselves as they go through their 

daily lives to be less threatening to others. The prevailing narrative is pernicious and 

corrosive. It feeds and excuses bias. 

We have approached this initiative as a mechanism to highlight and build on what works

inside and outside of government for improving expected life outcomes of young people 

and removing barriers to their success. There is much work left to do. Yet, in this first 

phase, we have found numerous ways we can achieve better results and empower 

more communities, beginning with making critical outcomes visible in our data and then 

highlighting and doing what works to improve them. But none of this can be done by 

the Administration alone. That’s why you are committed to working with communities, 

philanthropies, businesses, other organizations, and the Congress, including Members 

of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucuses, who are 

equally committed to achieving these goals, and who have a long record of 

accomplishment and advocacy in their own communities on behalf of these youth. 

Today, we are pleased to report that a strong foundation for your initiative has been laid

in the past 90 days. Agency representatives on the Task Force have worked tirelessly 

to assess programs and policies that have the potential to enhance positive outcomes 

and eliminate or reduce negative ones. Some of the proposals will begin a long process 

toward tearing down structural barriers. But this report is just the beginning. The 

challenges described in this report will not vanish overnight. And, as you have noted, 

the government cannot play the only—or even the primary—role in these efforts. 

Helping young people realize their full potential requires a sustained effort from all of us. 

Under your direction, the work of the Task Force and its supporting Federal agencies, 

and efforts by businesses, foundations, religious institutions and private citizens, will 

remain a priority for years to come. 

Broderick Johnson Jim Shelton

Assistant to the President Deputy Secretary of Education

and Cabinet Secretary
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Executive Summary

For decades, opportunity has lagged behind for boys and young men of color. But 

across the country, communities are adopting innovative approaches, opening doors, 

strengthening supports, and building ladders of opportunity for young people, including 

boys and young men of color, to help put them on the path to success. President 

Obama wants to build on that success.

That’s why, on February 27, 2014, the President took action, joining with philanthropy 

and the private sector to launch an initiative to address persistent opportunity gaps 

faced by boys and young men of color and ensure that all young people who are willing 

to do the hard work to get ahead can reach their full potential — using proven tools and 

focusing on key moments in their lives where we can help make a difference. 

Over the last three months, we have had conversations with thousands of individuals 

and groups who care about this set of issues and share a common belief that, working 

together, we can help empower boys and young men of color and all youth with the 

tools they need to succeed.

Today, the Task Force is providing a 90-day report on progress and an initial set of 

recommendations.

This is a first step. In the coming months and years, the Task Force will build on the 

framework and initial recommendations offered here, and will work together with others 

to help ensure that all youth in America are on the path to success. 

The Challenge

Despite our advances as a country, boys and young men of color, in the aggregate, 

continue to face persistent challenges:

 23.2% of Hispanics, 25.8% of Black, and 27% of American Indians and 

Alaska Natives (AIAN) live in poverty, compared to 11.6% of White 

Americans.1

 Black, American Indian, and Hispanic children are between six and nine 

times more likely than white children to live in areas of concentrated 

poverty. This compounds the effects of poverty, and further limits pathways to 

success.2

 Roughly two-thirds of Black and one-third of Hispanic children live with 

only one parent. A father's absence increases the risk of their child dropping 

out of school. Blacks and Hispanics raised by single moms are 75 percent and 

96 percent respectively more likely to drop out of school.

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 We see significant high school dropout rates—as high as 50% in some school 

districts—including among boys and young men from certain Southeast Asian 

and Pacific Islander populations.4
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 During the summer months (June-August) of 2013, just 17% of Black 

teenage boys (ages 16-19) and 28% of Hispanic teenage boys were 

employed, compared to 34% of White teenage boys. Overall in 2013, half of 

young black men (ages 20-24) were employed, compared to over two-thirds of 

young white men. This employment gap persists as men get older. 

 While only 6% of the overall population, Black males accounted for 43% of 

murder victims in 2011.

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 Among youth ages 10 to 24, homicide is the leading 

cause of death for Black males and also among the leading causes of death for 

Hispanics, and AIANs.

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 In 2012, Black males were 6 times more likely to be imprisoned than White 

males.7 Hispanic males were two and half times more likely.

The Opportunity

As President Obama has said, “we are stronger when America fields a full team.” 

Improving life prospects and outcomes for young people, including young men of color, 

is the right thing to do not just for those individuals, but for our economy as a whole.

 As the Baby Boom generation reaches retirement age, a key economic 

imperative is increasing the size of the labor force. Over the next thirty years, 

the working age (16-64) population is projected to grow less than half as fast as it 

did over the preceding thirty years. Increasing labor force participation by 

enabling our young people, including young men of color, to join with workforce 

with needed preparation and skills is one way to mitigate the profound 

demographic challenges that we face and grow the economy’s potential. 

 Adding to economic growth and opportunity will help with America’s long-run 

fiscal challenge, expanding the tax base and reducing costs.

 Additional investment in education can more than pay for itself over the longrun. One famous study tracked Black children who were provided with highquality pre-school. By age 40, each initial dollar per participant spent on 

preschool returned more than $16 relative to a control group. A large portion of 

the return was public savings, reflecting reduced crime and greater tax receipts 

from higher employment and earnings, among other factors.

 Helping today’s youth become better parents will also help future generations, 

expanding opportunity and increasing mobility. Studies have consistently found 

that the environment children are raised in during their first years has a major 

impact on their cognitive development and life prospects. 

Building Blocks for Success Across Key Life Stages 

To ensure that all young Americans have the opportunities they need to reach their full 

potential, we must adopt approaches that empower all of our children with the tools to 

succeed as they move through key life stages. Research and experience have identified

key milestones on the path to adulthood that are especially predictive of later success, 

and where interventions can have the greatest impact
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At each of these markers, we see some children start to fall behind. Although the 

factors that influence success at each stage are complex and interdependent, by 

focusing on these milestones, doing what works and removing or avoiding roadblocks 

that hinder progress, we can provide young people the opportunity and the tools to get 

ahead. 

1. Entering school ready to learn

2. Reading at grade level by third grade

3. Graduating from high school ready for college and career

4. Completing postsecondary education or training

5. Successfully entering the workforce

6. Reducing violence and providing a second chance

Path Forward: Recommendations and Areas of Opportunity

The Task Force has identified initial recommendations and areas of opportunity at each 

of these key milestones or “focus areas.” The Task Force has also identified several 

cross-cutting areas of opportunity that span all focus areas.

I - Cross-Cutting Recommendations and Areas of Opportunity 

 Seeing the Problems and Tracking Progress: Establishing National 

Indicators: In order to address the problems outlined in this report, the Task 

Force in the coming months will make available and encourage adoption of 

critical indicators of life outcomes. The Federal government must also close 

gaps in data collection for currently invisible populations.

 Provide Incentives to Learn and Do What Works: There are strategies and 

practices that work to improve children’s life trajectories, but they are not 

being broadly adopted. We should expand public and private efforts to use 

evidence and outcome-focused approaches by rewarding evidence in 

programs and highlighting strategies and practices with promising and strong 

evidence. 

 Support Comprehensive, Cradle-to-College-and-Career Strategies 

Rooted in Local Communities: There is no single “magic formula” for 

success. We must encourage and help catalyze local efforts that adopt 

comprehensive, cradle-to-college-and-career strategies rooted in 

communities themselves.

 Recognize the Importance of Parents and Other Caring Adults: No single 

factor is more important in the life of a child than the love and support of 

caring, committed adults. All sectors of society, as well as parents 

themselves—this is a collective responsibility—must do more to help ensure 

that parents and caregivers are equipped with the tools to help their children 

succeed and that more young people have access to mentors and effective 

mentoring programs.
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II - Focus Area Recommendations

1. Entering School Ready to Learn

 Close the Word Gap and Support Enriching Home Environments: By the 

age of 3, children from low-income households have heard roughly 30 million 

fewer words than their higher-income peers.8 We can raise awareness and 

adoption of in-home and successful caregiver strategies that help provide an

enriching learning environment. 

 Ensure Access to High Quality Early Care and Education: “Pre-school for 

All” is a vital component of the Administration’s opportunity agenda. Focusing 

on expanding access to high-quality preschool and early learning programs

—including through the Administration’s proposals for Pre-school for All—and 

providing training to teachers on behavioral management and bias are central 

to this effort.

 Implement Universal Early Health and Developmental Screenings: By 

expanding screenings and awareness to identify early delays and link families 

to support options, we can permanently alter the life trajectory of these 

children.9

 Eliminate Suspensions and Expulsions in Early Learning Settings: 

Increased awareness of the negative impact expulsion and suspension can 

have on young children is the first step to improving outcomes in this area.10

2. Reading at Grade Level by Third Grade

 Support Joint Book Reading and In-Home Literacy: Reading with an adult 

is an especially important way for children to learn to read, particularly during 

the crucial early years. Relevant agencies should work together with a wide 

range of individuals, community organizations and businesses to build and 

support a culture of reading at home and in communities. 

 Bring Successful Evidence-Based Practices to Scale, Starting with Early 

Literacy Screenings: Schools and communities have developed a number of 

successful models that increase reading proficiency. The Department of 

Education and others should work to scale these and other best practices.

3. Graduating from High School Ready for College and Career

 Maintain Momentum in Turning Around the Worst Performing Schools: 

For the first time in history, high school graduation rates recently reached 80 

percent, with gains largely driven by a 15-percentage point increase for 

Hispanic students and 9-percentage point increase by Black students since 

2006. To maintain this momentum, we should focus on successful efforts to 

transform our country’s worst performing schools.

 Help Schools and Families Recognize Early Warning Signals and Take 

Action: Research shows that dropping out of school is not a single event but 

the conclusion of a series of distress signals that often go unanswered.11 We 
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should encourage the adoption of early warning systems and other successful 

approaches that help schools and families recognize the problem, take action 

and put students on the path to graduation.

 Encourage the Use of Fair Discipline Practices: Black children are four 

times as likely as their White peers to be suspended from school.12 And if a 

student has been suspended even once by ninth grade, he or she is twice as 

likely to drop out. To enhance school climate and improve school discipline 

practices, the Departments of Education, Justice and others should promote 

the use of alternative discipline practices to help teachers teach and keep 

kids in school.

4. Completing Postsecondary Education or Training

 Expand Access to Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate 

Courses and Rigorous College Prep: While college matriculation rates 

have risen, graduation rates have not kept pace. By encouraging collegeprep enrollment and supporting innovative approaches to providing access, 

we can help bridge this gap, and ensure that more kids graduate from high 

school with the tools they need to excel in college and beyond.

 Improve College Advising Services and Support Tools: Limited 

information constrains students’ choices and hurts their decision-making. The 

Department of Education should work with guidance counselors and other 

college advising organizations to make good information widely available

about retention, graduation rates and student debt.

 Aim Higher in High School by Encouraging FAFSA Completion and 

Postsecondary Applications: Planning for the future is an essential step 

before graduating from high school. States should establish systems that 

enable appropriate monitoring and support of FAFSA completion, and districts 

and schools should work with students and families to set and meet 

completion goals. Schools should also consider incorporating the college 

application process into class and graduation requirements.

5. Entering the Workforce

 Enact Broader Growth and Opportunity Agenda: The best way to create 

additional job opportunities for young people is through implementation of the

broader economic agenda. Investments in infrastructure, advanced 

manufacturing, job training and raising the minimum wage will pay dividends 

to the economy as a whole and improve employment prospects for all young 

people, including boys and young men of color.

 Increase Entry-Level Job, Mentorship and Apprenticeship Options: Onthe-job training, job shadowing, apprenticeships and entry-level employment 

options allow young people to gain critical career skills and strengthen 

pathways to employment and increased earnings. More public and private 

employers can and should step up and expand these options; and the Small 

Business Administration and Department of Labor should facilitate these 

efforts.
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 Help Grow and Improve Summer Jobs Initiatives: Jobs provide wages and 

structure for youth during the summer months, but they also help teenagers 

and young adults build “soft skills” like punctuality, teamwork and 

interpersonal communication that enhance job prospects. We should work 

with employers, mayors and others to expand upon successful summer jobs 

efforts, and to enhance the quality of existing programs.

6. Reducing Violence and Providing a Second Chance

 Reduce Violence in High-Risk Communities by Integrating Public Health 

Approaches: We should enhance work between Federal leaders, state 

leaders, mayors, and others to further implement and scale successful antiviolence and gang prevention initiatives already underway.

 Encourage Law Enforcement and Neighborhoods to Work Hand-inHand: Law enforcement works most effectively, and neighborhoods and 

streets stay the safest, when there are strong relationships between law 

enforcement officials and the communities they serve. The Department of 

Justice should continue to promote community-oriented policing strategies 

and efforts to build trust between communities and law enforcement.

 Reform the Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systems to Keep Youth on 

Track: When young people come into contact with the criminal or juvenile 

justice systems, we must ensure that these interactions do not occur 

unnecessarily, and do not get them off track for life. We should promote 

successful alternatives to incarceration, continue to address inappropriate 

referrals and enforce the rights of incarcerated youth to a quality education. 

 Eliminate Unnecessary Barriers to Reentry and Encourage Fair Chance 

Hiring Options: Our youth and communities suffer when hiring practices 

unnecessarily disqualify candidates based on past mistakes. We should 

implement reforms to promote successful reentry, including encouraging 

hiring practices, such as “Ban the Box,” which give applicants a fair chance 

and allows employers the opportunity to judge individual job candidates on 

their merits as they reenter the workforce.
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Introduction

“If you work hard and play by the rules, you should have the opportunity to succeed, 

and your ability to get ahead should be determined by your hard work, ambition, and 

goals – not by the circumstances of your birth.”

– President Barack Obama, State of the Union (January 25, 2014) 

The Obama Administration has been guided by the core American principle that 

opportunity should be open to all. And despite some of the most difficult economic 

circumstances in decades, this Administration has made significant progress and 

achievements in education, employment, health, and criminal justice for all Americans.

But boys and young men of color continue to face persistent and pernicious gaps in 

opportunities and life outcomes. Many of these disparities in outcomes are not 

explained by contextual factors, such as the level of education or family income.

At this early stage of the My Brother’s Keeper initiative, our understanding of current 

trends, review of the research and engagement with thousands of diverse 

stakeholders—including boys and young men of color themselves—give us great 

optimism about the potential that exists to improve meaningfully the expected 

educational and life outcomes for these boys and young men, and increase their 

economic, social, and civic contributions to the country.

Individual achievement is a result of a complex combination of many interdependent 

personal choices, cultural and social factors and institutional influences. This complexity 

has made the work of removing barriers and closing gaps an enduring enterprise, 

whether in education, economics, health or criminal justice. There is, however, evidence 

that removing systemic barriers and implementing a comprehensive set of promising 

and proven strategies, practices and programs can empower youth, including boys and 

young men of color, even those in the most difficult circumstances, to reach high levels 

of individual performance.

As the President has said, My Brother’s Keeper is not some big, new government 

program. The most meaningful interactions — the most powerful means of change —

are through the relationships with parents, teachers, faith leaders, coaches and mentors

that together shape our children and allow them to thrive. The biggest areas for 

opportunity will come from within individual communities; but there are many ways we 

can together empower and better support our youth, including boys and young men of 

color, their families and their communities.

The strategies and recommendations discussed in this report are designed in 

accordance with the fundamental principle that Federal and federally assisted programs 

and services may not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, or national origin. 
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Nothing in this document should be read to suggest otherwise. Consistent with that 

principle, My Brother’s Keeper aims to break down barriers to success and to promote 

increased opportunity for all, regardless of sex, race, color, or national origin. Even in a 

tight budget environment, by working together to enable broad adoption of what works 

and to develop innovative approaches, we can continue to make progress for all our 

youth, including boys and young men of color, especially in communities of greatest 

need.

Opportunity for All

The Obama Administration has a broad-based agenda for economic growth and 

expanding opportunity for all, and these policies remain highly effective in creating good 

jobs, restoring middle-class security and building ladders of opportunity for all 

Americans. Coming out of one of the country’s most damaging recessions, this 

Administration has led efforts that have resulted in enormous progress for Americans:

 The private sector has added 9.2 million jobs in 50 consecutive months of job 

growth, which have put parents back to work and food on the table – although 

much more needs to be done.

 Millions of Americans have greater access to preventive care, including prenatal 

care, and treatment for preexisting conditions.

 Unprecedented educational reform has led to a historic high school graduation 

rate of 80 percent nationally—driven in large part by gains among Black and 

Hispanic students—and dramatic reductions in dropout rates.

 There has been a surge in college enrollment overall and among low-income, 

Black and Hispanic students, fueled in part by increasing and expanding Pell 

grants.

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 Through increased enforcement of Federal civil rights laws, more Americans 

now have the opportunity to learn, the opportunity to earn a living, the 

opportunity to secure a loan, and the opportunity to live where they choose, 

without being subject to unlawful discrimination.

These efforts and accomplishments are the foundation for creating opportunity for all 

Americans and the broad platform upon which the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative will 

build. 

Who Are Boys and Young Men of Color?

The My Brother's Keeper Task Force was established to develop a coordinated Federal 

effort to improve significantly the expected life outcomes for boys and young men of 

color (including Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans) and their 

contributions to U.S. prosperity, so that all youth have an equal opportunity at the 

American dream. It is important to note that there is significant diversity within and 

among these groups of the population. Differences of language status, income, 

disability, sexual orientation and many other factors influence the identity and 

experience of these young people, just as any other population. In addition, challenges 
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facing boys and young men of color affect others as well. It is important to break down 

barriers wherever they exist and identify means of creating ladders of opportunity for all. 

Persistent Challenges: Context Matters 

Despite overall progress, some Americans have lagged behind, have fewer 

opportunities available to them and continue to face roadblocks to success. One of 

these groups is boys and young men of color.

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 Boys and young men of color are more likely than their peers to be born into lowincome families and live in concentrated poverty; to have teenage mothers; to 

live with one or no parent; to attend high-poverty, poor performing schools; to 

miss out on rigorous classes; and to have teachers that are inexperienced or 

unqualified.15

 In schools and in courts, these boys and young men too often receive harsher 

penalties for the same infractions as similarly charged White males, and are 

least likely to be given a second chance.16

 They have higher incidences of asthma, diabetes, and other illnesses which 

affect everything from school attendance to employment.17 And, particularly 

detrimental to their academic and professional achievement, they are less likely 

to be diagnosed or treated early for intellectual, learning or emotional disabilities 

and are more likely to be enrolled in special education.18

 They are more likely to live in communities with higher rates of crime, increasing 

the likelihood of negative encounters with police and victimization by violent 

crime.19

 Role models and a strong network of caring, informed adults may be 

unavailable. Even for those children in the best circumstances, society provides 

negative reinforcement and at times explicit bias.

 Similarly, research suggests that Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and other sexual 

and gender minority (GBTQ) youth of color also experience high levels of 

systemic barriers to well-being compared to White GBTQ youth.20

These challenges are complex and interwoven, but they are also surmountable with 

focused effort. Stories of triumph, despite these statistics, are inspiring evidence of this 

fact. 

The My Brother’s Keeper Task Force

This initiative was launched with the belief that, by focusing on critical challenges, risk 

factors and opportunities for boys and young men of color at key life stages, we can 

improve their long-term outcomes and ability to contribute to society. By joining 

Americans together in this effort, seemingly intractable challenges can be overcome to 
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ensure that all youth, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, have the tools and 

opportunities to succeed. Ninety days into this effort, this core hypothesis has only 

been reaffirmed. 

At the launch of this initiative, the President issued a Presidential Memorandum (PM),

Creating and Expanding Ladders of Opportunity for Boys and Young Men of Color, 

which established the My Brother’s Keeper Federal Task Force (Task Force). Since that 

time, the Task Force has initiated efforts to begin to understand and describe the 

problem and formulated an initial set of recommendations and next steps. The PM gave 

the Task Force a number of responsibilities, including: (1) assessing the impact of 

Federal policies of general applicability to develop proposals that will enhance positive 

outcomes and eliminate or reduce negative ones; (2) developing a plan for an 

Administration-wide website and portal to make available data relevant to the broader 

community about successful programs and practices, and relevant contextual and 

outcome statistics; and (3) developing outreach strategies and coordinating with other 

stakeholders to highlight opportunities and challenges. The PM instructed the Task 

Force to provide a report on its progress and recommendations within 90 days.

Task Force members and representatives have met with and heard from thousands of 

stakeholders, held online and in-person listening sessions, and solicited a broad range 

of ideas and input. Senior Administration officials participated in large in-person listening 

sessions and roundtables in cities including Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Houston and Los 

Angeles. Task Force members also completed extensive reviews of available literature, 

conducted site visits and worked to understand program and evaluation data. The 

voices and experiences of young people and those foundations and other private sector 

organizations that work with them guided Task Force findings and have informed the 

overall approach. 

Task Force members and others working on the initiative believe it is critical to continue 

to engage in these listening sessions to seek input and bring people together to inform 

the ongoing work. This document offers a starting point and a path forward, but we do 

not have, and do not seek to provide, all the answers. Working with others, we hope 

and expect to build on this work in the months and years ahead.

The first deliverable outlined in the PM was for the Task Force to recommend a set of 

critical indicators of life outcomes. The Task Force engaged the Federal Interagency 

Forum on Child and Family Statistics (Children’s Forum), one of several Federal 

interagency statistical working groups, to help identify indicators within those currently 

published in a biannual report, America’s Children: Key National Indicators of WellBeing (America’s Children), and related publications. The Task Force then worked with 

the Children’s Forum to identify and address data gaps in a manner consistent with

Federal statistical standards – specifically, to produce reliable, objective, accurate and 

timely statistics. 
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The second deliverable was for Task Force members to identify any relevant programs 

and data-driven assessments within their respective departments or agencies for 

consideration in a public portal. These evidence-based programs and interventions will 

be included in the “What Works” online portal that will be launched in the coming 

months. 

A Cradle-to-College-and-Career Approach

The Task Force was asked to focus on key stages in the lives of young people, from 

early childhood to pathways to college and career. In doing so, it has become apparent 

that, on the path to adulthood, there is no single moment that defines or determines 

future success. Recent research suggests positive impacts of evidence-based 

interventions at multiple critical junctures along the way.21 Promise Neighborhoods 

grantees and other organizations are implementing cradle-to-college-and-career 

strategies that are increasing school attendance, improving academic performance and 

raising high school completion and college enrollment rates.

There are numerous indicators of health and well-being that contribute to overall life 

outcomes. The Task Force has worked to identify a handful of outcomes that serve as 

key building blocks in the path to adulthood – achievement at each milestone allows for 

a successful transition to the next life stage and is highly predictive of later success. By 

focusing on these key milestones, and providing for successful development across life 

stages, we can provide all our youth with the tools to build successful lives. 

To this end, six universal milestones are especially important and serve as the basis for 

the Task Force’s work and recommendations: 

1. Entering school ready to learn

2. Reading at grade level by third grade

3. Graduating from high school ready for college and career

4. Completing postsecondary education or training

5. Successfully entering the workforce

6. Reducing violence and providing a second chance

At each of these life milestones, some individuals start to fall behind. Once a young 

person falls behind, success becomes exponentially more difficult. As part of its 90-day 

report on progress, the Task Force has identified an initial set of recommendations and 

areas of opportunity to increase achievement at each of the critical milestones. The 

Task Force has also identified several cross-cutting areas of opportunity that span all 

focus areas.

While these steps are a starting point, My Brother’s Keeper is and must be a long-term 

effort. The Task Force and others involved in the initiative will continue to listen, gather 

input, engage experts and stakeholders, develop additional recommendations and 

encourage community solutions well beyond the initial 90-day assessment period.
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Cross-Cutting Recommendations

Through the Task Force’s initial assessment of the impact of policies and programs of 

general applicability on boys and young men of color, several cross-cutting strategies 

emerged for how to more effectively approach the work of improving educational and 

life outcomes for all populations. These strategies include: 

 Enabling comprehensive, cradle-to-college-and-career community solutions;

 Learning from and doing what works;

 Making data about critical life indicators more transparent; and

 Empowering parents and engaging other caring adults

A Comprehensive Approach

The need for a comprehensive approach — preventing or addressing a range of issues 

at each step along the path from birth to adulthood — resonates deeply with virtually all

stakeholders and is increasingly supported by research and scores of practical 

examples. Yet, the public and private sectors have primarily taken narrower, “silver 

bullet” approaches to improving outcomes. Many schools, for example, struggle to deal 

with impacts of trauma; the causes of traumatic stress; and the role of physical, mental, 

social and emotional wellbeing; and they underestimate the potential power of parents 

in creating high-performing learning environments.22 The collective work of community 

members and public and private agencies pursuing roughly the same goals for young 

people and their families is often fractured and weakened by longstanding 

organizational, cultural and systemic barriers. 

The emerging “collective impact” movement is demonstrating that with public and 

private support and technical assistance, schools, communities, cities and regions can 

take more comprehensive, outcome-focused approaches to improving the lives of 

young people. These strategies can help improve outcomes for all disadvantaged youth 

and help to remove barriers to opportunity. 

For example, through the Promise Zones Initiative, the Administration is partnering 

closely with hard-hit urban, rural and tribal communities to create jobs, to increase 

economic activity, improve educational opportunities and reduce violent crime. Each 

Promise Zone has developed evidence-based plans for revitalization, grounded in 

partnerships between local government, business and community leaders. For 

example, in San Antonio, progress is already visible: in the last three years, the 

graduation rate at the target high school has risen from 46 to 84 percent,23 and chronic 

absenteeism among 8th graders has fallen from 33 to 8 percent.24
17

There are four cross-cutting areas where we believe the public and private sectors can 

make a difference and improve young people’s lives by taking more comprehensive, 

coordinated, outcome-focused approaches to addressing problems. 

RECOMMENDATION 1: Encourage and support comprehensive cradle-tocollege-and-career community solutions. Nationwide, programs are being tested 

that adopt a more comprehensive approach to addressing problems and barriers 

facing youth.

1.1 At the Federal, state and local levels, agencies and others should take advantage 

of opportunities to encourage comprehensive approaches to improving outcomes 

for youth in schools and communities; 

1.2 Decision-makers and practitioners, especially educators and others who work with

youth, should be trained to understand and incorporate into strategies and 

practices the interdependency of education, employment and criminal justice 

outcomes with social, emotional and physical wellbeing, including the impacts of 

traumatic stress; 

1.3 Current comprehensive “place based” programs and emerging effective practices 

should be further studied and highlighted for adoption by other communities; 

1.4 Public and private entities should increase their capacity to lead and coordinate 

this work, including by seeking /providing technical assistance as appropriate; and 

1.5 The development of new tools and resources that enable aligned and integrated 

strategies, including data systems, and provide appropriate privacy protections, 

should be supported. 

Learning From and Doing What Works

The first step in doing what works is knowing what works. To this end, the Task Force 

reviewed current programs and practices to assess their impact and make 

recommendations. The Task Force examined existing “clearinghouses” and convened 

listening sessions to hear how existing research and evaluations are used by decisionmakers and practitioners to understand best practices. This initial assessment of 

existing research has revealed four critical findings: (1) many studies lack conclusive 

findings about the impacts on specific populations; (2) many users lack awareness of 

and incentives to find and do what works; (3) significant gaps exist in evidence-based 

solutions due to the often prohibitive cost and complexity of evaluations; and (4) similar 

factors impede evaluation and funding of many small or community-based programs 

that have strong anecdotal results. 

Several programs are attempting to address this challenge across government. For 

example, the Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund at the Department of Education supports 

further evaluation and expansion of programs with promising and strong evidence. The 

maximum size of the grants is determined by the level of evidence provided. The 

Department of Education has also created mechanisms to allow similar priorities to be 

used in its other competitive programs. These efforts will help fill important knowledge 
18

gaps, improve existing programs for youth and create innovative strategies with the 

potential to improve outcomes significantly. 

Critical Outcomes

The first step in working with external stakeholders to highlight opportunities, 

challenges, and efforts affecting boys and young men of color and their peers is making 

data about their critical life outcomes more transparent. 

In accordance with the PM, the Task Force recommended 43 critical indicators for 

inclusion in an online “data dashboard” that will provide a comprehensive view of the 

environments and outcomes for boys and young men of color and their peers. The 

Task Force intends to work with the Federal Statistical Agencies to make these and 

other relevant statistics available at the national level. Additionally, the Task Force will 

work with state and local agencies, innovators and social entrepreneurs and other 

stakeholders to create new tools and resources that allow local communities to use their 

local data to understand and develop strategies to improve youth outcomes. 

Working with the Children’s Forum during its first 90 days, the Task Force identified the 

following list of potential national indicators. Statistics by gender within race/ethnicity 

are currently available for a number of these indicators; but for most, calculations were 

requested and performed before estimates could be provided by gender within race. 

Additionally, a set of desired indicators are shown below where further 

conceptualization and measurement is needed before appropriate data sources can be 

identified and statistics by gender within race/ethnicity are calculated.

Early Care and K-12 Education

The following are key indicators of learning and progress from the early years through 

elementary and secondary education, including center-based care enrollment and 

mathematics and reading achievement. Metrics on school climate/discipline, high school 

completion and advanced course participation will highlight preparedness for continuing 

education and workforce entry, or if youth are at risk of falling off track toward college 

and career opportunities. 

RECOMMENDATION 2: Encourage decision makers, practitioners, and large 

and small providers to use evidence-based approaches and track what works. 

2.1 Public and private agencies should adopt “Do What Works” policies and 

 systems to prioritize strategies, practices and programs that demonstrate 

 promising or strong evidence of improving leading indicators and outcomes, 

 and encourage grantees and partners to do the same; and 

2.2 Federal, state, local and private agencies should invest in and build the 

 methods, systems and tools to enable even small- or low-resourced 

 organizations to monitor and evaluate their performance. 
19

Indicator Title Age Range

(0-5) (6-12) (13-17) (18-24)

Children in center-based care (ages younger than 5 not yet in K) X

Reading achievement (including students with disabilities) X X

Mathematics achievement (including students with disabilities) X X

AP/IB/Dual Enrollment Participation X

Suspension and Expulsion (including suspension of students with 

disabilities) X X X

High school completion X

Attendance at high poverty schools for recipients of free and 

reduced price lunch X X

Children with disabilities enrolled in high poverty schools (percent) X X

Postsecondary Education

Enrollment and completion of a college education generally increases the likelihood of 

employment opportunities and economical security.25 The following indicators capture 

postsecondary enrollment and attainment, including college remedial course taking. 

Indicator Title Age Range

(0-5) (6-12) (13-17) (18-24)

College enrollment rates X

Enrollment in (postsecondary) remedial classes X

Some college (without degree) X

Associate degree X

STEM BA attainment X

Jobs and Earnings

These indicators represent postsecondary and employment outcomes, signaling 

differences among young men and adults across racial/ethnic groups (including those 

disconnected from both education and job opportunities) with varying levels of 

workforce participation and earnings.

Indicator Title Age Range

(0-5) (6-12) (13-17) (18-24)

Neither enrolled in school nor working (both) X X

Labor force participation rates X

Median earnings X
20

Unemployment rate X

Environment and Family Structure

A child’s well-being and future outcomes can be significantly affected by the various 

home and environmental conditions to which they are exposed. These indicators 

capture a few of the other contextual characteristics that might impact a child or young 

person’s ability to persist through the cradle-to-college and career pipeline.

Indicator Title Age Range

(0-5) (6-12) (13-17) (18-24)

Births to young adult women X

Adolescent births X

Family structure X X X X

Secure parental employment

Child poverty X X X

Child maltreatment X X X

Housing problems X X X X

Health

A child’s physical health, well-being, access to quality care and lifestyle habits can affect 

his or her chances of successfully pursuing educational and career attainment. The 

indicators below highlight variations in health quality, including high-risk behaviors.

Indicator Title Age Range

(0-5) (6-12) (13-17) (18-24)

Usual source of health care X X X

Diet quality X X X

Obesity X X

Low birth weight X

Asthma (selected characteristics) X X X

Regular cigarette smoking X

Alcohol use X

Illicit drug use X
21

Criminal Justice and Violent Crime Interaction

The metrics below represent variations in the prevalence of violence and incarceration 

across selected demographics. 

Indicator Title Age Range

(0-5) (6-12) (13-17) (18-24)

Imprisonment rate X

Juveniles in juvenile correction facilities X X

Youth victims of serious violent crimes X X

Nonfatal victimization rates X

Homicide rates X X X

Indicators Requiring Further Measurement Prior to Identifying Data Sources and 

Calculating Statistics by Gender within Race/Ethnicity

Indicator Title Age Range

(0-5) (6-12) (13-17) (18-24)

Adolescent mortality (death rates ages 15-19) X X

Untreated tooth decay X X X

Diagnoses of HIV infection among adolescents and young adults X X

Emotional and behavioral difficulties X X X

Living in concentrated poverty (census tract >20%) X X X X

Exposure to violence X X X

Adolescents who have an adult in their lives with whom they can 

talk about serious problems X
22

RECOMMENDATION 3: Make information about life outcomes for boys and 

young men of color and their peers more visible by improving data collection and 

transparency. Uncollected data and data that are not calculated currently mask 

disparities in outcomes between subpopulations, leaving whole groups invisible.

3.1 The Federal departments and agencies (“Federal agencies”) that comprise the 

Children’s Forum should produce the critical indicators of life outcomes described 

above on an ongoing basis; and 

3.2 The Children’s Forum should further consider and identify gaps in data and 

develop a plan consistent with agency missions and authorities to address these 

data gaps and limitations. To help the Children’s Forum build support for such data 

improvements, the plan should include the scope, time and resources required to 

produce the new or improved statistics.

Availability of Local Level Indicators

The Task Force has focused primarily on nationally representative datasets. Some 

Federal data sources are currently available to provide select indicators at more 

localized geographic scales. In particular, the Census Bureau’s annual American 

Community Survey and the decennial Census tabulations are publically available at 

www.census.gov. Many State and local governments and non-profit organizations also 

make available numerous indicators to examine life outcomes for youth, including boys 

and young men of color. The Promise Zones effort is systematically developing an 

inventory of measurement initiatives that may be useful for individuals and communities 

interested in performing place-based data analysis. The Task Force encourages the 

continuation of these efforts. 

Empowering Parents and Engaging Other Caring Adults

All parents should support their child’s intellectual, emotional, and financial wellbeing.

Parents, guardians and other caring adults play the most important roles in determining 

young people’s life trajectories from cradle-to-college-and-career. In fact, a child’s 

greatest advantage is the love and support of a strong and stable family. The research 

clearly indicates the benefits to children who have two actively engaged parents.26

Family structures and economic stability are large drivers of parents’ ability to provide 

necessary supports and guidance to their children.27 Work schedules, custody 

arrangements and other factors exacerbated by low income make it difficult for many 

parents to have time for quality engagement with their children. If parents and families 

are themselves struggling financially or lack education, their children are much less 

likely to achieve good educational, economic, and social outcomes. Research shows 

that increasing family income and access to full-time employment can improve child 

outcomes.28 The importance of economic stability extends beyond parents who are 

living with their children. Beyond child support obligations, the employment status and 

financial and nonfinancial resources of a child’s non-resident parent or a second adult 
23

can have an important effect on his or her wellbeing. Increasing employment and 

earnings opportunities for parents therefore can help two generations.

The Administration has a number of initiatives underway to support mothers, fathers, 

and other custodial adults in their efforts to raise their children successfully, as well as 

support other relatives and guardians. Families today are headed by opposite-sex 

couples, same-sex couples, single parents, grandparents, and other family members.29 

We must ensure that we are continuing to align efforts across the Administration and 

society more broadly into a common framework to promote evidence-based practices, 

including those aimed at strengthening families and removing barriers to parents’ and 

other caretakers’ engagement with children. 

Teen Parenting 

The Administration continues to invest in expanding programs found to prevent teen 

pregnancy. Yet recognizing that some teens do become parents, programs and tools 

must be designed to improve young parents’ engagement with their children and 

address the unique challenges they face. Teenage parents are less likely to finish high 

school or attend college, and more likely to be poor as adults.30 Currently, nine percent 

of young men between the ages of 12 and 16 are fathers or will become fathers before 

they turn 20. A disproportionate number of these fathers are Black.31 Children born to 

teen parents are more likely to have poorer educational, behavioral and health 

outcomes over the course of their lives than children born to older parents.

32 Any efforts 

to educate and empower parents must also include specific strategies for teen parents 

in addition to continuing efforts to reduce teen pregnancy.

RECOMMENDATION 4.1: Address socio-emotional, behavioral, and health issues 

of children by educating and providing resources to parents, particularly teen 

parents. Parents, especially teen parents, need information on how to identify their 

children’s needs and how to address those needs. 

4.1.1 Public and private agencies should increase the use of existing approaches to 

parent education and training with strong evidence of success, including existing 

home visiting programs. 

4.1.2 Federal agencies should take coordinated action to build on these efforts by 

developing more resources and guidance to professionals working with 

expectant teens, teen parents and caregivers, in order to empower young people 

to make decisions that promote healthy families.

Children of Incarcerated Parents

The growth in the incarcerated population over the past two decades has significant 

implications for the families and children of those incarcerated. Roughly one in nine 
24

Black children and one in 28 Hispanic children has an incarcerated parent at any given 

time, compared to one in 57 White children.33 Having an incarcerated parent may be

associated with economic hardship, housing insecurity, and developmental challenges 

in children.34 Young teens under supervision or who have been incarcerated face a 

unique set of problems. Despite the fact that an estimated 30% of incarcerated teen 

males have their own children, parenting programs within juvenile correctional facilities 

are rare and accommodations for visitation are minimal.35 There is significant evidence 

that maintaining familial connections during incarceration reduces recidivism and helps 

children of incarcerated parents stay on track for good life outcomes.

36

 

RECOMMENDATION 4.2: Help incarcerated parents enhance their parenting and 

other skills while providing more opportunities for them to stay connected with 

their families. 

4.2.1 The Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) should focus its 

parenting curricula on implementing evidence-based practices throughout all 

BOP facilities, continue to sponsor events like the Universal Children’s Day, and 

pilot a variety of visitation programs for parents and their children nationwide, 

including televisiting programs. 

4.2.2. The Department of Justice should encourage state correctional institutions, 

juvenile facilities, and local jails to do the same.

Family Violence 

Children in households marked by intimate partner violence suffer significant 

psychosocial, behavioral, and academic problems.37 And violence in families and 

relationships contributes to families being separated.38 With nearly 17 million children 

living in homes with intimate partner violence,39 more needs to be done to prevent 

family violence, protect and support the victims of family violence and give families the 

tools to build healthy relationships. 

RECOMMENDATION 4.3: Existing Federal, state and local programs should 

implement or augment strong family violence safeguards and engage men as 

leaders in ending violence against women. The Department of Justice’s Office of

Violence Against Women's Consolidated Grant Program to Address Children and Youth 

Experiencing Domestic and Sexual Assault and Engage Men and Boys as Allies grant 

program engages men as leaders and role models to develop, maintain, or enhance 

programs that work with men to prevent domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 

assault and/or stalking. This program can serve as a model for other efforts to engage 

men in ending violence against women.
25

High-Quality, Sustained Mentoring

In addition to parents, other caring adults have a pronounced impact on young people’s 

lives. Many successful adults credit a teacher, coach, faith leader or some other mentor 

with helping them raise their aspirations or navigate difficult times. Specifically, youth 

with high-quality, sustained mentors are more likely to engage in positive behavior and 

less likely to engage in negative behavior.40 Through direct and sustained high-quality 

mentoring, young people can personally and directly observe how an individual 

maneuvers through failures, pitfalls and other challenges before actually achieving a 

goal. Despite the demonstrated importance of high-quality, sustained mentoring, a 

recent survey of young people ages 18-21 found that one in three young people will 

reach age 19 without the benefit of a mentor.41

RECOMMENDATION 4.4: Launch a public-private campaign to actively recruit 

high-quality, sustained mentors for all youth and improve the quality of 

mentoring programs. 

4.4.1 To launch this campaign, relevant Federal agencies should support or augment 

partnerships with national networks capable of recruiting large numbers of mentors 

(e.g., faith-based communities, fraternal organizations, businesses, nonprofits and 

other entities promoting mentoring).

4.4.2 Public and private entities should, as appropriate, develop and promote common 

definitions and performance measures of quality mentoring, redesign competitive 

grants that include mentoring to require alignment with evidence-based practices

for mentoring, and spur innovation, advance research, and support the scale of 

programs that work.

4.4.3 The Office of Personnel Management and Federal Mentoring Council should, as 

appropriate, promote the idea of public employee mentorship (e.g., through a 

mentoring challenge), while the Department of Transportation, with other agencies 

as appropriate, should coordinate and augment its various education and 

mentoring programs to further engage youth and align them with evidence-based 

practices.

4.4.4 The Corporation for National and Community Service should consider increasing

support for building mentoring programs through AmeriCorps. 

4.4.5 The Department of Education should consider encouraging increased access to 

sustained mentoring relationships through service learning opportunities for 

college students. 
26

Focus Area Conclusions and 

Recommendations 

In addition to the cross-cutting recommendations provided above, the Task Force 

assessed specific interventions in six focus areas. These focus areas are the 

intervention points at which public and private efforts can build on what works to 

achieve the universal goals. 

Entering School Ready to Learn

All children should have a healthy start and enter school ready — cognitively, 

physically, socially and emotionally.

The earliest years of a child’s life are critical for building the foundation for success in 

school and beyond. During these years, children’s brains develop rapidly, influenced 

heavily by their experiences.

Children who live in poverty, including disproportionate numbers of children of color, 

face an array of environmental factors that harm their development and life outcomes.42 

With gaps between children from lower- and higher- income families beginning in 

infancy, efforts to narrow disparities and facilitate economic mobility must start at the 

very earliest ages and focus on the two groups of individuals who are most influential in 

children’s lives: parents/caregivers and teachers. 

Our recommendations focus on building the evidence base concerning effective 

parenting programs and strategies, and on ensuring parents, teachers, and other caregiving adults have the resources to address the social, emotional, behavioral, and 

physical needs of children. 

Keeping Young Children in School and on Track

School suspension and expulsion can influence a number of outcomes across 

developmental domains, health and education.43 For example, students who are 

expelled or suspended are up to 10 times more likely to drop out of high school.44

This can start in the very earliest years of life. Expulsions in early childhood settings, 

which range from 6.7 per 1,000 preschoolers enrolled in state-funded programs 

nationally to 27.4 per 1,000 for children attending childcare, are by far the highest for 

Black Americans, especially boys.45 Increased awareness of the negative impact that 

expulsion and suspension can have is the first step to improving outcomes in this area. 

Our recommendations to reduce suspensions and expulsions from early learning 

settings will allow families and caregivers to address children’s physical, socioemotional and behavioral needs as early as possible.
27

RECOMMENDATION 5.1: Eliminate suspensions and expulsions in preschool 

and other early learning settings. 

5.1.1 The Departments of Education and Justice, state and local leaders and private 

stakeholders should learn from the success of efforts to highlight and address 

suspension/expulsion rates and disparities through transparency, accountability 

and technical assistance and expand the effective strategies and practices to the 

remaining states. 

5.1.2 The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services should increase

early care providers’ and teachers’ access to evidence-based resources for 

addressing behavior management and bias and by providing blueprints to help 

build positive classroom norms and cultures. 

5.1.3 Federal and state agencies should encourage and support the use of mental 

health consultants in early childhood settings to build the capacity of all teachers 

and caregivers to address behavior problems and foster social emotional 

development. 

5.1.4 The Departments of Education and Justice should offer technical assistance to 

educate communities and policymakers on suspension and expulsion rates, the 

potentially harmful effects of suspension and expulsion, and ways to avoid those 

practices where feasible. 

5.1.5 Parents should help ensure: (1) that their children have the social, emotional, and 

behavioral skills, and supports to successfully attend preschool; and (2) that they 

know their rights when their children are at risk of suspension or expulsion. 

Appropriate Federal agencies, including the Departments of Education, Health 

and Human Services and Justice should provide information and assistance to 

achieve these goals. 

Close the Word Gap and Support Enriching Home Environments

Research indicates that differences between children of low-income families and their 

more affluent peers lead to early learning disparities. One study showed that, by age 3, 

children from low-income households have heard roughly 30 million fewer words and 

engaged in fewer back-and-forth conversations than their higher-income peers.46 These 

gaps affect what a young child learns, and are later associated with significant 

disparities in school readiness and long-term educational outcomes.47 By building on 

parents’ strengths to reduce disparities in “parent/caregiver talk”—described as directing 

speech and engaging in positive back and forth communicative interactions with young 

children—we may be able to enhance the cognitive stimulation in children’s earliest 

environments and narrow early disparities. 

In order to learn and do well in school, children need more than cognitive enrichment; 

and they also need a strong social-emotional foundation and secure attachments with 

their parents and caregivers.48 Secure attachments and social-emotional health, as well 

as meeting other important developmental milestones, are associated with overall 

wellness, healthy relationships, and school readiness and success. Prior 

recommendations regarding parental education and support will also contribute 
28

significantly to creating enriching home environments and addressing the cognitive 

needs of children. For example, home visitors can work with mothers and fathers and 

guardians in areas such as early childhood health, cognitively enriching activities and 

skills to improve social-emotional, communication and physical development. They can 

also be key to connecting families who need assistance with screening or more 

comprehensive evaluations, and appropriate services, from hearing screening to early 

intervention services to address developmental delays or disabilities, and more 

specialized supports.

RECOMMENDATION 5.2: Close the word gap and help parents provide for an 

enriching home environment. 

5.2.1 The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services should support 

low-cost training, reminders and tips (e.g., a program to send texts with helpful 

tips to parents) to help parents improve their skills at developing children 

cognitively, socially and emotionally;

5.2.2 Hospitals, early care centers and other organizations in close contact with 

parents, especially new parents, are positioned to provide education and training

to parents. These efforts would complement home visiting programs that are 

already in place in many communities;

5.2.3 The technology sector should be engaged on the opportunity to develop 

innovative strategies and tools to close the word gap. Recent studies have 

demonstrated the potential of technology enabled solutions to help bridge the 30 

million word gap and support more enriching home environments; and 

5.2.4 The Department of Education should ensure that efforts to close the word gap 

include appropriate supports for English Language Learner students and Limited 

English Proficient parents. 

Implement Universal Developmental, Behavioral, and Health 

Screenings 

As many as one in four children through the age of 5 are at moderate or high risk for a 

developmental delay or disability.

49 Given the great potential that universal screening 

and early supports can offer, the Task Force encourages universal developmental, 

behavioral and health screening and supports.50 By identifying delays and linking 

families to supports and services as early as possible, we can strengthen efforts that 

permanently alter the trajectories of children who otherwise would not have access to 

such programs. In addition, regular health and developmental screenings can help 

ensure that a child’s healthcare and developmental needs are identified and met, 

allowing them to excel in school and beyond. 

Low-income children lag behind their more affluent peers for the age at which a 

diagnosis of a developmental delay or disability is made, in spite of the fact that they are 

at a higher risk for problems.

51

 A delayed diagnosis leads to delayed delivery of 

services and interventions. Well-documented trends find that children of color, including 
29

Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Black children, are over-represented 

in special education programs.

52 If we lower the age of detection, more children benefit 

from early intervention, and some may avoid the need for special education later in 

schooling. 

In 2012, American Indian and Alaska Native and Black children were more likely to be 

identified as a student with an intellectual disability under IDEA, Part B, than were the 

children ages 6 through 21 in all other racial/ethnic groups combined. American Indian 

and Alaska Native students were 60% more likely to be identified for an intellectual 

disability, while Black children were over twice as likely as other groups to be so 

identified. Similarly, in 2012, American Indian or Alaska Native students were 90% more 

likely, Black students were 50% more likely, and Hispanic students were 40% more 

likely to be identified as a student with a learning disability. The racial and ethnic 

disparities continue in the identification of emotional disturbance. American Indian and 

Alaska Native and Black children were more likely (70% and 120%, respectively) to be 

identified as a student with an emotional disturbance.53

RECOMMENDATION 5.3: Provide universal access to developmental, health, and 

behavioral screenings to reduce delay in providing needed services to children. 

5.3.1 The Department of Health and Human Services should help ensure that states, 

localities, and districts understand how to leverage existing health insurance, 

including Medicaid, CHIP and the Marketplace, to provide universal vision, dental 

and hearing screening, and appropriate interventions (e.g., eyeglasses) at little or 

minimal cost to all children. 

5.3.2 Federal, state and local agencies should seek to enable more families, especially 

low-income families, to obtain free or low-cost screening and corrective services.

5.3.3 The Departments of Health and Human Services and Education should build 

upon existing relationships and explore new partnerships with nonprofit 

organizations that deliver health services to young children and families to 

increase access to screenings and appropriate follow-up services as needed. 

5.3.4 The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services should 

undertake efforts to increase public understanding of developmental milestones, 

how regular screenings help raise awareness of a child’s development and 

disparities in the awareness of and access to screenings among families. 

Specifically, the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education 

should increase outreach to publicize their “Birth to 5: Watch me Thrive” initiative.

5.3.5 Appropriate research bodies should seek to better understand the disparities in 

the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of disabilities for children, including boys 

of color, and their long term cost of missed early identification.

We need to study and bring more awareness to the reasons why children are being 

placed in special education programs and whether alternative forms of behavioral 
30

management and training for teachers should be employed before placement decisions 

are made.

Improve Access to High-Quality Early Care and Education 

Children who attend high-quality preschool programs score higher on math and reading 

assessments in the elementary grades, are less likely to need special education 

services or to be held back a grade, and are more likely to graduate from high school. It 

is important to focus on increasing the availability of and participation in high-quality 

early care and education, including evidence-based home visits, high-quality infant and 

toddler care, and preschool. Participation in high-quality early education programs has 

lifelong benefits.54 

Good childcare matters too, and there are creative ways of helping to make it more 

accessible. For instance, the Department of Housing and Urban Development gave 

preference to applicants for its Choice Neighborhoods funding for including in their 

applications a plan to include additional quality early care capacity, especially for low 

income families. 

Studies show that Black and Hispanic children from low-income families often start 

kindergarten behind their White peers in early math and pre-reading skills.55 Young 

children of color are more likely to be enrolled in low-quality early care and education 

than their White peers.56 Further, Hispanic children are the least likely of all groups to 

attend any early care and education programs.57 When Hispanic families do enroll their 

children, these programs tend to be lower in quality, including employing less-prepared 

teachers and having less student diversity, fewer resources, higher student/teacher 

ratios and larger classes.58 To ensure children enter kindergarten ready, we must strive 

to make high-quality early learning programs available to all children, especially those 

from low-income families, English Language Learners, and those with high needs. In 

addition, we must provide parents with the tools necessary to identify high-quality early 

childhood programs, and ensure that parents who have limited proficiency in English 

well are able to identify and access those programs as well. 

RECOMMENDATION 5.4: Study and develop effective implementation models 

focused on ensuring the appropriate placement of children in special 

education programs.

5.4.1 Solicit public input on how best to address the identification of students for 

special education, including identification by disability category, misdiagnosis, 

educational placements, and disciplinary actions.

5.4.2 The Department of Education should collaborate with stakeholders to scale up 

and implement research-based strategies that improve K-3 literacy and 

behavior, including implementation of models to ensure children are not 

misdiagnosed and inappropriately placed in special education programs. 
31

RECOMMENDATION 5.5: Reduce the school readiness gap by expanding access 

to quality early care and education programs for all children. 

5.5.1 The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services should build 

upon efforts to provide access to and improve early care and education programs 

for all children, including through better integration and alignment of early 

learning services with high standards for program quality and child outcomes. 

5.5.2 The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services should 

disseminate best practices used by states to reduce the school readiness gap 

and increase the share of low-income children attending high-quality early care 

and education programs.

5.5.3 Parents should be aware of the quality of the early and preschool programs in 

which they enroll their children. Public agencies should ensure appropriate 

information is transparent and easily accessible, including by facilitating 

development of easy to use tools to help parents access and understand the

information.

Improve Early Childhood Workforce Recruitment, Training and 

Professional Development

While parents are foundational to their child’s development, we know that millions of 

parents have to go to work every day and rely on child care and other early learning 

programs to care for and teach their children. Because the adults who work in these 

programs are the key to their quality and success, we recommend improving 

recruitment, training and professional development—including in cultural competency—

for childcare programs, including those in homes. 

As noted, in addition to cognitive stimulation, children need a healthy social-emotional 

base. We must ensure that the early childhood workforce is adequately equipped to be 

sensitive to stressors and potential trauma, and to respond to children’s needs with 

consistency, nurturing, support and understanding. We know that children from lowincome families are often at higher risk for experiencing trauma and having numerous 

stressors in their lives, including food insecurity, living in dangerous neighborhoods, 

witnessing domestic violence, experiencing maltreatment. Adolescents who 

experienced early maltreatment were suspended from school more than twice as often 

as those who had not had those early experiences.59 Recent work also has 

documented some teachers’ biases towards students. One study found that teachers 

draw different implications from children’s pretend play, depending on the child’s race.

60

Finally, all early childhood programs should have access to mental health specialists or 

consultants to assist children with high needs and to help their teachers in preventing or 

resolving concerns before problems escalate. 
32

RECOMMENDATION 5.6: Provide training in evidence-based strategies and 

practices to early childhood teachers on recognizing bias, addressing the social 

and emotional needs of children, and enhancing cognitive development. 

5.6.1 The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services should support 

training for educators in social-emotional development and securing meaningful 

attachments and bonds, providing sensitive and receptive care-giving, assisting 

children in regulating their emotions and behaviors, giving positive feedback, and 

avoiding harsh and inappropriate discipline. 

5.6.2 The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services should 

encourage the use of mental health and infant-toddler specialists or consultants 

in training programs, and promote broad dissemination of information and 

support on how to handle these issues to formal and informal providers. 

5.6.3 Research-based curricula and training resources should be made accessible to 

childcare professionals and childhood development and teaching programs, 

including those at Minority Serving Institutions and other programs that enroll 

diverse populations. 

5.6.4 The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services should raise 

awareness about the research on racial biases in early learning settings and 

provide self-monitoring tools and tips to avoid differential perceptions and biases.
33

Reading at Grade Level by Third Grade

All children should be reading at grade level by age 8—the age at which reading 

to learn, and not just learning to read, becomes essential.

Reading well at an early age is essential to later success in education, employment and 

life. When provided frequent, quality reading experiences in the home and high-quality 

in-school reading instruction, nearly every child can learn to read by the third grade. 

Yet significant disparities in reading proficiency exist between students of color and their 

peers. Recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data shows that 

while more than half of fourth-grade students in most racial and ethnic subgroups 

scored below proficiency in 2013—signaling a need for strong reforms in literacy 

instruction for all students—there is a particular need for attention to reading levels 

among Black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaska Native students. In 2013, 

83% of Black students, 81% of Hispanic students, and 78% percent of American Indian 

and Alaska Native students scored below proficiency, compared to 66% of White 

students.

61

Students who are not reading at proficient levels by the end of third grade are more 

likely to struggle throughout their school years, which in turn leads to higher dropout 

rates and fewer students being college and career ready.62 Increasing proficiency rates 

and closing the achievement gap are among the most persistent educational challenges 

we face. Making significant progress for all children, including boys and young men of 

color, will require integrated strategies involving general and special education, home 

and school, and other public and private community stakeholders.

Supporting Joint Book Reading and “Home” Literacy

A child’s literacy skills prior to kindergarten, as well as his or her reading skills at the 

conclusion of kindergarten, are highly predictive of future reading proficiency.63 During 

these critical years, reading with an adult is an especially important way to familiarize 

children with books and promote early awareness of written language and interest in 

reading.64

However, children growing up in low-income families are less likely to have books in the 

home and to read to than their peers. As of 2007, 56 percent of young children were 

read to everyday; however, a lower percentage of children residing in poor households 

(40 percent) were read to every day compared with children residing in higher income 

households (60 percent).65

Both school and community engagement are needed to support parents and other adult 

caregivers in strengthening home literacy and to provide students with broader 

opportunities to read with adults. Preschools and elementary schools can support all 
34

families by training parents and caregivers to use effective tutoring and joint book 

reading strategies, such as listening to children read. 

RECOMMENDATION 6.1: Launch a public and private initiative to increase joint 

and independent reading time outside of school and build a reading culture in 

more homes. 

6.1.1 Media outlets, public housing authorities, libraries, faith communities, and other 

organizations that reach large audiences should collaborate to increase joint 

reading and build reading cultures in more homes; 

6.1.2 The Department of Education should work with private partners and others to 

create national book sharing programs and engage other adults in reading with 

children, which could include recognition systems for adults who read a certain 

number of books with children; and 

6.1.3 The Department of Education should support free and low-cost training, 

reminders, tips, and supplemental reading materials for all parents and other 

caregivers to reinforce and teach early reading skills. 

Scaling the Use of Evidence-Based Instructional Practices 

Schools have demonstrated that multi-tiered support systems can ensure that student 

needs are identified early and addressed with tailored and appropriate interventions that 

improve reading proficiency.66 Many Federal and external efforts have been launched 

to strengthen the design of key elements of these systems and many new initiatives and 

organizations are working to support their implementation. Five strategies and practices 

are common to these efforts: (1) universal screening for literacy; (2) routine progress 

monitoring; (3) multi-tiered, differentiated instruction using evidence-based reading 

strategies; (4) multi-tiered behavioral frameworks and evidence-based social and 

emotional supports; and (5) strong collaboration between general education and special 

education. 

While many approaches to improve reading outcomes have been attempted and 

debated in recent decades, accelerating the development, adoption, and 

implementation of evidence-based approaches will be critical to preventing and 

overcoming reading difficulties in young children. 

RECOMMENDATION 6.2: Enhance and expand efforts to develop and promote 

best practices for teachers to address instructional and classroom issues such 

as early literacy screening. The Department of Education should build on its efforts to 

develop and share evidence-based best practices to improve reading instruction, 

drawing on the work of federally-funded research, and technical assistance centers 

such as the IRIS Center, the National Center on Intensive Intervention, the School-wide 

Integrative Framework for Transformation Schools, and others. In addition, districts and 

schools will need assistance building capacity to support implementation of data-based 

individualized instruction for students with severe and persistent learning and/or 

behavioral needs. 
35

RECOMMENDATION 6.3: Establish a “Principal and Teacher Leadership Corps 

for the Improvement of Early Literacy”. The Department of Education should, as 

appropriate, collaborate with philanthropies and education organizations to study the 

efficacy and develop effective implementation models for evidence-based practices to 

improve early literacy, including: universal screening for literacy; routine progress 

monitoring; multi-tiered, differentiated instruction using evidence-based reading 

strategies; multi-tiered behavioral frameworks, including evidence-based social and 

emotional supports; and strong collaboration between special education and general 

education to improve literacy and close achievement gaps.
36

Graduating From High School Ready for 

College and Career

Every American child should have a postsecondary option. 

The Obama Administration has expanded college access for millions of young people. 

The Country has seen the highest college enrollment rates in our history and the 

highest high school graduation rate on record (80%). The dropout rate for all students is 

down. Yet there are still youth at risk. We know that many boys and young men of 

color and their peers leave high school without a diploma or the preparation needed to 

succeed in college or a career. And having a postsecondary option has been shown to 

be critical for success in later stages of life for all young people.67 Among other things, 

higher levels of education lead to higher wages and strong, vibrant communities. 

Creating the Conditions for High-Quality Education for All 

Researchers are making progress in identifying the underpinnings of school success. 

The University of Chicago Consortium on School Research identified essential 

components (Essentials) for school success: (1) effective leaders who work with staff to 

implement a clear and strategic vision for school success; (2) collaborative teachers 

who are committed to the school, participate in professional learning, and work to 

improve the school; (3) involved families who have strong relationships with school staff 

and support learning; (4) supportive environments where the school is safe and orderly 

and teachers have high expectations and are engaged with their students; and (5) 

ambitious instruction where classes are academically demanding and engage students 

by emphasizing the application of knowledge.68 Research has found that schools 

strong on these essentials were 10 times more likely to improve student learning gains 

in math and reading than schools weaker in these essentials.

69

Research has also demonstrated the importance of expanded learning time in schools 

to open new opportunities for students to grow, providing more time for student 

engagement and deeper attention to academics; greater enrichment classes and 

activities that complement school curricula; and more time for teacher collaboration and 

development. Summer learning loss is a significant contributor to lowered 

achievement, and certain high-quality out of school time and summer learning programs 

have been found to sustain or accelerate learning and reduce incidences of violence 

and crime.70 
37

RECOMMENDATION 7.1: Build on efforts to track the allocation of resources 

across schools to highlight disparities and opportunity gaps for students. 

Building on the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Data Collection and 

other sources, the Department of Education should work with states, districts, education 

leaders and concerned stakeholders to track and report the distribution of resources

across schools, especially quality teachers, rigorous courses, art, music and other 

elements of a “well rounded” education.71 

RECOMMENDATION 7.2: Encourage positive school climates with the social, 

emotional, and behavioral supports to ensure success for all students. 

7.2.1 The Department of Education should support new programs that aim to create

school environments that focus on social-emotional learning and trauma 

informed practices, as well as attracting, developing and retaining effective 

teachers and leaders; and 

7.2.2 Public and private entities should also identify, encourage, and publicize 

successful models of these learning environments and practices. 

RECOMMENDATION 7.3: Utilize Expanded Learning Time in School and Out of 

School Time (OST) to engage students and accelerate socio-emotional and 

academic learning and health. 

7.3.1 Develop new opportunities to expand learning time in schools, including in those 

schools with concentrations of low-income students;

7.3.2 Expand effective OST programs, especially those improving learning outcomes 

and reducing risks; 

7.3.3 Launch an initiative to significantly reduce summer learning loss including 

increased research and evaluation, guides and technical assistance to existing 

programs and new model development; and 

7.3.4 Summer and after school employers are positioned to create models to enable, 

incent and support continued learning by young employees. Federal, state and 

local agencies should support and partner with these efforts.

Increase Attendance and Reduce Dropouts

Research shows that dropping out of school is not a single event but the conclusion of a 

series of distress signals that often go unanswered for years.72 Identifying student 

needs is imperative for the timely delivery of appropriate services that can address 

students’ socio-emotional and behavioral needs, and prevent them from dropping out of 

school. Three early warning signs are measurable as early as the beginning of middle 

school and can predict students’ increased likelihood of dropping out of school: poor 

attendance, failing grades in either reading or mathematics and a record of discipline 

problems. With one or more of these indicators, there is a greater than 75% probability 
38

that the student will drop out of school within six years.73 By tracking such indicators, 

schools can identify students in need of support before they drop out. 

Students who are chronically absent have substantially lower academic outcomes on 

key college readiness indicators.74 In a given year, between 5 million and 7.5 million 

students miss more than 10 percent of school — 18 days or more.75 Failure to attend 

school regularly, especially in the early grades, can severely impair a child’s ability to 

participate in a rigorous curriculum.76 And when instruction is designed to be 

cumulative over time, missing classroom instruction can be especially problematic. 

During our listening sessions, many advocates asked the Task Force to focus on 

causes of absenteeism, such as bullying, and the impact it can have on GBTQ and 

Asian American and Pacific Islander (and AAPI) communities. 

RECOMMENDATION 8.1: Identify and accelerate the adoption of promising and 

evidence-based practices, including early warning systems, to reduce dropouts.

8.1.1 The Department of Education, working in conjunction with technical assistance 

providers and others as appropriate, should support schools and school systems 

nationally in implementing early warning systems. 

8.1.2 Working with private stakeholder groups and other state and district partners, as 

appropriate, the Department of Education should develop a compendium of state 

laws governing alternative graduation pathways to highlight and share effective 

practices;

8.1.3 The Department of Education should analyze the districts contributing the most 

to the national dropout rate to determine what prevention practices are currently 

in place and what additional support is needed and seek to coordinate its 

technical assistance as appropriate. 

RECOMMENDATION 8.2: Launch a National Absenteeism Initiative. 

8.2.1 Federal agencies should seek to make federally collected information about 

chronic absenteeism available (e.g., data from the Civil Rights Data Collection) to 

enable states, districts, and local stakeholders to make use of the data. 

8.2.2 Federal, state and local agencies should focus on identifying and addressing 

underlying causes of absenteeism, which can include asthma and other chronic 

illnesses, bullying, transportation, responsibility for siblings and housing 

problems. 

8.2.3 The Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Justice and 

Housing and Urban development should, as appropriate, collaborate with state 

and local public and private leaders and agencies, including public housing 

authorities, to highlight the importance of regular school attendance and to 

improve programs that assist chronically absent students and their families 

through direct outreach. 
39

Accelerate Efforts to Transform High Schools with the Lowest 

Graduation Rates

Each year, more than one million young people drop out of school.77 A disproportionate 

number are boys and young men of color. Across the nation, there are great disparities 

in quality among schools and in the outcomes they achieve. Our recommendations 

center on reducing the number of low-performing schools and increasing the number of 

schools that lead students to college and productive careers, especially low income, 

struggling or disconnected students.

High schools, early colleges, next generation career connection schools and alternative 

pathways to graduation provide promising options for all young people, including boys 

and young men of color. Such programs can be particularly helpful to students with 

disabilities, those involved with the judicial system and older students who lack a high 

school diploma or an industry recognized technical credential. 

RECOMMENDATION 8.3: Increase focus on transforming the schools and 

districts producing the majority of the country's dropouts. Federal agencies and

their public and private partners have invested in transforming “dropout factories” into 

model schools. 

8.3.1 Federal, state and local agencies and, as appropriate, private organizations

should continue to accelerate efforts to use models with promising and strong 

evidence to transform the high schools that account for the majority of the 

nation’s dropouts into high performing schools with strong postsecondary and 

industry connections;

8.3.2 Federal, state and local agencies and, as appropriate, private organizations 

should also develop and improve alternative pathways to high school 

equivalency and postsecondary education for over-age older youth who are not 

on-track to high school graduation; and 

8.3.2 Best practices drawn from successful school transformation efforts should be 

more broadly disseminated and converted to tools and resources for those 

attempting similar work.

Promote the Use of Alternatives to Exclusionary Discipline Practices 

Despite significant evidence demonstrating the damaging impact of exclusionary 

discipline, suspensions and expulsions are widely used as a form of punishment.78 The 

Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), conducted by the Department of Education’s 

Office for Civil Rights79, has demonstrated that students of certain racial or ethnic 

groups tend to be disciplined more than their peers. For example, Black students 

without disabilities are more than three times as likely as their White peers without 

disabilities to be expelled or suspended and more than half of students who were 
40

involved in school-related arrests or referred to law enforcement are Hispanic or 

Black.80

To enhance school climate and improve school discipline policies and practices, the 

Departments of Education and Justice released a school discipline guidance package in 

January 2014.81 The package includes a set of “Guiding Principles” to assist schools 

and districts in reevaluating their discipline policies and practices. These principles can 

help schools and districts take initial steps to reduce reliance on exclusionary and 

discriminatory discipline practices. Even relatively simple actions, such as removing 

suspension as a consequence for low-level offenses, can have a significant impact on 

suspension rates.

Successfully implementing our recommendations will help schools and districts adopt 

alternatives to exclusionary discipline that have been shown to be effective in reducing 

student misbehavior.

RECOMMENDATION 8.4: End discriminatory discipline policies and implement 

supportive school discipline models. 

8.4.1 The Departments of Education and Justice should continue to vigorously enforce 

Federal civil rights laws that prohibit discriminatory discipline and encourage 

stronger State implementation of discipline provisions. 

8.4.2 To address the growing need for more technical assistance on how to eliminate 

unlawful discrimination in school discipline practices, the Departments of 

Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services should establish the EDDOJ-HHS School Discipline Collaborative for Prevention in Schools, and 

coordinate available technical assistance resources to better serve the nation’s 

highest-need districts (e.g., districts with the most severe disparities in discipline 

and the highest rates of exclusionary discipline practices). 

8.4.3 The Departments of Education and Justice should develop policy guidance 

regarding the intersection of school discipline and students with disabilities.
41

Completing Postsecondary Education or 

Training

All Americans should receive the education and training needed for quality jobs 

of today and tomorrow.

In 2018, 63 percent of jobs will require postsecondary education.82 It has been welldocumented that higher levels of education lead to higher wages for individuals and, in 

turn, higher tax revenues for federal, state and local governments. Additionally, more 

education leads to increased public engagement of Americans in the life of their 

communities, regions and states.83 The economic and civic health of the nation 

depends on a well-educated citizenry, and ensuring that all citizens, including boys and 

young men of color, are able to participate and successfully leverage educational 

opportunities is critical for the nation’s future. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupations requiring a postsecondary 

education are projected to grow faster between 2012 and 2022 than jobs requiring a 

high school diploma or less. Jobs requiring a postsecondary education are projected to 

grow by 14 percent compared to a nine percent growth rate for jobs requiring a high 

school degree or less. Employers can play a key role in developing a pipeline of skilled 

workers to meet these needs by offering youth exposure to career opportunities from 

early on, such as through summer jobs and internships, so that young people and their 

parents are able to make smarter education and career decisions from the start. At the 

same time, access to and success in postsecondary education will continue to play a 

key role in developing ladders to jobs and positive employment outcomes for youth.

However, young men of color enroll, persist in and complete postsecondary education 

at significantly lower rates than their peers.84 Many factors influence their access to and 

success in postsecondary education. 

Financial constraints, limited access to information and guidance to help make informed 

choices, and, for some, lower college expectations and aspirations contribute to lower 

enrollment.85 Meanwhile, many who enroll have other personal circumstances and 

responsibilities that pull them away. For many young men of color, these factors often 

combine to make it more difficult for them to stay in school and complete the program. 

Enrollment and Access to Higher Education and Training 

Students who lack information to make good choices about higher education and 

training are at distinct disadvantage. Data shows that many students don’t receive 

adequate advising. For instance, Hispanic males lag behind their Black and White male 

peers in the percentages that received college entrance advice from a school counselor, 
42

teacher, or coach or completed college applications and financial aid submissions, 

which increases the probability of actual enrollment in addition to securing aid.86 

When students of any background lack preparation and support in making choices 

about higher education, this can have consequences for postsecondary success. 

Despite strong evidence that providing students and parents with information about 

outcomes at a given school can improve their own selection of college – and a student’s 

future outcomes – many students and their families often make uninformed college 

choices.

Our recommendations aim to enhance awareness of postsecondary opportunities, 

increase higher education applications, improve college selection, and increase the 

enrollment of all students, including young men of color, in higher education and 

training.

RECOMMENDATION 9.1: Improve college advising services and supports to 

assist students in the college selection process and increase enrollments. 

9.1.1 The Department of Education, in partnership with other Federal agencies, 

should: work with guidance counselors and other college advising organizations 

to incorporate college persistence, graduation and debt information into their 

services and tools to help students and their families in the college selection 

process.

9.1.2 The Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community 

Service should support expansion of evidence-based college access and 

success programs. 

RECOMMENDATION 9.2: Expand the FAFSA Completion Project and work to 

ensure every student has access to postsecondary options. 

9.2.1 States should establish systems that enable appropriate monitoring and support 

of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion by school 

districts and other affiliated entities. Districts and schools should set and work 

with students, parents and other stakeholders to achieve goals for increasing 

FASFA completion. 

9.2.2 The Department of Education should also add or expand partnerships with other 

public and private stakeholders that can help further simplify or automate FASFA 

completion and increase reach into diverse and low income communities. 

9.2.3 Other Federal agencies should work to provide youth with access to and 

information about available financial aid, including the Department of Labor 

supporting youth in Job Corps and the Department of Education informing

adjudicated youth about the availability of financial aid. 
43

9.2.4 Schools and districts should consider incorporating the college application 

process into class and graduation requirements ensuring almost every student 

has at least one postsecondary option. 

Completion of higher education and training

Getting to college is not, however, the end game. Low college persistence and 

completion rates across all populations have significant real and opportunity costs for 

both individuals and the nation. Many students who attend but do not complete college 

are saddled with debt, but cannot attain the level of earnings to make the initial 

investment prudent.87 

Lack of academic preparation is one of the leading barriers to postsecondary 

persistence and completion.88 Each year, rather than being able to enroll immediately 

in entry-level general courses that are required in almost any postsecondary program of 

study, millions of college students must first take non-credit-bearing developmental or 

remedial courses.89 These students take longer to complete the required coursework. 

As a result, some fail to persist, and those who complete their programs may incur 

additional costs

However, outcomes differ for students with similar levels of academic preparation. 

There is growing evidence that “mindset” – defined as whether a student believes he 

belongs and will be valued in a setting, that his schoolwork has relevance for important 

life goals and that intelligence can grow and improve with effort — significantly impacts 

persistence and performance. Research also suggests that mindset can be positively 

influenced through both specific short-term interventions and longer-term individual and 

group norms.90

Feelings of isolation and lack of support are often a part of the story for students who 

struggle or leave school. There is evidence that providing well designed formal and 

informal supports including peer and mentor relationships can increase the chances of a 

student persisting in college.91 

Systemic barriers to completion also stall or derail persistence. Stories are common of 

credits lost because of transfers between similar institutions and from community 

college to universities. The cost of college and the availability of aid remain challenges 

to persistence well after initial enrollment. 
44

RECOMMENDATION 9.3: Increase College Completion by Expanding students’ 

access to and successful completion of rigorous courses, such as Advanced 

Placement/ International Baccalaureate and dual enrollment options in high 

school. 

9.3.1 Initiate a campaign to increase access to and participation in rigorous courses, 

including pre- and actual Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and 

dual enrollment courses for all students, beginning with those who have been 

identified as academically ready based on appropriate indicators. Schools, 

districts and other appropriate organizations should be encouraged to 

automatically notify parents and students of their readiness for such coursework 

and to support students’ enrollment; 

9.3.2 Expand evidence-based strategies and programs that increase advanced course 

preparation in earlier grades;

9.3.3 Stakeholders should identify and promote approaches to increase access to AP 

and other advanced courses via technology; 

9.3.4 Federal, state and local education agencies should collaborate to ensure all high 

school students nationwide have access to (including the financial support 

needed to participate in) at least four AP/IB courses or to be able to enroll in 

college classes though dual enrollment options. 

RECOMMENDATION 9.4: Increase development and adoption of promising and 

proven college completion and transfer strategies. 

9.4.1 The Department of Education, in collaboration with others, should support the 

identification, development and scaling of practices and programs with promising 

and strong evidence of increasing college completion, including (1) increasing 

high school academic preparation and early postsecondary credit accumulation; 

(2) accelerating remediation; (3) improving mindsets; (4) reducing feelings of 

isolation, lack of support, and stereotypes; and (5) improving passage rates by 

redesigning core and gateway courses. 
45

Entering the Workforce

Anyone who wants a job should be able to get a job that allows them to support 

themselves and their families.

Many men and women of all races and ethnicities navigate effectively through the early 

life stages and often proceed on a course that results in a job that provides a decent 

livelihood. However, Black men experience lower labor force participation rates and are 

more likely to be unemployed than other men. And among those who are employed, 

men of color have lower earnings than other men in the same occupations, and more of 

them tend to work in services, sales, and other jobs with relatively lower earnings. The 

employment and earnings disparity by race is particularly sharp for low-income workers, 

both in terms of accessing one’s first job and, later, for finding new jobs and moving up 

in the labor market.92 Ensuring that all young people have the tools and opportunities to 

enter the workforce successfully is a goal we must strive to reach. Where there are 

barriers to participation, we should seek to remove them. Where there are too few 

opportunities, we should seek to expand them to ensure that all young Americans have 

the opportunity to achieve their full potential. 

The Administration is engaged in an effort to make our training system more “jobdriven,” focusing on identifying the skills that employers need and ensuring that training 

programs prepare workers with those skills and connect them to jobs – particularly for 

disconnected youth. Later this summer, a full report on the Administration’s Skills 

Agenda will inform and be informed by the Task Force’s work. 

Recognizing the breadth and complexity of improving employment opportunities for all 

Americans, our recommendations focus on increasing positive employment and career 

opportunities and paid jobs for teenagers and expanding hiring in good entry jobs and 

apprenticeships both of which have strong relationships with future employment and 

earnings.

Disconnected Youth

Youth sometimes referred to as “disconnected” are of particular concern. This group 

includes youth between the ages of 14 and 24, who are low income and either 

unemployed, not enrolled in or at risk of dropping out of school, involved in the justice 

system, homeless, or in foster care.93 There are approximately 6.7 million youth in the 

United States who exhibit one or more of these risk factors.94 Disconnected youth are 

not a homogeneous group, but young men of color are disproportionately represented.95 

Disconnected youth struggle with a range of issues that can impact their success in the 

workforce including, but not limited to, growing up in a single-parent household, having 

a child at an early age, lacking stable adequate housing, lacking secondary education, 

lacking job-skills training, physical or mental health challenges, substance abuse and 

learning disabilities. In addition, having a criminal record—one dimensions of 

disconnection that particularly affects young men of color—severely affects one’s 
46

employment prospects. Addressing the special needs of these disconnected youth 

through education, training, and other essential services is critical to America's

economic future and workforce.

These recommendations build on the active efforts of the Departments of Labor, Health 

and Human Services, Education, and related agencies, which are launching

Performance Partnership Pilots. The pilots will be designed to empower communities to 

help improve outcomes for disconnected youth, low-income 14-to-24-year-olds who are 

not working, not in school or at risk of dropping out, or face the additional challenges of 

being homeless, in foster care, or involved in the justice system. Pilots will support 

comprehensive local efforts to address the disparities facing high need youth, 

encourage the use of evidence-based practices and test promising new practices. 

Federal agencies will evaluate these pilots and use lessons learned to consider how to 

expand and improve existing initiatives based on what works. 

Providing paying job opportunities that build early career skills 

Employment as a teenager, especially jobs developing critical career skills within 

manageable hours, can lead to higher earnings later; but youth who grow up in poverty 

or have other hardships have a particularly hard time transitioning successfully into the 

world of work.96 Their parents and other relatives may not have strong networks to help 

them find jobs or give them advice about where and how to get one.97 Many youth 

seeking their first job or a part-time job frequently are limited to places close to where 

they live or near public transit routes. Many neighborhoods lack robust retail and 

service sectors where youth often get their first experiences.98 

Programs that provide subsidies to employers to offset the costs of providing on the job 

training to particular target groups have consistently been found through evaluations to 

have a positive effect on employment and earnings, at least for those over 18 years 

old.99 Registered apprenticeships, which include intensive long-term structured 

curricula developed by industry and sponsored by firms, result in an occupational 

license or certification that has substantial positive effects on lifetime earnings.100 Our 

recommendations are aimed at increasing opportunities for training in high-demand 

fields and expanding hiring in good entry jobs and apprenticeships.

Pre-apprenticeship programs help steer young workers toward Registered 

Apprenticeship programs and provide a promising career ladder for young workers. As 

part of the Administration’s efforts to double the number of apprenticeships within the 

next 5 years, we should ensure that apprenticeship opportunities are available to all 

Americans, including populations such as young men of color.

Summer youth employment programs are common in many cities across the country 

and help provide a paid work experience at an important time in a young person’s life 

when they are making decisions about their future careers.
47

RECOMMENDATION 10.1: Increase awareness and use of pre-apprenticeships as 

good entry-level jobs. 

10.1.1 Public and private entities should encourage job-shadowing opportunities for 

youth.

10.1.2 The public and private sectors should partner to increase the number of quality 

summer and after school jobs, paid internships and entry-level opportunities 

available to all young people, including disconnected youth. 

10.1.3 The Small Business Administration and the Department of Labor should work 

with the private sector to develop and disseminate tools and resources that 

prepare more youth for entrepreneurship and apprenticeship opportunities. 

10.1.4 The Departments of Education and Labor should leverage career and technical 

education and registered apprenticeship programs to expand private sector 

provision of quality apprenticeships. 

RECOMMENDATION 10.2: Increase the availability of holistic employment 

programs which help overcome barriers to employment, including those that 

affect boys and young men of color.

10.2.1 Federal agencies should expand access to programs with proven results with 

challenged populations, such as Job Corps and the National Guard ChalleNGe 

Corps and Re-Integration of Ex-Offender (RExO) programs; and

10.2.2 To help key service providers in these areas ensure that youth with disabilities, 

special health needs, and those living with HIV/AIDS have access to equal 

employment opportunities, the Departments of Labor and Housing and Urban 

Development should develop a “Getting to Work” Curriculum.

RECOMMENDATION 10.3: Strengthen case for summer youth employment 

opportunities. Because summer jobs programs typically target high school students, 

or high school age youth, evaluations of these programs do not focus on employment 

outcomes as much as education and behavior/criminal engagement, because 

employment results need to be tracked for many years. The Department of Labor plans 

to initiate long-term evaluations using NYC’s lottery data, education and employment 

data for the past ten years (10,000 young people per year are enrolled into the program 

randomly, of the 40,000 per year that apply). This new study will provide a stronger 

design to estimate employment outcomes over time. 
48

Exposure to Career Opportunities from Early On 

Youth who grow up in poverty or experience other hardships have a particularly hard 

time transitioning successfully into adulthood and the world of work. This transition is 

especially difficult if they have not had positive adult role models or lack exposure to 

and information about careers and postsecondary educational opportunities. 

Experiences and opportunities in teen and young adult years play a significant role in 

determining an individual’s employment and earning potential for the rest of his or her

life. Expanding opportunities for careers and educational achievement will affect 

subsequent employment outcomes.101 Education is perhaps the most fundamental 

factor affecting employment, but without clarity in terms of employment potential and 

opportunity, youth and their parents are not well informed to make the best decisions 

about their education options. 

Positive employment and career opportunities and paid jobs as a teenager can increase 

the chances for low-income youth, including young men of color, to break out of a cycle 

of poverty, unemployment, crime and incarceration. Early employment, including 

internships and summer jobs, also provides youth important experience about the world 

of work and what is expected at the workplace—so called “soft skills” such as 

punctuality, team work and interpersonal communication. Carefully planned 

employment during high school can build human capital and represent an important 

step on a career pathway while also building self-esteem, learning about personal 

responsibility and producing income.

But preparing young people for employment should begin even before they reach their 

teen years. Research confirms the importance of social networks and social capitals in 

how low-income youth receive information about employment, including learning about 

career options and finding jobs.102 Over 50 percent of workers, regardless of ethnicity, 

income, or age, report that they found their jobs through networks – family and friends, 

school connections, community and business contacts. The challenge for low-income 

young men of color is that their social networks are often limited regarding career and 

higher education options, preparation required to qualify for good jobs or training 

programs, or characteristics employers look for when they are hiring. 

RECOMMENDATION 10.4: Increase efforts to provide youth with the information 

and guidance to overcome barriers to work. Internships and job shadowing 

opportunities can be critical to capturing the imagination of youth early on, so that their 

education and training decisions are better informed by what is possible. Employers, 

educators and training providers for high-demand sectors, such as computer 

programming and high skill manufacturing, should develop initiatives that reach youth 

early on, including coding workshops in schools.
49

Reducing Violence and Providing a Second 

Chance

All children should be safe from violent crime; and individuals who are confined 

should receive the education, training and treatment needed to have a real 

chance at a second chance.

On the path to adulthood, youth may fall victim to violence or experience an interaction 

with the criminal justice system that permanently alters their trajectory for the worse. 

While crime has generally decreased across the United States in recent years, violence 

continues to plague many communities, and disproportionately affects communities of 

color. Among Black males ages 10 to 24, homicide is the leading cause of death; it is

among the leading causes of death for Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native 

males in that age range.

103

 

Persons of color disproportionately have contact with law enforcement or are victims of 

violent crime.104 One half of all Black males have at least one arrest by age 23, 

compared to about 38 percent of White males in the same age range.105 Another study 

reported that, in 2012, Black males were six times, and Hispanic males two and a half 

times, more likely to be imprisoned than White males.106 It has been shown that Black 

youth face disparate treatment, i.e., harsher punishment, in the juvenile justice 

system.107 At the same time, all of our criminal justice data needs to be improved and 

forensics made as scientifically accurate as possible. Fuller data on stops, questioning, 

frisking, searches, arrests, detention, convictions, and sentences and the reasons for 

them will help us better understand the problems. 

Our recommendations focus on promoting community-oriented policing practices;

improving trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve; adopting a 

public health approach to preventing and reducing violence and criminality; addressing 

over-incarceration in the criminal justice system; and improving overall outcomes by 

helping youth get the education, treatment and training they need to succeed in life 

despite a criminal record. 

Strengthen the Relationship Between Law Enforcement and the 

Communities They Serve

Compliance with the law starts not with the fear of getting caught, arrested or even 

incarcerated, but with respect for one another and respect for the institutions that guide 

our democracy. Enforcing the law starts not with suspicion and force, but with 

relationships founded on trust and respect. We have an opportunity, as well as a 

responsibility, to strengthen connections between law enforcement agencies and the 

communities they serve. We can do this by enhancing procedural fairness in the 
50

administration of the law, working to eliminate bias in our systems of justice and

addressing strained relationships where needed. We must identify strategies to ensure 

lawful policing and promote the adoption of community oriented policing as a core 

operational philosophy for law enforcement agencies. 

Law enforcement agencies, too, benefit from a trusting relationship with the 

communities they protect and serve. Law enforcement officers have challenging and 

often dangerous jobs — working to keep communities safe. Improved relationships 

between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve can lead to greater 

access for police to information that can facilitate preventing and solving crimes by 

breaking down “no snitching” codes and distrust of police authority.108 Finally, research 

shows that law enforcement officials who work in environments with strong 

characteristics of trust report less stress and higher job satisfaction.109

RECOMMENDATION 11.1: Institutionalize community oriented policing practices 

in the field and employ methods to address racial and ethnic bias within the 

juvenile and criminal justice systems.

11.1.1 The Department of Justice will establish the National Center to Build Community 

Trust and Justice to build capacity in communities and build the evidence base 

around enhancing procedural justice, reducing bias and supporting reconciliation 

in communities where trust has been harmed; and 

11.1.2 The Department of Justice should also promote the expansion of successful 

engagement models that promote constitutional policing and community oriented 

policing as core operational philosophies in the field; build on efforts to provide 

training on racial bias and disparities to prosecutors, defense counsel, judges, 

probation officers and others involved as decision makers in the criminal justice 

system; and vigorously enforce federal laws to protect the rights of youth and 

other individuals involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

Youth Violence and Victimizations

The Report of the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to 

Violence (2012), highlights the devastating impact of violence and trauma on our youth 

— from reduced cognitive functioning, to decreased abilities to connect with others, to 

reckless behavior. In particular, the report highlights the need for support services for 

such children, to provide them with the opportunity to recover and reconnect with their 

communities. Social, emotional, behavioral and mental health supports for victims of 

violence and trauma is critical to their recovery.110 Research shows that Black youth 

are substantially more likely to be victims of violent crime than other racial groups. 

Violent gangs are a burden on law enforcement and public health systems in our 

country. In 2011, approximately, 90 percent of gang-related homicides in this country 

took place in Metropolitan areas.111 Intervention and suppression efforts alone are not 

enough to solve the youth gang problem in our communities. Discouraging young 
51

people from joining gangs in the first place is crucial to preventing violence and 

victimization. 

Effective youth violence prevention strategies can reduce violence and injuries as well 

as costs in the healthcare and justice systems. Communities can implement tools to 

identify, screen and assess exposure to violence and trauma, and in doing so, intervene 

earlier to mitigate the harmful effects of violence and trauma on the development of 

children and youth. These efforts enhance relationships within families, improve 

violence prevention activities within schools, and make the physical and social 

environment within communities safer and more conducive to positive interactions. 

RECOMMENDATION 11.2: Integrate public health and positive youth 

development strategies into federal, state and local approaches to reducing 

violence in high-risk communities.

11.1.1 Federal leaders, state leaders, and mayors should continue to implement 

violence and gang prevention initiatives already underway. For example, the 

National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention should engage motivated mayors 

to focus efforts on decreasing high murder rates among youth and incorporating 

public health approaches in its strategies. This work should be encouraged and 

studied so that we can learn from past efforts and find ways to incorporate public 

health approaches;

11.2.2 Federal, state and local partners should enhance coordinated efforts to prevent 

youth violence, with a focus on analyzing incidences of violence and murder.

These efforts should build on work already underway to support and study public 

health and positive youth development strategies; and 

11.2.3 The Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services should encourage 

adoption of practices that have significantly reduced violent crime at the 

individual and community levels. State, local and tribal leaders should consider 

replication of such approaches, which will soon be described and accessible on 

the CDC’s STRYVE website and are currently described on CrimeSolutions.gov 

and the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices.

Youth in the Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systems 

We must be aware of policies that have a disproportionately negative impact on boys 

and young men of color, and other groups, including severe sentencing laws and an 

overreliance on confinement. Nine states have moved away from sentences that rely 

heavily on confinement and incarceration.112 Other jurisdictions are realizing the cost 

savings of effective community-based services to promote positive outcomes for young 

people as an alternative to more costly correctional institutions.113 Reducing contacts 

between youth and the juvenile and criminal justice systems is the first goal. But when 

there is contact, we must ensure that systems support positive social development and 

academic achievement. Change may start with improving policies and practices across 
52

systems that unnecessarily refer youth to law enforcement and the courts, in particular,

suspension and expulsion policies in schools. And it may continue with efforts that 

ensure the justice system equips incarcerated juveniles, including boys and young men 

of color, with the education, training and treatment they need to successfully reenter the 

community. 

Among youth in juvenile correctional facilities, only 47 percent earned high school 

course credits. Among those aged 14 to 21, only 8.2 percent of the youth enrolled in a 

GED program, and only 6.6 percent earned a GED or obtained a high school 

diploma.114 To address this issue, facilities must provide academic and career and 

technical instruction tailored to a student’s needs, and comparable in quality to 

traditional public schools. The average prevalence rate of youth with disabling 

conditions in state juvenile corrections systems was 33.4%.115 For detained youth with 

disabilities, facilities must implement individualized education plans (IEPs), consistent 

with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation 

Act.

RECOMMENDATION 11.3: Reform the juvenile and criminal justice systems to 

reduce unnecessary interactions for youth and enforce the rights of incarcerated 

youth to a quality education. 

11.3.1 The Departments of Justice and Education should continue to address 

inappropriate referrals to the juvenile and criminal justice system by enforcing 

Federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in the administration of 

juvenile justice and by continuing to support and work with juvenile court judges 

and juvenile defenders to ensure rights are protected throughout. 

11.3.2 Federal state and local law enforcement officials should increase the availability 

of diversion programs to keep youth out of the juvenile justice system; increasing 

availability and use of alternatives to incarceration, especially for status and 

misdemeanor offenses; enhancing educational and training programming for 

juveniles in secure placement; finding ways to ensure youth have effective 

assistance of counsel in proceedings; enabling youth to re-enroll in school after 

confinement; reducing unnecessary criminal referrals and suspensions and 

expulsions; and addressing Disproportionate Minority Contact should be a priority 

of Federal, state and local officials.

11.3.3 Law enforcement and corrections officers and leadership should be educated 

and trained on the effects of mental health on behavior. Promoting evidence 

based strategies in this area will also help keep youth out of the system. 
53

Barriers to Employment, Education and Civil Engagement

Criminal histories keep many young people from getting a job, securing housing, or 

attaining higher education, loans or credit – when they are otherwise qualified, have 

paid their debt to society and are unlikely to reoffend. The long-term—sometimes 

lifetime—impact of a criminal record is of particular concern when it comes to getting a 

job.116 Helping those who have served their time and paid their societal debts to pursue 

an education, compete for a job, attain stable housing and be productive, contributing 

members of our communities helps us all. Most companies perform background 

checks, and many have overly-broad “no-hire” policies that screen out anyone with any 

history of contact with the criminal justice system.117 Other collateral consequences of a 

criminal conviction may include a loss of voting or other constitutional rights or 

suspension or revocation of a driver’s license.118 Employers that give justice-involved 

youth opportunities at a job, and otherwise enact policies that help reduce unnecessary 

and overly broad collateral consequences of a criminal record, are helping to improve 

public safety and improve lives. Strategies in this area should be appropriate to the age 

and circumstances of the individual. 

RECOMMENDATION 11.4: Launch an initiative to eliminate unnecessary barriers 

to giving justice-involved youth a second chance. 

11.4.1 Large employers, including the Federal government, should study the impacts of 

requiring disclosure of juvenile or criminal records on job applications and 

consider “banning the box.” Federal, state, local, and private actors should 

support public campaigns focused on eliminating forms of discrimination and bias 

based on past arrest or conviction records.

11.4.2 Legal and other services focused on addressing successful reentry are acutely 

needed to address accuracy and expunge criminal records, reinstate licenses 

and reduce excessive fines. Relevant agencies should work with civil legal 

services providers, including the Legal Services Corporation, state and local 

attorneys general, and the private bar to expand awareness of the need and 

access to these services.

11.4.3 The Department of Health and Human Services should provide information about 

the circumstances in which justice-involved youth can receive health coverage 

and access to necessary treatment. 
54

Conclusion 

From birth throughout their lives, many boys and young men of color consistently face 

barriers to success. Too many boys and young men of color still do not make it to 

college or start a career. Rather, they are detained or imprisoned, are burdened for life 

by an arrest or criminal record, fall victim to violence, or fall behind academically. Too 

few have the support of caring adults. Lack of support and training for professionals 

who interact with youth, as well as the continued effects of racial and ethnic biases, add 

to the economic, social and familial instability that contributes to boys and young men of 

color being left behind. However, our findings and recommendations affirm that 

coordinated efforts across society can improve the life chances and outcomes for all 

youth, including boys and young men of color. By intervening at key moments in life, 

using evidence-based strategies and comprehensive approaches, we can remove 

barriers, expand opportunity, and improve outcomes for all. 

Over the last 90 days, the Task Force has identified a number of areas where the 

Federal government can use its convening power and lead by example to help ensure 

all youth, including boys and young men of color, have opportunities to succeed. This 

initial report outlines key areas for further focus, providing recommendations to improve 

life outcomes for young people. But the work of the initiative is just beginning. In the 

coming weeks, months and years, the Task Force will continue to assess progress and 

determine what works, make data available, and hold listening sessions with 

communities and individuals around this important goal. 

My Brother’s Keeper is not some big, new government program. Rather, from its 

creation, it has been an all-hands-on-deck effort to bring together individuals, 

communities, civil and faith leaders, philanthropy and the private sector to address a 

long-recognized problem for our country as a whole. The Obama Administration 

intends to do its part, and we encourage the private sector, philanthropic and other 

organizations, individuals and communities to take up this challenge. We hope that this 

report will be the beginning of many announcements, deliverables and actions taken to 

help all young people reach their full potential.

While we seek to create greater opportunity and remove barriers to young people’s

success, we will continue to encourage all youth to seize every opportunity and pursue 

excellence despite any odds they may face. As they move through life, they must take 

responsibility for their success. But, we must remember that the responsibility is not 

only theirs, but ours as well. We must make sure that they are able to take advantage of

opportunities for success, and make sure America’s youth understand that realizing 

these opportunities is truly possible for each of them. 
55

 

1

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9

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27 Edin, K. & T. Nelson. Doing the best I can: Fatherhood in the inner city. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: 

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28 Huston, A., Miller, C., Richburg-Hayes, L. Duncan, G., Eldred, C., Weisner, T., Lowe, D., Vonnie 

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29 White House June 2012 Report on Promoting Responsible Fatherhood.

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41 Ibid. 

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46 Hart, B. & T.R. Risley, Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. 

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78 9 (2013).

47 Moullin, S., Waldfogel, J., & E. Washbrook. Baby bonds: Parenting, attachment and a secure base for 

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48 Berlin, L., Cassidy, J., & K. Appleyard. The Influence of Early Attachments on Other Relationships. In

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49 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health 

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50 American Academy of Pediatrics. Policy Statement: Identifying infants and young children with 

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51 Ryan, R. Fauth, R. & J. Brooks-Gunn. Childhood Poverty: Implications for School Readiness and Early 

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52 Guiberson, M. “Hispanic representation in special education: Patterns and implications.” Preventing 

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53 U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. (2012). Report of children with 

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54 Yoshikawa, H., Weiland, C., Brooks-Gunn, J., Burchinal, M., Espinosa, L., Gormley, W., Ludwig, J.O., 

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56 Magnuson, K.A. & J. Waldfogel. “Early childhood care and education: Effects on ethnic and racial gaps 

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57 Ibid. 

58 Garcia, E., & M.D. Gonzalez. Pre-K and Latinos: The Foundations for America’s Future. Washington, 

DC: Pre-K Now (2006). Available at http://www.pewstates.org/uploadedFiles/PCS_Assets/2004-

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59 Lansford, J., Dodge, K., Pettit, G., Bates, J., Crozier, J., & Kaplow, J. “A 12-year prospective study of 

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problems in adolescence.” Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 156, 824-830 (2002).

60 Yates, T.M., & Marcelo, A.K. Though race-colored galasses: Preschoolers’ pretend play and teachers’ 

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61 U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. 

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). 2013 Mathematics and Reading Assessments. A 

First Look: 2013 Mathematics and Reading National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grades 4 

and 8 (2014). 

62 Hernandez, D. Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School 

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73 Id.

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78 Daniel J. Losen, Tia Martinez and Jon Gillespie Suspended Education in California. Los Angeles, CA: 

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79 The CRDC is a mandatory data collection authorized under Title VI, Title IX, and Section 504, the 

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80 U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. Civil Rights Data Collection Data Snapshot: 

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83 The College Board. Education Pays 2010. Washington, DC: The College Board (2010).

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86 Gaps Study Figures 28-3, 31-1, 29-1.

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94 Ibid 
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95 The White House Council for Community Solutions. Community Solutions for Opportunity Youth. 

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96 Danziger, Sheldon and David Ratner, “Labor Market Outcomes and the Transition to Adulthood,” The 

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97 Wiener, Susan J. and Ronald B. Mincy, “Guiding Boys through the Transtion to Adulthood”, The Urban 

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101 Holzer, Harry J. “What Might Improve the Employment and Advancement Prospects of the Poor? In 

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102 Holzer, Harry J. “What Might Improve the Employment and Advancement Prospects of the Poor? In 

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103 National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System: Multiple cause mortality for 

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104 Truman, Jennifer, Lynn Langton, and Michae Planty. Bureau of Justice Statistics. "Criminal 

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106 E. Ann Carson and Daniela Golinelli, "Prisoners in 2012: Trends in Admissions and Releases, 1991-

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107 See Shelby County findings and getting additional support from OJP. 

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/April/12-crt-540.html

108 Stephen J. Schulhofer, Tom R. Tyler, and Aziz Z. Huq, American Policing at a Crossroads: 

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109 Greene, Jack R. “Police Officer Job Satisfaction and Community Perceptions: Implications for 

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110 Bureau of Justice Statistics. Rates of violent victimizations by race and age, 1993-2012. (May 27, 

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111

 Highlights of the 2011 National Youth Gang Survey, Arlen Egley, Jr., and James C. Howell, Office of 

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112 Black, A. “Advances in Juvenile Justice Reform: 2009-2011.” Washington, D.C.: The National Juvenile 

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113 Ibid.

114 Participating in the ED Title I, Part D Neglected and Delinquent program. See 

http://www.neglecteddelinquent.org/sites/default/files/NDTAC_Ann_Perf_2011-12_2_508.pdf
61

 

115 Quinn, M. M, R.B. Rutherford, P.E. Leone, D.M. Osher, and J.M. Poirier. “Youth with disabilities in 

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116 For a detailed discussion about employment barriers for people with criminal records – and the 

Reentry Council response to it – see “In Search of a Job: Criminal Records as Barriers to Employment,” 

published in the NIJ Journal in June 2012. http://www.nij.gov/journals/270/criminal-records.htm. 

117 Rodriguez, Michelle N., and Maurice Emsellem. 65 Million ‘Need Not Apply’: The Case for Reforming 

Criminal Background Checks for Employment. New York, NY: National Employment Law Project (March 

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118 National Inventory of the Collateral Consequences of Conviction, American Bar Association, 2013. Web. 

http://www.abacollateralconsequences.org/.(March 29, 2014)