Dear President Obama:

We, the undersigned, are writing to urge the creation of a White House Office on Children and Youth.

The Need
Far too few of our nation’s young people are ready for college, work and life. Just 4 in 10 youth are in school or working, healthy, and connected to their community. Approximately 30 percent of high school students do not graduate on time. For African American and Hispanic students, on-time graduation is a 50-50 proposition. Employers report that 4 in 10 high school students lack the skills needed for work.

The Federal government runs hundreds of programs to serve children and youth ages 0-24, spread across 12 departments and agencies. The vast majority of these efforts are essential and effective; however, they are not part of an integrated, strategic plan to help at-risk populations achieve successful adulthood. Overall, the federal government’s efforts for children and youth are scattershot and these fragmented efforts, contained within narrow silos, are failing America’s young people. Further, few of the efforts designed to help young people have been designed with clear input from the young people the programs serve. America needs leadership which transcends silos, believes in youth voices, and provides a clear vision for success for all federal efforts supporting children and youth.

The Solution: A White House Office on Children and Youth
Establish a White House Office on Children and Youth to provide coordinated leadership and vision across departments and agencies; develop and oversee interagency implementation of a National Youth Strategy laying out the child and youth well-being results our nation must achieve and the reforms necessary to succeed; and provide young people a voice in the policies which impact them directly.

The White House Office on Children and Youth would strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of youth policy through improved coordination of federal programs by:

• Creating and overseeing the implementation of a National Youth Strategy to improve outcomes for youth ages 0-24 by identifying gaps in youth services, establishing research-based goals and quantifiable performance measures, and crafting a plan for achieving benchmarks for child and youth well-being;
• Reviewing department and agency budget requests and providing recommendations to address priorities developed in the National Youth Strategy;
• Establishing a National Child and Youth Development Council composed of the heads of the executive branch departments, agencies and offices of the Federal government, youth, and public experts with knowledge of child and youth development to coordinate the implementation of the National Youth Strategy across agencies and sectors; and
• Establishing a National Youth Advisory Board of young people aged 14-24, and consulting with State Youth Advisory Boards, in order to insure that youth views and perspectives are heard.

Domestic and International Models
A White House Office on Children and Youth would build on the coordinating efforts already in place in nearly half of the States in the U.S., many localities, as well as in countries around the world.

Executive Offices for Children and Youth in States and Localities Across the United States
The State Children’s Cabinets and Councils Network reports that 24 states have established cross-agency coordinating bodies that are systematically changing the fragmented and ineffective way policies and programs serve children and youth by coordinating services, developing a common set of outcomes, and collaboratively deciding upon and implementing plans to foster the well-being of young people.

The Youth Councils Network reports that mayors, governors and legislatures in 12 states and more than 140 localities have created formal bodies of youth (typically ages 16-18) who advise high-level decision makers and elected officials.

Both coordinating bodies and mechanisms for youth voice have strong state and local support:

• The National Governors Association reports, “A strong and effective Children’s Cabinet can improve coordination and efficiency across state departments and local levels of government; mobilize resources around the governor’s priorities for children; facilitate a holistic approach to serving children; and strengthen partnerships with the non profit and private sectors.”
• The National League of Cities states, “without a shared vision or a collaborative structure to guide and assess local efforts, city and school leaders as well as their community partners risk wasting scarce resources or falling short of their goals by overlooking critical needs. The process of creating a youth master plan facilitates the development of sustained and coordinated strategies that yield large and lasting dividends and ensures that opportunities to improve outcomes for children and youth are not squandered,” and that local youth advisory boards are “a popular and effective way to get more youth involved in solving local problems and more actively engaged in the community.”

Executive Offices for Children and Youth around the World
In 2007, the United Kingdom created a Department for Children, Schools and Families to develop and implement a Children’s Plan. Many countries have followed, creating departments, offices, commissions, and councils to play the critical leadership and coordination roles outlined in the Commonwealth of Nations’ Youth Charter: (1) Form a national youth policy as a framework for all agencies and organizations; (2) Form a national action plan to achieve the policy; (3) Nominate a lead agency in government responsible for coordinating youth matters across government; (4) Create government machinery to achieve a coordinated and holistic government response (e.g., inter-Ministerial committee); (5) Establish consultative and participatory mechanisms with young men and women; (6) Establish a youth affairs collaborative mechanism among government, non-government organizations, communities and youth; (7) Create an annual gender disaggregated youth budget, including the total contribution of government toward youth across all ministries; (8) Develop capacity-building mechanisms within the fields of training, development, professional networking and research.

Federal Legislative Support
Federal efforts to coordinate youth policy have Congressional support. In 2005, the House of Representatives passed the Federal Youth Coordination Act (FYCA; H.R. 856) by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 353 to 62, with no Democrats opposing. It was later incorporated into the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (PL 109-365) as Title VIII. First time funding for its implementation was included in the House FY09 Labor-HHS-ED Appropriations bill. FYCA is up for reauthorization and has been introduced by Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) as H.R. 7004.

Fit with the Change Agenda
A White House Office on Children and Youth is an ideal opportunity for the Obama-Biden Administration to meet commitments made to children and youth, and to build a new, open government that includes youth voices.

• Commitment to children and youth: A White House Office on Children and Youth would provide leadership for replacing neglect and indifference with strategic action.
• Commitment to a new type of government: The National Youth Strategy would lay out the reforms and results our nation must make for children and youth.
• Commitment to youth voices: The National Youth Advisory Board would provide a venue for your administration to continue to hear from and mobilize youth voices.

We thank you for your public service and are ready and willing to assist you in the creation and implementation of a White House Office on Children and Youth.