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Publications on Adolescents

Many young people in the District of Columbia lack a high school or college diploma and are ill-prepared for a labor market that demands highly skilled workers. In response to this crisis, the District government launched a reform effort in 2007 that promises to reinvent public schools and halt the years of poor performance that have plagued the city's education system. But school reform alone cannot address all of the complicated social, emotional, and economic conditions holding back the city's youth. Families, nonprofit organizations, and District agencies must all be committed partners in helping young people succeed.

Many young people in the District of Columbia are failing to make a successful transition to adulthood. Their challenges include poor preparation for the high-skills labor market and long-standing health problems. Recent District government efforts have centered around school reform and early childhood, but these areas are not sufficient to improve the well-being of older youth. This report provides comprehensive data indicators and analysis on the state of older youth (age 12-24) in the District and examines the role of area nonprofits that work with young people, their families, and neighborhoods.

From health and housing to school achievement and employment, a new report from the Urban Institute provides the most comprehensive source of data on the state of teenagers and young adults in the District of Columbia.

This brief examines the potential effects of health care reform on the more than 25 million children who currently have coverage under Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Increased parental coverage will help these children since many have uninsured parents with unmet health needs. However, proposals to move these children into a new health insurance exchange could make them worse off through the potential loss of benefits and legal protections and possible exposure to higher cost-sharing; alternatively, if reimbursement rates are higher in the exchange than paid under Medicaid and CHIP, children's access to providers could improve.

Mary Cunningham, author of "Preventing and Ending Homelessness—Next Steps," answers five questions about how to combat homelessness. Evidence-based approaches have cut homelessness among chronically homeless single adults and new strategies are now being adopted to help homeless families. Investing in proven strategies is crucial as the economic crisis puts more people at risk of ending up in shelters and threatens to reverse the progress communities have made toward ending and preventing homelessness.