Support the Federal Youth Coordination Act - Review this letter and sign on using the form below:

Dear Senator/Representative*:

Children and youth are the nation’s most valuable resource. They deserve effective and accountable support from their communities and, if necessary, from the government. Last year, the White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth released a report describing the federal response to the needs of youth as convoluted and lacking in focus. The undersigned organizations ask for your support of the bipartisan Federal Youth Coordination Act to make federal youth policy more coordinated, focused and efficient.

The Federal Youth Coordination Act will establish a federal council on youth that will facilitate interagency coordination and collaboration, coordinate federal research, and identify and replicate model programs. The bill also authorizes support for State-level coordination efforts. These efforts will result in a more strategic federal youth policy that will produce better outcomes for the nation’s children, relax the federal bureaucracy and promote the flexibility needed for more responsive solutions.

The numerous federal funding streams designed to meet the needs of youth are administered in separate silos, independent of one another. Often, there are built-in disincentives for local coordination in the regulations and policies set by the various federal departments, and the work of sorting them out at the State and local levels is difficult. The Federal Youth Coordination Act calls for a more strategic approach, one that leverages and coordinates the existing resources of different federal agencies, allowing for a much more efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

Coordination. Improved impact. Accountability. These are the outcomes that will result from the Federal Youth Coordination Act; the nation’s children, youth and taxpayers deserve nothing less .

Thank you for your consideration of this important and timely legislation.

Sincerely,

*NOTE: This letter will be customized for specific Members of Congress when sent to Capitol Hill.