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1 | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Youth and young adults, ages 16 to 24, who fall | ||||||
3 | into two groups need opportunities to become successful adults: | ||||||
4 | (1) those who are neither working nor in school, including | ||||||
5 | those without a high school diploma, and (2) those who are | ||||||
6 | low-attending, jobless high school students; these individuals | ||||||
7 | are in need of opportunities to succeed as adults; according to | ||||||
8 | a recent study by the Great Cities Institute at the University | ||||||
9 | of Illinois at Chicago, in 2014, there were 190,945 youth and | ||||||
10 | young adults (16 to 24 years old) who were jobless and | ||||||
11 | out-of-school in Illinois; of those, 46,501 were between 16 and | ||||||
12 | 19 years of age and 144,444 between the ages of 20 and 24; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Of these 190,945 jobless and out-of-school youth | ||||||
14 | and young adults, 73,130 were white, 39,712 Hispanic, and | ||||||
15 | 78,103 were African American; and
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16 | WHEREAS, The vast majority of these youth and young adults | ||||||
17 | who are neither working nor in school, including those without | ||||||
18 | a high school diploma and those who are low-attending jobless | ||||||
19 | high school students, come from low-income areas in both | ||||||
20 | Chicago and downstate; and | ||||||
21 | WHEREAS, Many of these youth and young adults need | ||||||
22 | opportunities to become successful adults and would benefit |
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1 | from education and employment opportunities if these | ||||||
2 | opportunities are structured using evidence based/best program | ||||||
3 | practices of smaller, more flexible, and more structured | ||||||
4 | comprehensive programming to address their education, work, | ||||||
5 | and social development needs; and | ||||||
6 | WHEREAS, Illinois currently has a shortage of skilled | ||||||
7 | workers; provided with the right opportunities, these youth and | ||||||
8 | young adults, could be trained to fill those vacancies for the | ||||||
9 | benefit of the employers, the Illinois economy, and their own | ||||||
10 | futures; and | ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, According to the Illinois Department of | ||||||
12 | Corrections Fiscal Report for 2014, only 19.7% of inmates in
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13 | Illinois prisons completed high school, and only 19.2% | ||||||
14 | completed a GED program, leaving 62% of inmates in Illinois
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15 | without an education higher than 11th grade; and
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16 | WHEREAS, Youth without a high school diploma earn $516,000 | ||||||
17 | less over their lifetimes than those with high
school diplomas | ||||||
18 | and some college education; and
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19 | WHEREAS, The benefit to Illinois taxpayers is over $290,000 | ||||||
20 | in tax revenue over the lifetime of a youth who earns a high | ||||||
21 | school diploma versus a youth who does not earn a high school | ||||||
22 | diploma; there is also a savings to taxpayers in terms of youth |
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1 | with a high school diploma requiring less expenditures for | ||||||
2 | social services such as welfare, mental health and dependency | ||||||
3 | services, and reduced risk of imprisonment or other criminal | ||||||
4 | justice related costs; and
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5 | WHEREAS, There is significant research and program | ||||||
6 | experience to draw upon to assist in the development of
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7 | successful programs to support out-of-school and jobless youth | ||||||
8 | to improve their education and find employment; therefore, be | ||||||
9 | it
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10 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | ||||||
11 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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12 | CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Statewide Task | ||||||
13 | Force on Developing Opportunities for Youth and Young Adults | ||||||
14 | Who Are Jobless and Out-of-School in order to examine and | ||||||
15 | develop programs to address the growing numbers of | ||||||
16 | out-of-school and jobless youth in Illinois, including those | ||||||
17 | without a high school diploma, who are neither working nor in | ||||||
18 | school, and low-attending jobless high school students; and be | ||||||
19 | it further | ||||||
20 | RESOLVED, That the purpose of the Task Force is to examine | ||||||
21 | policies, programs, and other issues related to developing a | ||||||
22 | variety of successful approaches using best program practices | ||||||
23 | for out-of-school and jobless youth students, with the goal of |
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1 | improving their education, work-related, and social | ||||||
2 | development skills, so that they can successfully enter the | ||||||
3 | workforce and become productive adults; and be it further | ||||||
4 | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be composed of the | ||||||
5 | following members: | ||||||
6 | (1) Eight legislators, two appointed by the President | ||||||
7 | of the Senate, two appointed by the Speaker of the House, | ||||||
8 | two
appointed by the House Minority Leader, and two | ||||||
9 | appointed by the Senate Minority Leader; | ||||||
10 | (2) One representative from the Governor's office | ||||||
11 | appointed by the Governor; | ||||||
12 | (3) One representative of the State Board of Education | ||||||
13 | appointed by the State Superintendent of Education; | ||||||
14 | (4) One representative of the Department of Human | ||||||
15 | Services appointed by the Secretary of the Department of | ||||||
16 | Human Services; | ||||||
17 | (5) One representative of the Department of Children | ||||||
18 | and Family Services appointed by its Director; | ||||||
19 | (6) One representative of the Illinois Department of |
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1 | Juvenile Justice appointed by its Director; | ||||||
2 | (7) One representative of the Department of Commerce | ||||||
3 | and Economic Opportunity appointed by its Director; | ||||||
4 | (8) One representative of the Illinois Community | ||||||
5 | College Board appointed by its Executive Director; and | ||||||
6 | (9) One representative of the Illinois Board of Higher | ||||||
7 | Education appointed by its Executive Director; | ||||||
8 | (10) One representative of the Illinois Department of | ||||||
9 | Corrections appointed by its Director; and | ||||||
10 | (11) 15 representatives of organizations with | ||||||
11 | successful experience working with jobless youth without a | ||||||
12 | high school diploma and low-attending high school | ||||||
13 | students, three appointed by the President of the Senate, | ||||||
14 | three appointed by the Speaker of the House, three | ||||||
15 | appointed by the House Minority Leader, three appointed by | ||||||
16 | the Senate Minority Leader, and three appointed by the | ||||||
17 | Governor, with one of these public representatives serving | ||||||
18 | as the Chairperson of the Task Force; and be it further | ||||||
19 | RESOLVED, That the duties of the Task Force shall include | ||||||
20 | conducting a series of public hearings and listening sessions |
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1 | throughout the State to discuss the issues of jobless and | ||||||
2 | out-of-school youth including youth without a high school | ||||||
3 | diploma and low-attending high school students who need | ||||||
4 | opportunities to become successful adults; the Task Force will | ||||||
5 | examine their impact on various regions of the State and | ||||||
6 | complete a review of data regarding out-of-school and jobless | ||||||
7 | youth comparing Illinois with other states in the region and | ||||||
8 | nationally, including a review of various financing and funding | ||||||
9 | mechanisms used by other states, counties, cities, | ||||||
10 | foundations, and other financial funding sources; the Task | ||||||
11 | Force will submit a final report with recommendations to the | ||||||
12 | Governor and the General Assembly on ways to address these | ||||||
13 | challenges; and be it further | ||||||
14 | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall issue an interim report | ||||||
15 | of its findings to the Governor and the General Assembly no | ||||||
16 | later than January 31, 2018; and be it further | ||||||
17 | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall issue a final report by | ||||||
18 | December 31, 2018; and be it further
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19 | RESOLVED, That upon the filing of the final report the Task | ||||||
20 | Force is dissolved.
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