In Washington, D.C., a robust and holistic employment program for youth is key to building positive life outcomes for the District’s teens and creating safer communities. In our most recent research brief, Working for a Better Future: How expanding employment opportunities for D.C.’s youth creates public safety benefits for all residents, the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) describes how youth unemployment in D.C. ranges between 1.6 and 2.3 times the national average and how increases in youth employment rates have been linked to decreased rates of arrest in the city.

Having a job has been shown to be a “protective factor” against crime and arrests for youth. Jobs help young people gain experience in the work world and effective job assistance programs provide youth with mentoring, life skills training, and a connection to their community.

Conversely, unemployment can have detrimental effects. Youth who are disconnected to institutions of education or employment represent an annual taxpayer cost of $13,900 and a social cost of $37,450. Investments in job assistance programs, however, are a fraction of this expense, and help cut back the taxpayer and social costs while setting a young person up for a lifetime of success. The brief mentions examples from across the country of effective youth workforce development programs that have yielded positive results including public safety benefits, positive life outcomes for youth and cost savings, including programs like YouthBuild, YearUp, Strive and Job Corps being utilized in the District.