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 YouthBuild USA was started informally in 1988 and incorporated in 1990 to guide the process of replicating and scaling up the YouthBuild program with quality in the United States after the program had succeeded in five neighborhoods in New York City. There are now 273 YouthBuild programs in 45 states, Washington, DC, and the Virgin Islands. 92,000 YouthBuild students have built 19,000 units of affordable, increasingly green, housing since 1994.
Community- and faith-based nonprofit organizations sponsor most YouthBuild programs, many of which are led by social entrepreneurs who have started YouthBuild in their communities, just like Dorothy Stoneman, recipient of the 2007 Skoll Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship, started the first YouthBuild program in East Harlem in 1978.
The national YouthBuild network benefits from extraordinary public-private partnerships. Local YouthBuild programs and YouthBuild USA receive financial support from diverse public and private, national and local sources. YouthBuild USA works with federal funding agencies to assure the quality and increase the impact of local YouthBuild programs. Primary funding for local YouthBuild programs comes from the U.S. Department of Labor under the federal YouthBuild program, administered by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA), which makes grants directly to local sponsors of YouthBuild programs on a competitive basis.
A key aspect of YouthBuild USA’s role in the early years was to build sufficient political awareness and support to get YouthBuild authorized as a federal program. This occurred in 1992, through the leadership of Senator John Kerry (D-MA). Since then YouthBuild USA has worked with champions and allies in Congress to insure an annual appropriation for the federal YouthBuild program. This is not a set-aside or ear-mark; YouthBuild is equivalent in law to Peace Corps and Head Start.
YouthBuild program funds are distributed directly by the federal government through a competitive process to local community-based organizations that run YouthBuild programs in their neighborhoods. YouthBuild USA also must compete for a national contract with the federal government to provide training, technical assistance, and data management assistance to the government’s YouthBuild grantees. The U.S. Department of Labor is the current managing federal agency.
YouthBuild USA also supports local YouthBuild programs in a variety of ways independent of the U.S. Department of Labor, to complement and supplement the government program and to maintain the catalytic, innovative, movement-building spirit of the YouthBuild network.
The reach of YouthBuild USA is not limited to YouthBuild programs; it extends to the broader youth and community development fields to diminish poverty in the United States and internationally.
In our role as the leader of the national YouthBuild movement and national support center for local programs, YouthBuild USA:
Supporting the YouthBuild network
YouthBuild USA provides local YouthBuild sites:
- Guidance in implementation through staff training, technical assistance, research, publications, curriculum, and Web-based resources. These supports help strengthen program quality by disseminating innovations, best practices, and strategies on key topics such as staff development, sustainability, outcome based planning, partnership development, and working with young adults. Some of this work is done under contract with U.S. Department of Labor, and some under other grants and contracts.
- Quality assurance through the management of the YouthBuild USA Affiliated Network, which democratically sets its own program design and performance standards, collects and analyzes data on YouthBuild program outcomes, and accredits outstanding programs. The Affiliated Network includes students and graduates in all of these decisions, alongside directors. About two thirds of all YouthBuild programs voluntarily join the YouthBuild USA Affiliated Network.
- Grants and loans amounting to approximately ten million dollars per year in public and private funds for specific innovations and program enhancements. For example, since 1994, YouthBuild USA has been a national direct AmeriCorps intermediary, enabling tens of thousands of YouthBuild students to earn education awards for their service building affordable housing.
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Advocating for YouthBuild programs
YouthBuild USA represents and advocates for YouthBuild programs by:
- Coordinating the National YouthBuild Coalition of nearly 1,000 organizational members to work with Congressional champions and to build majority bipartisan support in both houses of Congress to sustain and increase the annual YouthBuild appropriation. Through this process over $800 million federal dollars have reached America’s poorest communities for YouthBuild programs since 1994.
- Raising funds from corporations, foundations, individuals, and others to support YouthBuild programs in a variety of ways;
- Supporting the development of state-level YouthBuild coalitions that aim to secure state funding, sponsor youth events, maintain and improve program quality and accountability, and shape state-level public policy regarding low-income youth. California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin have active coalitions. New Jersey, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Illinois, and California state governments have allocated state funds to YouthBuild programs.
- Bringing public attention to the YouthBuild network and issues facing youth in transition and engaging YouthBuild students and graduates in this process.
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Developing future leaders
YouthBuild USA and the network of local programs offer students and graduates opportunities for:
- Personal growth, career development, and academic advancement through counseling and support from YouthBuild staff and community leaders;
- Civic engagement and community service through building affordable housing and advocating for their communities both locally and nationally;
- Leadership roles in the National Alumni Association, the national Young Leaders Council, the 1,000 Leaders Network, and through various youth conferences and speaking engagements.
- Asset building through the YouthBuild National Individual Development Account Program, the YouthBuild Asset Trust for Graduates, and the Helene D. Stoneman Scholarship and Civic Engagement Program to provide funds, financial education, and mentorship to help YouthBuild achieve economic independence.
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Contributing to the youth development field
YouthBuild USA’s role in improving opportunities for low-income youth extends beyond the YouthBuild network and involves:
- Sharing the philosophy, principles, and best practices that make YouthBuild work with other youth development practitioners through the YouthBuild Academy for Transformation and Youth on Board;
- Partnering with national organizations (such as Voices for National Service, The Emerald Cities Partnership, America’s Promise, ServiceNation, American Youth Policy Forum, Campaign for Youth, National Youth Employment Coalition, Youth Service America, Forum for Youth Investment, Youth Policy Action Center, The Corps Network, and others) to affect public policy and to expand the resources for effective programs reconnecting disadvantaged youth with education, employment, leadership roles, and service;
- Working with international organizations interested in establishing YouthBuild-like programs and helping to develop good policies and training capacity for addressing youth unemployment in the developing world. We launched YouthBuild International in 2001; there are now YouthBuild programs in Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Israel, and South Africa. See YouthBuild International for more details.
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