Opportunity Youth is a term that has been used more recently, referring to young people who are between the ages of 16 to 24 years old and are disconnected from school and work. See more about this term at the bottom of this email.

A recent report from the Dalio Foundation contains some alarming data: In Connecticut, 1 in 5 youth are at-risk or fully disconnected from school or work. That’s 119,000 youth ages 14-26 years old.

This number includes youth who have experienced trafficking victimization. The reality is that following trafficking victimization, it is not uncommon for youth to find it difficult to see a future for themselves and recognize the value or purpose of reengaging in school or learning a trade, ultimately causing them to become disconnected from opportunities.

Only 52% of the over 850 youth referred to Love146 across Connecticut were regularly attending school at the time of referral. But with specialized, trauma-informed, and low-barrier services, the rate of youth regularly attending school has risen to 84% for those who successfully complete Love146’s Long Term Services. This rate was even higher for youth who receive Love146’s Employment and Post-Secondary Education Services.

Together with the National Youth Employment Coalition we've written this article: Unleashing Potential: Strategies to Access Employment and Education for Trafficked Youth to share our lessons learned and help other education and workforce development providers better serve this population.

To learn more about Love146’s Survivor Care Services, including our Education and Employment click here or watch the below video:

Survivors of child trafficking need specialized services. As states like Connecticut lean into supporting opportunity youth, we want to ensure that trafficked youth with complex trauma aren’t left behind. Service providers, policymakers, and funders must work together to help opportunity youth, including trafficked children. Will you join us?

Together we can support this often overlooked population and identify sustainable solutions for reengaging youth that can be adopted nationwide.

What does opportunity youth mean?

“Opportunity youth are young people who are between the ages of 16 to 24 years old and are disconnected from school and work. This developmental time period, also referred to as emerging adulthood, has great potential for individual growth through exploring independence and life opportunities. It is a critical window of opportunity for youth and young adults to gain an education and/or training that would “…provide the foundation for their occupational trajectories during the rest of their adulthood.” This can include developing knowledge, skills, and character traits that are important for opportunity youth’s career pathway development.”

From https://youth.gov/youth-topics/opportunity-youth

Founded in 2002, Love146 journeys alongside children impacted by trafficking today and prevents the trafficking of children tomorrow. Our prevention education and survivor care work has impacted more than 77,700 young people. Our work is achieved through the power of relationships and collaboration, listening to those with lived experience and diverse backgrounds, scaling proven practices, and challenging the systems that leave children vulnerable. Our core commitment is to do what is best for children.

No identifiable children featured in Love146 communications are known to be exploited. Some names and details have been changed for the privacy

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