Educational Alternatives for Vulnerable Youth: Student Needs, Program Types, and Research Directions

Chapter 1 of this document examines the need for alternative education among vulnerable youth by reviewing the numbers and characteristics of youth who disconnect from mainstream developmental pathways in various ways. The second chapter examines the question of "what is an alternative education school or program" and draws on a variety of elements from the literature to suggest the beginnings of a typology that might be used to define and organize the varieties of educational alternatives that currently exist and might be promoted in the future. Finally, Chapter 3 summarizes the findings of a roundtable on directions for future research on alternative education and describes the types of information and studies that are needed to advance the field of alternative education and foster more support for the development of high quality educational alternatives that all children can choose and benefit from

Recommendations to the Social Security Administration on the Design of the Mental Health Treatment Study

Many beneficiaries with mental illness who have a strong desire to work nevertheless continue to seek the protection and security of disability benefits, not only because of the income such benefits provide but also for the health care coverage that comes with it. Further complicating matters is that few jobs available to people with mental illnesses have mental health care coverage, forcing individuals to choose between employment and access to care. These barriers, coupled with the limited treatment options and negative employer attitudes and even discrimination when it comes to employing people with serious metal illness, help "explain" the very rates of low labor force participation among people with psychiatric disabilities

Mutual Accountability Is the Key to Equity-Oriented Systems Change: How Initiatives Can Create Durable Shifts in Policies and Practices

The COVID-19 pandemic and protests arising from police killings of Black Americans have drawn national attention to long-existent and worsening racialized gaps in health, wealth, and well-being that decades of investment and problem solving have been unable to close. Responding to amplified calls from communities and advocates for meaningful change, some philanthropic organizations are reexamining what and how they fund. We present findings from one such effort by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in partnership with the Urban Institute to assess the funder's health-promoting portfolio of investments in community development organizations and activities.This brief presents a framework for grantmakers seeking to understand why some past efforts have fallen short and how future investments might produce more equity-oriented, power-shifting systems change. Urban analyzed a portion of RWJF's portfolio consisting of 15 health-promoting programs and investments launched between 2013 and 2019 that aimed to integrate public health, health care, and community development to improve community health, well-being, and equity. As part of the assessment, we developed a guiding framework that proved critical to our inquiry. We were able to road-test the model as we synthesized insights from dozens of interviews with grantees and partners, community development intermediaries, and philanthropic leaders and staff. The mutual accountability framework allowed us to disentangle intended goals, necessary commitments, and actual results to think about the ways these three elements may—or may not be—aligned

U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health

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Strategies for Reducing Chronic Street Homelessness

This project identifies and describes seven community-wide approaches to ending chronic street homelessness that are working in cities around the country. Elements that appear to maximize progress include a paradigm shift in the goals and approaches of the homeless assistance network; setting a clear goal of reducing chronic street homelessness; committing to a community-wide level of organization; having leadership and an effective organizational structure; having significant resources from mainstream public agencies that go well beyond homeless-specific funding sources; commitment and support from mayors, city and county councils, and other local elected officials; and having a mechanism to track progress, provide feedback, and support improvements. This report describes these common elements and their role in approaches to reducing chronic street homelessness. Communities just beginning to develop their own plans for reducing chronic homelessness should be able to find illustrative practices and programs that they can learn from and adapt to their own situations