Posted by: Unknown

Introduction

1. Main Findings
2. Red States vs. Blue States
3. Ask the Experts
4. Methodology

Main Findings

Embed on your website<iframe src="//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/embed/37280/geochart.html" width="556" height="347" frameBorder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <div style="width:556px;font-size:12px;color:#888;">Source: <a href="http://ift.tt/2u9qoOp;  

Overall Rank	State	Total Score	Effective	Annual	Difference	Annual	Adjusted
1	Alaska	5.69%	$3,066	-46.85%	$4,237	6
2	Delaware	6.02%	$3,246	-43.74%	$3,830	1
3	Montana	6.92%	$3,728	-35.37%	$3,561	3
4	Wyoming	7.45%	$4,015	-30.40%	$4,312	2
5	Nevada	7.72%	$4,161	-27.86%	$4,028	7

 

Red States vs. Blue States

 

Ask the Experts

< >

• William G. Tierney Wilbur Kieffer Professor of Higher Education, University Professor & Co-Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California
• Murray Fortner Department Chair and Professor of Psychology & Sociology at Tarrant County College
• Danielle M. Dick Professor in the Departments of Psychology & Human and Molecular Genetics, Director of the College Behavioral and Emotional Health Institute, and Director of the Spit for Science Survey at Virginia Commonwealth University
• Jessie Borelli Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California Irvine
• Daniel Keating Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Pediatrics & Research Professor in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, and Author of “Born Anxious: The Lifelong Impact of Early Life Adversity”
• Cristina Mogro-Wilson Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and Director of the Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Project at the University of Connecticut

William G. Tierney Wilbur Kieffer Professor of Higher Education, University Professor & Co-Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California What can state and local policymakers do to reduce the number of rural youth who are disconnected from school and work? Two sorts of tasks need to occur. First, students in high school have to be better acquainted with the world of work. I don’t mean simply being a bagger at a grocery store, or a waiter at a restaurant. European countries, Germany in particular, do a much better job than we do in orienting young people to what sorts of jobs exist. If we are to do that here, then stronger school-business partnerships need to be forged, where youth have internships in a business and learn about what the jobs entail. Second, an investment needs to be made in technology and social media that enables students to speed up their learning, and they need to engage in learning in ways that differ from simply sitting in the classroom from 8-3, Monday to Friday, September through June. We have a 21st century student body that is learning with 20th century technologies. What is driving the higher levels of “disconnection” among minority youth? “Disconnection” is generally a combination of a lack of possibilities and a general sense of anomie. Jobs are no longer robust. For many young people, the future is very unclear. I never really thought about a job when I was in high school or college (aside from bagging groceries and cutting lawns). When I graduated from college in 1975, jobs were abundant for college-educated youth. Today it’s the opposite. If students are not mindful about what they need to do and how they need to prepare for work after school and college, they will not get a good paying job. When combined with a general sense of displacement that currently pervades adolescence, we have a very difficult environment. One irony is that young people are more isolated than ever before, precisely at a time when social media inundates us with messages. What tips/advice do you have for parents that have an adolescent that is disconnected (dropping out of school and not looking for work)? Where should they look for help? We have an array of social services that people need to use. Schools have counselors. Youth organizations exist. For those who are religious, churches can be helpful. Parents walk a delicate line. On the one hand, we have to allow young people the freedom to experiment and fail. On the other hand, young people require limits; they need checks and balances. Parents who are “hands-off” do their child no service. But parents who hover over their kid every minute are also not very helpful. Think of preparing for college in two ways. We have cognitive skills and non-cognitive skills. Cognitive skills refer to an ability to master writing, reading, math and computational skills. Non-cognitive skills refer to understanding how to navigate applying for, and remaining in college. These sorts of skills -- “college knowledge” -- pertain to financial literacy, time management, note-taking and the like. Students who are weak in cognitive skills are at risk of dropping out when they enter high school. Students who lack non-cognitive skills may not even apply to college, because they think it’s too expensive, or they don’t know what to write on the college application. The challenge for educators and parents is to ensure we equip young people with both sorts of skills. We need to set high goals and provide the infrastructure for all children to succeed. Do you believe that the economic policies being pursued by the Trump administration will increase or decrease the number of idle youth? The Trump administration is a study in contrasts. The President speaks of wanting to make “deals” and increase trade with the world. But he acts in a manner that says we will be isolated from the world. In a global economy, economic isolation and cultural hostility will drive up unemployment; better skilled people will take lower skilled, lower wage jobs, because those are the jobs that will exist. The result is that youth will be foreclosed out of jobs that they qualify for, and their idleness will increase. Murray Fortner Department Chair and Professor of Psychology & Sociology at Tarrant County College What can state and local policymakers do to reduce the number of rural youth who are disconnected from school and work? As a country and as educators, we must rethink the socialization process. There was a time when we connected “social mobility” to education, especially in African-American communities, of which I am a part. It is much tougher to shape hardened cement. We must start early, with more emphasis on the values of education, and young children must see more examples of educated people (high school graduates, not just college graduates) who are comfortable and productive. Policymakers must get parents involved more. We penalize teachers and school systems for failing children. However, parents are left out of the equation. For example, I would develop a checklist for parents, which would include attending parent/teacher conferences, or having a child with a limited number of unexcused absences, that would be attached to income tax forms. If compromised income parents meet the criteria, they will receive bonus money on income tax refunds. This incentivizes parental participation. It is unfortunate that we must do this, but children do not get to pick their parents. We must be proactive for the sake of a generation that is headed in the wrong direction. What is driving the higher levels of “disconnection” among minority youth? My focus is on the African-American community. The Black community has become an “entertainment-industrial complex.” Most of the visible examples of wealth are either entertainers or athletes, education optional. Danielle M. Dick Professor in the Departments of Psychology & Human and Molecular Genetics, Director of the College Behavioral and Emotional Health Institute, and Director of the Spit for Science Survey at Virginia Commonwealth University What can state and local policymakers do to reduce the number of rural youth who are disconnected from school and work? We know from decades of research that environmental circumstances can have a big impact on youth outcomes, so there is a significant and important role for policymakers, who can have a tremendous impact. We know that substance use and mental health challenges play a large role in youth who struggle at school and work. Policymakers can make a big impact on these youth's lives by funding and creating services to support mental health and substance use services for children and adolescents. These services can have a huge impact on youth and are, unfortunately, usually woefully underfunded or nonexistent, particularly in rural settings. A number of environmental factors can also contribute to youth discontent (which can lead to lack of engagement in school/work), including challenges at home and/or a history of trauma. Accordingly, funding for programs that help youth manage these life stressors, be it in the schools or community, can have a big impact on these kids. In addition, youth who are disconnected from school and work may be searching for something. This can be a normative developmental process, but there need to be healthy options that engage youth and give them options to explore their interests and talents. Accordingly, funding for schools and after-school programming, as well as community options for youth can make a big difference. For example, see this piece about how Iceland made a huge difference in rates of substance use among its youth. What is driving the higher levels of “disconnection” among minority youth? Unfortunately, minority youth suffer many of the same challenges that rural youth do, that contribute to these problems: lack of access to services, poorer quality schools and associated programming, fewer healthy school and community engagement options, higher rates of environmental stressors and trauma. What tips/advices you have for parents that have an adolescent that is disconnected (dropping school and not looking for work)? Where should they look for help? Parenting is hard. A psychiatrist friend of mine has said that all of us -- including those of us with MDs or PhDs in child development -- can benefit from parenting help. Accordingly, finding a family psychologist to help one navigate these issues can be tremendously helpful, as they can help parents (and disengaged youth, when they will participate) get at the heart of what is contributing to the problem: is there an underlying mental health issue? Are there environmental factors contributing that can be addressed? Why is this particular youth disengaging from school? Unfortunately, there aren't great regulations on psychological practices, so you want to make sure you find a therapist who is trained in empirically based methods (i.e., therapies that work), such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Having a youth who is "checking out" can be an incredibly frustrating experience for a parent, and sometimes the natural tendency of parents is to double-down on discipline, letting their adolescent know how unacceptable their behavior is. Unfortunately, this can have the effect of pushing a child further away. Talking to your child and trying to understand what they are going through and why they are disengaging is usually a more effective way of addressing the problem. This takes patience and can be very challenging, so I also recommend mindfulness for parents, as they navigate a challenging situation with their youth. Do you believe that the economic policies being pursued by the Trump administration will increase or decrease the number of idle youth? Any policy that reduces access to substance use and mental health services, and/or cuts funding for schools and/or community programs for youth, will contribute to higher rates of discontent, lack of engagement, and more adolescents who disengage from school and work. Policies that cut funding to these areas may seem like they are saving money, but they will cost more in the long run, by contributing to an increase in the number of so-called idle youth. Jessie Borelli Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California Irvine What tips/advices you have for parents that have an adolescent that is disconnected (dropping school and not looking for work)? Where should they look for help? Parents who find themselves in this situation often feel helpless and desperate, which are awful feelings. And they may react by becoming punitive or by shaming the teen, which typically only worsens the situation. I think that this happens to teenagers for different reasons, and in trying to figure out a way to help a teen, it's important for parents to decipher why their teen might be disengaged. Figuring out the potential cause of the disengagement can help point out the direction of a possible solution to the problem. For example, some teens disconnect from school and work aspirations because they don't feel that success in these domains is within their reach -- meaning, they don't have confidence in their capacity to achieve their goals. This can happen when peoples' expectations (including those of the teen him/herself and/or the parents) are out of step with the teen's competencies or interests -- for instance, when parents have unrealistic expectations of their teen, and the teen's attempts to meet these expectations are unsuccessful, or when parents emphasize the importance of pursuing a career in science, when the teen is more interested in pursuing a career in art. In these situations, the expectations and reality need to come together so that the teen feels he/she has a fighting chance of succeeding. Having conversations with the teen to try to figure out what motivates and inspires him/her and what he/she enjoys doing could help synchronize expectations and reality. In other situations, however, teens are unmotivated because they are too comfortable -- they have everything they need in their lives, and they don't see the connection between their own hard work and their comfort. In my clinical practice, I most commonly see this pattern among middle to upper-middle class teens, who are relatively comfortable (financially speaking), and yet experience self-doubt regarding their own competencies. These teens lack the financial motivation to push through their self-doubt to identify and pursue goals (i.e., unlike many less fortunate youth, they will still have a roof over their heads and food on their plates, even if they don't find a job). In this situation, it may be best for parents to become cognizant of the teen's values -- what the teen enjoys or finds rewarding -- and to link these values with the teen's goal-directed work. For instance, if a teen's most valued activity is communicating via phone/Instagram/Tumblr with friends, the parent can incentivize the teen's pursuit of school/work-related goals by making access to the phone contingent upon the teen completing tasks related to school/work. Although this technique won't immediately result in the teen him or herself feeling motivated to excel in school/work, over time the teen may start to associate hard work with rewards. Plus, having success in work or school, which can come as a result of hard work, can be rewarding in and of itself, so if the use of a reward system helps the teen get this experience, over time this could become a self-sustaining process. Some parents find this suggestion off-putting -- it can seem like bribery to them --, but in reality, as adults, we often use these techniques ourselves. For example, I frequently tell myself that after I work out or complete a hard task, I will reward myself by getting frozen yogurt or watching a movie. Daniel Keating Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Pediatrics & Research Professor in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, and Author of “Born Anxious: The Lifelong Impact of Early Life Adversity” What can state and local policymakers do to reduce the number of rural youth who are disconnected from school and work? An important first step is to recognize that the disconnection of rural youth is both more severe and different from the pattern for urban youth. The most recent statistics from Measure of America show that the percent of rural youth aged 16-24 years, who are neither in school nor working, is above 20%, compared with a national average of about 12%. Although some of the reasons for this disconnection are similar across all youth in the U.S., including limited educational and career skills, rural youth often have more limited employment opportunities close to where they and their families live. An additional challenge is that some of the effective programs to draw youth back into education and work are difficult to mount when the target population is geographically dispersed. State and local policymakers need to build on and integrate resources that are already available in rural areas. Innovative local programs can help to establish closer links between educational institutions -- both secondary and post-secondary (especially the community college system) -- and employers who have a need for well-trained individuals. The evidence is clear that certificate programs open a number of doors to the world of work, and can effectively combine developmental education that brings core academic skills to a necessary level, training in specialized skills in areas desired by local employers that can lead to certification, and the “soft skills” that enable youth to succeed in the real world of work. What is driving the higher levels of “disconnection” among minority youth? For minority youth who are disconnected -- at a much higher proportion than for whites (12%), including 14% of Hispanic, 19% of Black, and 24% of Native American youth --, we need to recognize that the problem is multi-faceted. Similar to other disconnected youth, the lack of education and career skills is central, and for many of them, this is linked to having grown up in economically disadvantaged homes, neighborhoods, and schools. This pattern of early life adversity has other consequences, including difficulties with self-regulation and “stress dysregulation” that I explain in detail in my recent book, “Born Anxious.” There are, however, a number of effective programs that can integrate the needed services in developmental education, skills training, including “soft skills” of collaboration, essential to contemporary career success. Owing to the burden of toxic stress in early life, additional elements will be important, including mental health services, that address problems that make it difficult for some of these youths to benefit from this programming. What tips/advices you have for parents that have an adolescent that is disconnected (dropping school and not looking for work)? Where should they look for help? Because there are multiple reasons for youth disconnection, the approaches need to be tailored to the individual. Some youth may not be aware of programs that may be valuable in helping them reconnect. In this case, perhaps the simplest to deal with, parents or other concerned adults can assist with research and encouragement to pursue whatever opportunities are available. A more serious barrier is rooted in a perception that it is a hopeless situation, that the individual believes that a different future is simply unattainable. Here too, finding the right resources is paramount -- career counselors, program advocates -- who can present realistic pathways that enable youth to see themselves moving toward a more promising future. Even more serious would be a case where the individual is carrying a significant burden from adversity in their early development, that makes them ill-prepared to handle the stress of making a change, by showing a tendency to act out, or to withdraw, or to do both. Even in these cases, though, resilience despite early adversity is entirely possible, as I also describe in “Born Anxious.” The major route to resilience is connecting on a more personal level, with an adult who communicates clearly and sustainably that the youth matters to them, such as members of the extended family, mentors, or volunteers from organizations like the Y. This is harder for parents to arrange directly, but support and encouragement for making social connections, even if not directly career- or school-related, can help. In the most serious cases, where mental health or substance abuse issues arise, strong encouragement and facilitation to obtain professional services may be needed to solve the problem of disconnection. Do you believe that the economic policies being pursued by the Trump administration will increase or decrease the number of idle youth? They will almost certainly significantly exacerbate the problem. In a study of 28 wealthy countries, using data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), my colleagues and I studied the national policy differences that matter the most for the general health and well-being of adolescents and youth, and in particular for the proportion of disconnected youth. The U.S. already has a higher rate than many countries, ranking 27th out of 39 countries in 2015. The countries that fared the best from the mid-1980s until now on those measures had policies that limited the degree of income inequality, and that increased (or at least maintained) their investment in human development, from early childhood through education, and on to skills development and re-training for adults. Given the Trump Administration’s proposed budget, the U.S. would go in the opposite direction in both respects: funneling resources from the middle and lower income groups to those at the top via tax policies (both directly and through the structure of Trumpcare), and reducing human development investment in multiple areas, from health to education and beyond. It is highly likely that youth disconnection would rise, and potentially rise dramatically, in coming years. Cristina Mogro-Wilson Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and Director of the Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Project at the University of Connecticut What can state and local policymakers do to reduce the number of rural youth who are disconnected from school and work? We now understand the importance of family -- even with teenagers who are often seen as more concerned with peers, family still plays a large role in their growth and development. If local policymakers focus on the family, involving the family, parents, grandparents, caretakers in the community, the youth will follow. Schools who involve family in their everyday activities will have involved parents, and research supports the involvement of family to help students become more involved in school and work. What is driving the higher levels of “disconnection” among minority youth? I believe that minority youth often want to be involved with the community, but feel pushed aside. We need programming that is culturally competent, that involves the family and/or parents in a culturally competent manner. Youth from minority groups have a unique position to be advocates and community organizers, they need adult leaders who are willing to work alongside of youth, to help create peer-to-peer support programs. Programs need to be designed with minority youth, together with adult leaders, who can be parents or family. We are in need of more grass roots community organizing, finding out what the specific community needs are by asking, and conducing a strong needs assessment. Only then can the appropriate programs be developed to help support the growth of minority youth. What tips/advices you have for parents that have an adolescent that is disconnected (dropping school and not looking for work)? Where should they look for help? My advice for parents stems from the research I do on Latino families and parenting. First, parents matter. Research has shown that parents and families do have an impact on youth decision making. Second, spending quality time with your youth, letting them know in various ways that you love and care for them is important. Youth perception of parent love and warmth makes a difference on the risky decisions they make. Third, reach out to your community for help -- schools have social workers who can be incredibly helpful to connect families to resources and support. Do you believe that the economic policies being pursued by the Trump administration will increase or decrease the number of idle youth? The worst effect I have seen on youth of all ages from the Trump administration is fear. Among Latino communities across the country, there is fear. Parents are scared to send their children to school thinking they will be deported, and youth are scared their parents will be taken away. The fear among youth is prohibitive of growth. When youth are concerned for their own safety, there is the potential of trauma, and survival becomes of most importance. Until our youth feel safe, and are not fearful for themselves and their families, movement forward will be difficult. Methodology

 

Source:

from Wallet HubWallet Hub


via Finance Xpress