Younger Americans Act Congressional Sign-On Letter

The following letter is currently being sent to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate of the 107th Congress. The letter is intended to raise awareness of the Younger Americans Act among Representatives and Senators, and encourage them to support and cosponsor the legislation. A final copy of the letter will be sent to each organization.

Though you can no longer add your organization's name to the letter, you can still show your organizational support for the Younger Americans Act by clicking here!

We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to urge you to support and co-sponsor the Younger Americans Act (S. 1005 / H.R. 17). The bipartisan Younger Americans Act is a bold, new investment in America's young people. With your support the Younger Americans Act will provide the critical resources youth need now to develop competencies, contribute to their communities, and build a better future for themselves and the nation.

The Younger Americans Act establishes, for the first time in the nation's history, a comprehensive, coordinated national youth policy to mobilize community-wide planning across all sectors. It provides urgently needed support for community-based efforts to reach out to young people and provide access to:

(1) ongoing relationships with caring adults;
(2) safe places with structured activities;
(3) access to services that promote healthy lifestyles, including those designed to improve physical and mental health;
(4) opportunities to acquire marketable skills and competencies; and
(5) opportunities for community service and civic participation.

These strategies prepare young people to be the parents, workers, voters and leaders of the future by focusing on developmental assets all children and youth need to achieve. Under the Younger Americans Act, our national youth policy will NOT regard young people as problems or focus on preventing risky behaviors such as delinquency, truancy, and drug abuse (as do most existing federal programs for youth). Rather, it will support positive youth development strategies, creating positive goals and outcomes for all our country's young people. It will also ensure that young people are involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of these efforts.

Investing wisely in children and youth, by engaging them in positive activities such as after-school programming and community service, is more effective and much less costly than waiting until intervention is necessary. The Younger Americans Act is a common sense approach to what must be a high national priority. Young people are 100% of our future, and this bill will help them achieve their full potential and their rightful place as valued-and valuable-members of their communities.

Thank you for your consideration of our views, and we look forward to discussing this legislation with you in the near future. If you have any questions and/or would like to support and cosponsor this legislation, please call Renee Woodworth at the National Assembly of Health and Human Service Organizations, (202) 347-2080.

Sincerely,

Academy for Educational Development
ACT Corporation (Daytona Beach, FL)
Alaska Youth and Parent Foundation (Anchorage, AK)
Albjr Youth Development Corporation (Chicago, IL)
All Our Kids, Inc (Omaha, NE)
Alliance for Children and Families
America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Camping Association
American Ethical Union
American Humane Association
Anam Duan Youth Services (Flagstaff, AZ)
Anchorage Children's Home (Panama City, FL)
Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
Aunt Martha's Youth Service Center (Matteson, IL)
Best Friends of Neenah-Menasha (Neenah, WI)
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeast Wyoming (Laramie, WY)
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Marathon County Area, Inc. (Wausau, WI)
Boy Scouts of America
Boys & Girls Club of Red Lodge (Red Lodge, MT)
Bridging The Gap Ministries
Brighton Center, Inc. (Newport, KY)
Butte County Youth Services (HERE Program) (Chico, CA)
Camp Fire USA
Camp Fire USA, Greater Arizona Council (Phoenix, AZ)
Camp Fire USA, Mid-Atlantic Council (Washington, DC)
Camp Fire USA, Minnesota Council (St. Paul, MN)
Center for Human Services (Modesto, CA)
Center for Children and Families, Teachers College, Columbia University
Center for Youth as Resources
Center for Youth Services (Rochester, NY)
Child Care Resources of Rockland Inc.(Spring Valley, NY)
Child Welfare League of America
Children's Advocacy Alliance (Henderson, NV)
Children's Community Services Agency (Memphis, TN)
Children's Council, Inc. (Prescott, AZ)
Children's Defense Fund
Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of America
Coalition for Juvenile Justice
Coalition on Human Needs
Colorado Network of Runaway and Homeless Youth Services (Denver, CO)
Community Connections (Walla Walla, WA)
Cornucopia Community Advocates (Sedona, AZ)
Covenant House (Hollywood, CA)
Creative Response to Conflict (Nyack, NY)
Crosswinds Youth Services, Inc (Merritt Island, FL)
East Rumapo Prekindergarten (Monsey, NY)
Edgar County Children's Home (Paris, IL)
EmpowerYouth.com
Family Resources, Inc (St. Petersburg, FL)
Family Support Council (Dalton, GA)
Family Tree Gemini (Wheat Ridge, CO)
Family Tree, Inc. Gemini House (Lakewood, CO)
The Farm, Inc. (Lawrence, KS)
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
Flathead CARE (Kalispell, MT)
Florida Network of Youth and Family Services (Tallahassee, FL)
Friends of Youth (Redmond, WA)
F.O.R.C.E. (Portsmouth, OH)
Forest Park Southeast Youth Alliance (St. Louis, MO)
Full Service Schools of Duval County (Jacksonville, FL)
The General Board of Church and Society, The United Methodist Church
Generations United
Genessee County Youth Corporation (Flint, MI)
Gila River Indian Community, Akimel O'odham/Pee-Posh Youth Council (Sacaton, AZ)
Girls Incorporated
Girl Scouts of the USA
Grayson County Juvenile Alternatives (Sherman, TX)
Hale 'Opio Kaua' I, Inc. (Lihue, HI)
Hannah's Children's Homes (Orange, CA)
Hawaii Youth Services Network (Honolulu, HI)
Hillsides (Pasadena, CA)
Hudson Valley Children's Museum (Nyack, NY)
Illinois Collaboration on Youth (Chicago, IL)
Indiana Youth Services Association, Inc.(Indianapolis, IN)
Justice Policy Institute
Kansas Children's Service League (Wichita, KS)
Kentucky 4-H, Cooperative Extension Service (Lexington, KY)
Kids in Crisis, Inc. (Coscob, CT)
Lawrence Hall Youth Services (Chicago, IL)
Lighthouse Youth Services (Cincinnati, OH)
Literacy Volunteers of America (Monticello, NY)
Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, ELCA
Lutheran Services in America
The Marsh Foundation (Van Wert, OH)
Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Services of Illinois (Freeport, IL)
Martin Luther King Multi-Purpose Center, Inc. (Spring Valley, NY)
Maryland Association of Student Councils (Baltimore, MD)
Massachusetts 4-H Foundation (Ashland, MA)
Mendocino County Youth Project (Ukiah, CA)
Miami Valley Teen Coalition (Dayton, OH)
Minnesota Children's Human Rights Alliance (Minneapolis, MN)
Miss Heart of New York Scholarship Program (Ithaca, NY)
Miss Missouri Scholarship Program (Mexico, MO)
Mothers Against Guns, Inc.
Mountain Plains Network for Youth (Bismarck, ND)
National Assembly of Health and Human Service Organizations
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Association of Police Athletic Leagues
National Association of Service & Conservation Corps
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Collaboration for Youth
National Council of Senior Citizens
National Council of Youth Sports
National Crime Prevention Council
National Education Association
National 4-H Council
National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Mental Health Association
The National Mentoring Partnership
National Network for Youth
National Priorities Project
National Runaway Switchboard
National Youth Advocacy Coalition
National Youth Employment Coalition
Necco (Ashland, KY)
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
The Night Ministry (Chicago, IL)
Northeast Tennessee Community Services Agency (Johnson City, TN)
Oasis Center (Nashville, TN)
Ocean's Harbor House (Toms River, NJ)
Open-Inn, Inc. (Tucson, AZ)
Oswego County Opportunities, Inc. (Oswego, NY)
Our House Help for Teens, Inc. (Monroe, LA)
Pearl River High School (Pearl River, NY)
Pediatric Potentials, Inc.
Points of Light Foundation
Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency (Buckhorn, KY)
Prevention Partners for Youth Development (Syracuse, NY)
Project AIM, Assets In Motion (Kansas City, KS)
Rainbows & Sunshine Preschool and Day Care (Richland, WA)
Safe Home of Northwest Youth Services (Bellingham, WA)
Sand Mountain Youth Center, Inc (Rainsville, AL)
Savannah Runaway Home (Savannah, GA)
Social Advocates for Youth (Santa Rosa, CA)
South MS Children's Center (Hattiesburg, MS)
Southeast Community Services Agency (Chattanooga, TN)
Southeastern Network of Youth and Family Services (Athens, GA)
Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association
St. James Parish Department of Human Resources (Convent, LA)
St. Lawrence County Youth Bureau (Canton, NY)
Students United Make Opportunities (Sylvania, OH)
Success By 6, United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties (Kennewick, WA)
Success By 6 - United Way of Sumter, Clarendon and Lee Counties, SC
Sutter Lakeside Community Services (Lakeport, CA)
Taos County YouthBuild (Taos, NM)
Teen Line (Los Angeles, CA)
Tennessee Valley Family Services, Inc. (Guntersville, AL)
Texas Network of Youth Services (Austin, TX)
Third Way (Denver, CO)
Tulare County Youth Coalition (Visalia, CA)
Unitarian Universalist Association
United Cerebral Palsy
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Jewish Communities
United Neighborhood Centers of America, Inc.
United Teen Equality Center (UTEC) (Lowell, MA)
United Way of America
United Way of Connecticut (Rocky Hill, CT)
United Way of Dutchess County (Poughkeepsie, NY )
United Way of Norwalk & Wilton (Norwalk, CT)
United Way of Seneca County (Seneca Falls, NY)
United Way of West Central Connecticut (Bristol, CT)
United Way of Westport-Weston, Inc. (Westport, CT)
United Way of York County (Kennebunk, ME)
United with Youth (Menasha, WI)
Upper Cumberland Community Services Agency (Cookeville, TN)
Vermont Regional Partnerships (Morrisville, VT)
Village of Spring Valley (Spring Valley, NY)
Village of Suffern Community Foundation Inc.(Suffern, NY)
Volunteer Center of Jackson County United Way (Independence, MO)
Volunteer Initiative Partnership for Youth
Volunteers of America Alaska (Anchorage, AK)
Volunteers of America, Inc.
Washington Ethical Action Office, American Ethical Union
With Friends, Inc. (Belmont, NC)
Women in Community Service
Women of Reform Judaism, The Federation of Temple Sisterhoods
Women's Association for Women's Alternatives (Swarthmore, PA)
Xanthos, Inc: Dreamcatcher Homeless Youth Programs (Alameda, CA)
YMCA National Safe Place (Louisville, KY)
YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg, FL)
YMCA of Orange County (Tustin, CA)
YMCA of the USA
Youth and Family Assistance (Redwood, CA)
Youth and Family Counseling Services (Angleton, TX)
Youth and Shelter Services Inc. (Ames, IA)
Youth Crime Watch of America
Youth Crisis Center/The Safe Place (Jacksonville, FL)
Youth in Need (St. Charles, MO)
Youth Network Council (Chicago, IL)
Youth on Board
Youth Service America
Youth Services Consortium (Portland, OR)
Youth Services for Stephens County, Inc. (Duncan, OK)
Youth Services of Tulsa (Tulsa, OK)
YouthBuild USA
YouthNET (Eureka, CA)