YAA TAKE ACTION ALERT -- July 2002
YAA TAKE ACTION: ASK SENATORS TO REQUEST HEARING ON YOUTH DEVELOPMENT & THE YOUNGER AMERICANS ACT
ACTION REQUESTED:
The National Collaboration for Youth urges young people and youth advocates to immediately fax letters to their U.S. Senators requesting them to urge Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, to schedule a hearing on youth development and the Younger Americans Act (YAA). A Congressional hearing is the next step that must occur on the route toward passage of YAA. Click HERE to download a sample letter.
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED:
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which has jurisdiction over YAA, has an extensive set of hearings planned for the remainder of the 107th Congress. Neither youth development nor YAA are topics at these hearings! U.S. Senators need to request Chairman Kennedy to add a hearing on youth development and the Younger Americans Act to the Committee's hearing schedule NOW! Please fax your letters immediately.
FORWARD THIS ALERT TO OTHERS:
In addition to your own action, please forward this request to at least four others that you know and specifically ask them to join you in writing letters to your U.S. Senators.
INSTRUCTIONS:
FAX, do not mail, your letters to your U.S. Senators. To determine who your U.S. Senators are and find their fax numbers, go to www.senate.gov, search for your U.S. Senators' web pages, and find their fax numbers for their Washington DC offices. Or, you may call 202/224-3121, ask the operator to transfer you to the offices of your U.S. Senators, and then ask the receptionists for the Senators' fax numbers.
Please send copies of the letters you send (and any you receive from your U.S. Senators) to Bob Reeg at 202/783-7955 (FAX) or breeg@nn4youth.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Bob Reeg, Director of Public Policy and Public Affairs, National Network for Youth, 202/783-7949, ext. 3109; breeg@nn4youth.org.
BACKGROUND
The Younger Americans Act (H.R. 17/S. 1005) would create a comprehensive national policy for youth and authorize federal financial assistance to states, communities, and nonprofit organizations to ensure that all young people have access to the following core resources: on-going relationships with caring adults; safe places with structured activities; access to services that promote healthy lifestyles; opportunities to acquire marketable skills and competencies; and opportunities for community service and civic participation.
The YAA was introduced with bi-partisan support in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. There are 8 cosponsors in the Senate and 78 in the House. Both S. 1005 and H.R. 17 are currently awaiting committee action.
In addition to YAA, powerful new information regarding America's youth has been released that requires Congressional examination and response. Notably, the National Research Council released a major report in April 2002 that identified several assets that promote positive development of young people.
In May 2002, the National Collaboration for Youth, a coalition of national youth services and youth advocacy organizations, sent a letter to Chairman Kennedy formally requesting a hearing on youth development.