Defining Needs-Based
YWP works with 250 youth in the course of the year. About 20 percent of these youth are experiencing housing instability, 25 percent are system-involved or recently emancipated, and at least half are experiencing financial hardship, food shortages, poor living conditions, poor health, and educational neglect, unemployment, family conflict, or neighborhood violence. Throughout DC, significant numbers of youth are living in poverty, unemployed, and graduating from our public education system unprepared for college or adult life. These challenges are getting in the way of academic progress as is clearly documented in standardized test scores, truancy rates, and youth engagement.
