The number of young adults disengaged from both employment and school fell steadily from 2010–2019. However, this rate increased dramatically between 2019 and 2021, when 4.6 million young adults were identified as being disengaged from both work and school. To learn more about how this trend could be reversed and how disengaged young adults could be reengaged in work and school, the Annie E. Casey Foundation collaborated with Education Northwest to identify:

• Factors that influence a young adult’s decision to choose a specific reengagement pathway
• Reengagement program attributes that keep youth engaged once enrolled
• The relationship between implementation components of the reengagement program and student outcomes

This report shares findings from a study of two district-run reengagement programs—one in a large urban district and the second in a large suburban district adjacent to the first. The investigation found that effective reengagement programs succeed by forming trusting relationships with, empowering, and providing services that match the needs of young adults.

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