Opportunity Youth
The Opportunity Youth (OY) Program seeks to reduce the number of OY in Hawaiʻi by investing in solutions that help young people become prepared, connected, and supported so they can move toward education, meaningful work, and community contribution. As youth move through cycles of connection and disconnection, they need a responsive support system – trusted relationships, culturally grounded programs, and access to real opportunities.
One in nine youth in Hawaiʻi are Opportunity Youth, an estimated population of 17,000.
Program Purpose
- To support programs that are effective at reconnecting Opportunity Youth to educational, workforce, career, and community that provide pathways to success.
- To create shared learning amongst Kosasa OY grantees around their practice and how they measure their impact.
- Gather and use relevant data on measures that matter most to young adults to increase our understanding of the challenges of this transition period and how communities and institutions can best support Opportunity Youth in their desire to connect and belong.
Approaches
The OY Program supports organizations that have developed a range of approaches to the unique needs of the young people. This diversity results in a rich ecosystem of support that if flexible and responsive to OY, addressing their need to be:
Measuring Our Success
While we hope to have a variety of programs that are delivering meaningful results to young adults, we intend to work with our grantees to explore success measures that are relevant for their approach and that can be shared across the network. The kinds of measures that we are interested in could include:
- High School connection – completing HS diploma or equivalency.
- Postsecondary connection – completing postsecondary credential (includes industry training, apprenticeship programs)
- Workforce connection – employed, preferably in a job with potential for advancement to living wage.
- Equity Outcomes – we would also collect relevant socioeconomic data on the population served so we can better understand underlying equity issues.
Program Funding
The Opportunity Youth Initiative offers a range of grants based on project scope and funding availability. Funding requests will be considered for new and existing programs that clearly demonstrate improvements and impacts that are aligned with the Program’s Principles, Effectiveness, and Measures of Success described above.
- Grant funds are limited to no more than 20% of operating budget.
- Small grant requests, typically in the $10,000 to $50,000 range, should demonstrate specific measurable results and outcomes for up to an 18-month project period.
- Grant requests greater than $50,000 can be for up to a 2-year project period. Please note that larger requests are intended for more strategic, complex projects that have value and scope commensurate with the level of funding request, significant and robust partnerships and community engagement, and dramatic impact to the communities and constituencies to be served. Higher funding requests will be reviewed with greater scrutiny to assess cost-effectiveness and to ensure that potential environmental stewardship benefits justify the level of funding.
