Convened by the L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative and the L.A. City Economic & Workforce Development Department (EWDD)

Horizons 32K is a regional, holistic campaign to engage young people ages 16-24 in work and school through both prevention and re-engagement strategies. Our collective efforts aim to reduce the youth disconnection rate in L.A. County by 32,000 by 2028.

Early disconnection in young adulthood from school and work impacts youth well-being and future success, posing significant consequences for developing youth talent and our region’s long-term economic vitality. In Los Angeles County in 2021, 143,000 young people were neither in school nor working, a 21% increase since 2019. Education, workforce, social service and civic leaders in the L.A. region are embracing their collective resective responsibility for changing the systemic conditions contributing to youth disconnection in Los Angeles County through a new strategic plan “Horizons 32K: LA’s Blueprint for 32,000 Opportunity Youth Dreams.'' Building from the successes of the LA Performance Partnership Pilot (LAP3), Horizons 32K will pave the way for 32,000 additional young people to be connected with sustainable education and employment pathways annually by 2028.

Los Angeles County is home to nearly one quarter of the state’s opportunity youth (OY) - young adults aged 16-24 who are not in school or working or are at high risk of disconnection due to involvement in the child welfare, homeless, or justice systems. Entrenched structural racism and unequal access to opportunities result in disproportionate educational and workforce outcomes for Black and Latino young men in particular. Nearly 1 out of 3 Black and 1 out of 7 Latino young men in L.A. County are neither working nor in school compared to 1 out of 9 of their white peers.  Persistent structural racism reveals itself through lack of culturally responsive curriculum, punitive systems, fewer enrichment opportunities, limited access to quality jobs, and other historical disadvantages.

Dedicated education and workforce leaders have overcome issues of similar magnitude in the past: 20 years ago, Los Angeles faced a high school dropout crisis, and our region successfully rallied together to reduce the dropout rate. However, improvements in high school completion rates have shifted today’s focus, as opportunity youth are currently more likely struggling to access affordable postsecondary education and training pathways into high-quality jobs. Despite successfully completing high school, today’s opportunity youth frequently encounter significant barriers when transitioning to college or vocational training, including:

• College and Career Advising: Low resourced schools struggle to provide high-quality guidance for postsecondary pathways.
• College Affordability: Cost of college education remains a significant barrier for many students, particularly those from low-income families, preventing them from pursuing further education and training.

Horizons 32K is a collective action plan to reduce the region’s youth disconnection rate by 32,000 by 2028, ensuring thousands more young people are connecting to and persisting in education and employment pathways to prosperity. The plan proposes a holistic approach to facilitating engagement with work and school for young Angelenos. This includes both prevention strategies to improve school attendance, persistence, and bridging to postsecondary education for in-school youth and reengagement strategies to meet young people where they are, address their holistic needs, and engage them in culturally responsive education and training programs.