Approximately 119,000 Connecticut youth between the ages of 14 and 26 were either disconnected or at risk of becoming disconnected during the 2021-2022 school year according to recent data from the Boston Consulting Company (BCC).
Using data from Connecticut’s Preschool through 20 and Workforce Information Network (P20 WIN), the report identified three groups of people between the ages of 14-26: those who were “engaged in the education system” or on track to obtain gainful employment, those who are at-risk and those who are disconnected.
The category of at-risk youth was further broken down into three categories: individuals who are off track and do not meet state requirements for education credit attainment, those who are at risk due to other factors such as absenteeism or behavioral issues, and those who are severely off-track and display additional risk factors. BCC’s report identified 56,000 at-risk youth for the 2021-2022 school year.
The category of disconnected youth was further broken down into two categories. Moderately disconnected individuals are defined as high school graduates and GED holders who aren’t employed or enrolled in a postsecondary program, as well as high school nongraduates. Severely disconnected individuals are defined as unemployed high school nongraduates or the incarcerated.
BCC’s report found 63,000 disconnected youth for the 2021-2022 school year, 12,000 of whom were severely disconnected. According to a summary of the findings in the December 2023 issue of The Connecticut Economic Digest, jointly published by the Connecticut Department of Labor and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, individuals who fall into the severely disconnected category are “the most likely target population requiring social services to achieve economic self-sufficiency.”
The report also found that half of high schoolers who were at risk during the 2021-2022 school year did not meet Connecticut’s requirements for education credit attainment. Additionally, a “smaller group of severely off-track high schoolers” had academic and other issues resulting in school discipline charges and chronic absenteeism.
The study found that more than 40 percent of high school students in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Waterbury, and Windham were at-risk. In Bridgeport, Hartford, and Windham, more than 40% of students leaving high school were newly disconnected.
Hartford ranked highest for the number of at-risk youth and newly disconnected youth exiting school.
The report showed several factors associated with being disconnected. Among these were transfers between schools and across town lines. 70 percent of school transfers identified in the report were across town lines. Among high schoolers who switched schools more than twice, 52 percent experienced disconnection a year after leaving school.
Demographics also played a role. Hispanic and African American youths were nearly twice as likely to experience disconnection. Males were also more likely to do so than females, 29 percent compared to 20 percent.
Other factors contributing to a likelihood of being disconnected included attending a high-poverty school district, special education requirements, placement in alternative education programs, and previous involvement with state support services. The report found that each factor made a student two times more likely to be disconnected after high school.
BCC also found the number of severely offtrack students has been rising since the pandemic, a trend driven by an increase in chronic absenteeism rising during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recommendations for improving outreach and outcomes for at-risk and disconnected youth in the report include improving school district data to identify and support students who fall into those categories, designating municipal entities responsible for supporting disconnected youth, strengthening the ability of organization to serve those populations, and various investments in goals such as tacklilng chronic absenteeism.
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