In the city of Milwaukee, the vast majority of students do not achieve both high school and college graduation. This reality negatively impacts not only those students but also the region’s workforce challenges. Indeed, the area economy could suffer greatly unless metro Milwaukee leaders can develop strategies to increase the home-grown talent needed to fill the increasing number of vacant skilled positions created by retiring Baby Boomers and to fulfill the region’s broader economic development objectives.
A potential bright spot is the multitude of out-of-school programming efforts that have been created to provide support and interventions for Milwaukee teens.
This report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum offers insight from a series of questions posed to the organizations responsible for providing these programs. Among the questions asked:
- Which organizations are providing formal out-of-school postsecondary readiness and success programming for Milwaukee youth, and who are they serving?
- What specific programming are they providing?
- How are these programs funded, and are they competing with one another for public or philanthropic resources?
- Is the supply of these programs meeting the potential demand?
- What do we know about the strengths and challenges of these programs?
- How well aligned or positioned are these programs vis-à-vis overlaps, gaps, and expansion opportunities?