For Immediate Release

June 14, 2007

Ronald Mincy to Testify at House Ways and Means Subcommittee Hearing on Disconnected and Disadvantaged Youth

New York, NY – Dr. Ronald Mincy, the Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice at the Columbia University School of Social Work, will testify at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representative's Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support. The public hearing will take place on Tuesday, June 19, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in room B-318 Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

According to the most recent data compiled by the Congressional Research Service, about 2.3 million noninstitutionalized youth between the ages of 16 and 24 have neither attended school, nor worked at anytime over the last year. A myriad of issues may lead to youth becoming detached from school and work and/or becoming homeless, including poverty, inferior schools, the lack of economic opportunity, racial discrimination, substance abuse, teenage parenthood, interaction with the criminal justice system, family instability and violence, and a difficult transition from foster care. While the issue of disconnected youth is not new, the problem has increased in recent years for certain groups.  For example, the percentage of African American men between the age of 20 and 24 who are both out of work and out of school rose from 9.5 percent in 1998 to 14.1 percent in 2005.   

For additional information, please visit the Ways and Means Committee's site here. To interview Dr. Mincy, please contact Jeannie Hii at 212-851-2327 or [email protected].

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About CUSSW (www.socialwork.columbia.edu)
For more than 100 years, the Columbia University School of Social Work has been the leader in practice and policy. Located in New York City, the School offers Master’s and Doctoral programs which are nationally and internationally recognized for their excellence. With its signature curriculum that encompasses multidimensional academic coursework and a far-reaching field education experience, CUSSW continues to be at the forefront of clinical practice, social policy, and social enterprise administration education, teaching, research and social work innovation in the 21st Century.

About Ronald B. Mincy
Dr. Mincy formerly served at the Ford Foundation in several programmatic positions related to the treatment of low-income fathers by U.S. welfare, child support, and family support systems. He previously taught in the economics departments at Purdue University, Bentley College, the University of Delaware, and Swarthmore College, and also worked at the U.S. Department of Labor and the Urban Institute. He is a former co-chair of the Grantmakers Income Security Taskforce and is a Board Member of the Grantmakers for Children, Youth, and Families.  He recently published Black Males Left Behind. (Urban Institute Press, 2006)