Pathways to Success for Michigan's Opportunity Youth

Each young person must navigate his/her own pathway into and through postsecondary education and the workforce to long-term success personalized to his/her own unique needs and desires. The pathway to long-term success is often articulated as a straight road through K-12 education into postsecondary education (either academic or technical training) and then into a job, yet this is not the reality for many. A range of barriers, obstacles, and realities of everyday life often turn a young person off this straight line trajectory. Thus, it is necessary to create a system of a variety of on-ramps allowing young people to re-enter education and/or employment training to create their own pathway to long-term success. With support, the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) investigated and documented pathways into postsecondary education and the workforce for older, vulnerable youth in Michigan with the goal of providing information to create a more robust dialogue amongst key state-level stakeholders. This report showcases several pathways to postsecondary education and the workforce for Opportunity Youth as a road to long-term success. The following charts are appended: (1) Opportunity Youth Details; and (2) Potential Barriers Details