Community-based organizations (CBOs) in the United States, whose work and services focus on disrupting intergenerational cycles of poverty and incarceration, will be able to locate areas with large populations of Opportunity Youth through a free, interactive data-mapping tool launched this fall by The Institute for the Quantitative Study of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (QSIDE).

Opportunity Youth, as defined by The FrameWorks Institute, are young people aged 16 to 24 who are not currently employed or enrolled in school, and those who have experience with child welfare, foster care, and criminal legal systems. Like all young people, Opportunity Youth need to be plugged into supportive relationships, resources, and opportunities that support their wellbeing and nurture growth. The Opportunity Youth Data Map will help connect those organizations who are building support networks with the communities that need them most.

The Opportunity Youth data maps tool is free for anyone to view and explore via QSIDE’s TableauPublic page, and there is also an accompanying video that provides step-by-step instructions for navigating the dashboard. Users can begin with the overall Opportunity Youth Index for the United States and then filter data by state and/or the four variables (disconnected youth, youth in the foster care system, justice-involved youth, and youth with parental incarceration). The Overall Opportunity Youth Index is the first data map of its kind.

The Opportunity Youth data mapping tool is the next stage in QSIDE’s DATA2LIFT (Data for Accountability, Transparency, and Advancement to Lower Incarceration for Transformation) initiative, funded by the Walmart Foundation.

Read the full press release here!