Sec. 2. Findings

289 words·~1 min read·/bill/113/hr/2184/ih/section-2

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The Congress finds the following: The long-term health of the Nation’s democracy, as well as our economy, is dependent upon the strength of our young people. The challenge of educating the Nation’s students cannot be met by schools alone. Cross-sector community engagement, including schools, community-based organizations, businesses, parents, faith-based organizations, local government, students and others must all work together to ensure that students receive the support they need to be successful.

Schools that have strong relationships with their communities have improved academic achievement and develop stronger families, schools and communities. National Academy of Sciences studies show that ensuring that a child has adequate nurturing influences, including those provided by community programs, results in improved academic, social and civic outcomes. In order for students to be successful in school, their academic and non-academic needs must be met. In a study that analyzed the impact of having five key resources in children's lives:

Caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective education, and opportunities to help others, students with four or five of these resources were twice as likely as their peers with zero or one resource to get A’s in school, 40 percent more likely to volunteer, and twice as likely to avoid violence. The services provided by community-based organizations are invaluable in strengthening the Nation’s young people. Research shows that such services keep students in school, promote their academic achievement, reduce pregnancy, reduce delinquent behavior, and promote civic engagement.

Research shows that effective dropout prevention programs meet students’ needs inside and outside the classroom. One such program demonstrated that 82 percent of students improved their attendance, 86 percent had fewer behavior incidents, 89 percent improved their academic performance, and 85 percent of eligible seniors graduated from high school.