This brief paper serves as an update to the 2020 Los Angeles County Disconnected or (Opportunity) Youth report. According to data collected through the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS), there were just under 1.2 million 16-24-year-olds living in LA County, and 12.9% (~144,000) were neither in school nor at work. These data indicate a decrease in both the disconnection rate and count relative to 2020 (13.2% and 156,181, respectively).

One of the most important steps in helping Los Angeles County’s disconnected teens and young adults is understanding who and where they are. For this reason, this report provides a high- level summary of just this type of information. It is our hope that these data be used to spark discussion, initiate action, inform policy, and generally make data-driven decisions that optimize the chances of success for as many youth as possible.

We would like to thank the California Opportunity Youth Network (COYN), the Los Angeles Opportunity Youth Coalition, and our generous funders, Walter S. Johnson Foundation, Stuart Foundation, and Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for their dedication not only to our region’s Opportunity Youth population, but our larger community as well. By tirelessly working to connect and reconnect teens and young adults to the education and employment opportunities they need to flourish, they are laying the foundation for today’s young Angelenos and countless more in the future.

Please read the report below.

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