Opportunity Youth
special populations

OY Special Populations Page.jpg

Opportunity youth (OY) are defined as youth aged 16-24 who are neither in school nor working. Within this broad definition, there are different populations of youth who are experiencing different barriers in their pursuit of education or employment.

OFY Outreach Overview: Who are we serving?

In 2022 OFY Reengagement Centers conducted outreach to 15,514 opportunity youth, connected a total of 3,824 opportunity youth to services of some kind, and connected 3,382 youth to education and/or employment.

Across 15 Centers, 1,035 youth were reengaged in educational pathways (23%) and 2,347 youth were reengaged in career pathways (52%). The remainder (1,094 or 24%) were connected to other services.

Over the past 5 years (2017-2021), OFY has reengaged 17,327 youth in career and educational pathway programs.

Special Populations

  • Justice-involved youth

  • Youth in care

  • Youth experiencing homelessness

  • LGBTQ youth

  • Victims of sex trafficking

  • Youth with a disability

  • Youth with mental illness

  • Veteran youth

  • Pregnant/parenting youth

  • English-language learners

  • Youth with substance use disorders

  • DACA/undocumented youth

  • Refugee youth

  • College dropouts

Identified Barriers

  • Lack of a Caring Adult

  • Lack of Safe and Affordable Housing

  • Untreated Trauma

  • Aging out of School

  • Lack of Paperwork

  • Financial stress

    • Fees/Fines/Bail

    • No Money for College

  • Addiction Issues

  • Mental Health Issues



Our most recent data on special populations engaged are provided below.

Have questions or want further details? Contact Kendelle at kendelle.brown@asu.edu.



Note, these pathway numbers include internal or external co-enrollment (4,446 was used as the denominator in 2022 % calculations)