© Copyright OYC 2025. All Rights Reserved.
The LAP3 – Horizons 32K Strategic Plan is a roadmap to a future where all Los Angeles opportunity youth secure and persist in quality education, training, and employment pathways.
Through prevention and reconnection strategies, Horizons partners will develop systemic solutions to engage 32,000 more young people in education and career pathways, cultivating foundational knowledge and workplace opportunities integral to youth development.
Opportunity youth (OY) are individuals aged 16 to 24 who are not attending school or working, including system-involved youth – foster youth, unhoused youth, and justice-impacted youth.
Opportunity youth encounter systemic barriers challenging their pursuit of education and meaningful employment, which under resourced education, workforce development, and other public sector agencies often do not have the tools to solve. However, with the right resources and opportunities, opportunity youth can thrive in our communities, bringing valuable talent and expertise critical to our regional success.
Increase OY connections or
re-connection to education
Increase OY connections to workforce training programs and career related education pathways.
Increase enrollment in:
Increase OY connection to employment
Increase OY connection to employment Increase employment in the public sector
For 19-24 year old OY, increase their:
Increase OY utilizations of holistic services
Increase the % of OY served by an education/workforce program and a holistic support service
Increase the number of youth referred and enrolled in workforce/education programs for special populations
Collaborative Infrastructure for Results
Formalize and staff a strong collaborative infrastructure for Horizons 32K to drive accountability for implementation.
Policy & Advocacy
Increase policy advocacy at local, state, and national levels to influence policy and resources impacting OY in the L.A. region.
Data to Drive Our Common Agenda
Increase use of data to track coalition profress and data sharing among coalition progress and data sharing among coalition partners to drive our common agenda, innovation, and quality of service.
Cross-Sector Coordination and Collaboration
Increase cross-sector coordination and collaboration between government organizations to meet the holistic needs of OY as they enter and persist in education/training programs.
Innovation, Continuous Improvement, & Collaboration
Promote innovation, continuous improvement, & collaboration between Los Angeles region education and workforce systems to support OY connection to quality career pathways and employment.
Campaign launched by the OYC in 2013
Convened by the Alliance for Children’s Rights and UNITE-LA
Foster Youth at Work engages public workforce and child welfare agencies in LA County in devising collaborative, systemic solutions to improve foster youth connection to work readiness training, early work experiences, and pathways to sustainable careers.
“When this campaign was first launched, only 80 foster youth were enrolling in the County’s youth jobs programs each year. This year, 866 foster youth participated in a paid work experience thanks to the collaborative leadership of LA County’s child welfare and workforce systems.”
— David Rattray
President & CEO, UNITE-LA
866 youth in foster care were placed in paid work experience, an increase of over 15% from the previous year.
© Copyright OYC 2025. All Rights Reserved.