Far too often, the mistakes young people of color make follow them thorough their life. Criminal records hold them back from gainful employment and create a cycle of challenges that persist if there is no intervention.

The National Urban League is committed to opening doors for young people by helping them complete credentials, career training and guidance through mentorship.

Our Approach

700+ Participants Served Across 7 Cities

UYRP is a successful, evidence-based program focusing on youth educational and employment outcomes (18-24). Core program components include four-week career readiness programming, occupational skills training, case management, educational interventions and support, legal and other supportive services, and work-based learning. Although UYEP has focused on serving youth who have had criminal justice system involvement, the program model has its roots in, and is adaptable to, serving disadvantaged youth more broadly.

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2025 Empowerment Goal:

Every American has access to jobs with a living wage and good benefits

Accomplishments

Since 2011, the National Urban League has served reentry and Opportunity Youth through a number of initiatives for young adults, including the Urban Youth Empowerment Program (UYEP), which enrolled over 700 individuals over the past nine years, and the NUL’s newest program, Urban Youth Reentry Program (UYRP).

2 in 3

youth, 18 and older, entered employment

98%

of enrolled youth did not return to prison

43%

of enrolled youth obtained a high school diploma, GED, or industry-recognized credential

The Urban Youth Empowerment Program (UYEP) uses a holistic approach to prepare Opportunity Youth for pathways to economic stability through a comprehensive set of services, including:

  • Career readiness training and placement services
  • Educational offerings, including GED preparation, basic remedial classes, credit retrieval, and postsecondary education
  • Mentorship
  • Case management, including continuous assessment and Individual Service Plans
  • Access to stipend-paying work experiences
  • Restorative justice projects/ service learning projects
  • Community-wide efforts to reduce activities of violence
  • Access to support services that focus on child care, food, transportation and housing assistance, as well as drug and alcohol abuse, and mental health issues

UYEP and UYRP have been receiving funding through the United States Department of Labor and private funders. And, since 2020, the NUL has been delivering the Urban Youth Reentry Program through a partnership with the following five Urban League affiliates:

  • URBAN LEAGUE OF ESSEX COUNTY (NJ)
  • URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER ATLANTA (GA)
  • URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER HARTFORD (CT)
  • URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER OKLAHOMA CITY (OK)
  • URBAN LEAGUE OF LOUISIANA