Improving the Coordination and Effectiveness of Youth Programs

Executive Order 13459 of February 7, 2008

Improving the Coordination and Effectiveness of
Youth Programs

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in recognition of the successful
interagency collaboration resulting from the Helping
America's Youth initiative, it is hereby ordered as
follows:

Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the Federal
Government to promote achievement of positive results
for at-risk youth through:

(a) enhanced collaboration among government
organizations at the Federal, State, and local level,
including with faith-based and other community
organizations, as well as among families, schools, and
communities, in order to leverage existing resources
and improve outcomes;

(b) identification and dissemination of promising
strategies and practices that have been proven
effective through rigorous evaluation; and

(c) online publication of essential information to
assist interested citizens and decision-makers,
particularly at the community level, to plan,
implement, and participate in effective programs for
at-risk youth.

Sec. 2. Establishment of the Interagency Working Group
on Youth Programs. The Secretary of Health and Human
Services (Secretary) shall establish within the
Department of Health and Human Services for
administrative purposes only, an Interagency Working
Group on Youth Programs (Working Group), consistent
with this order and reflecting the ongoing interagency
collaboration under the Helping America's Youth
initiative.

Sec. 3. Membership and Operation of the Working Group.

(a) The Working Group shall consist exclusively of the
following members or their designees, who shall be
full-time Federal officers or employees:

(i) the Secretary;

(ii) the Attorney General;

(iii) the Secretaries of Defense, the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce,
Labor, Housing and Urban Development, and Education;

(iv) the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy;

(v) the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and
Community Service; and

(vi) other officers or full-time or permanent part-time employees of the
United States, as determined by the Secretary, with the concurrence of the
head of the department or agency concerned.

(b) The Secretary (or the Secretary's designee) shall
serve as Chair, and the Attorney General (or the
Attorney General's designee) shall serve as Vice Chair,
for a period of 2 years from the date of this order.
Subsequent Chairs and Vice Chairs shall be designated
by the Secretary on a biennial basis.

(c) In implementing this section, the Chair, and in the
Chair's absence the Vice Chair, shall convene and
preside at meetings of the Working Group, determine its
agenda, direct its work, and establish and direct
subgroups of the Working Group, as appropriate, to deal
with particular subject matters, that shall consist
exclusively of members of the Working Group or their

designees. The Chair, after consultation with the Vice
Chair, shall designate an officer or employee of one of
the member departments or agencies to serve as the
Executive Secretary of the Working Group. The Executive
Secretary shall head any staff assigned to the Working
Group and any subgroups thereof, and such staff shall
consist exclusively of full-time or permanent part-time
Federal employees.

Sec. 4. Functions of the Working Group. Consistent with
the policy set forth in section 1 of this order, the
Working Group shall:

(a) identify and engage key government and private or
nonprofit organizations that can play a role in
improving the coordination and effectiveness of
programs serving and engaging youth, such as faith-
based and other community organizations, businesses,
volunteers, and other key constituencies;

(b) develop a new Federal website on youth, built upon
the Community Guide to Helping America's Youth, with
the first phase of this website to be launched within
10 months of the date of this order, by:

(i) identifying and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of existing
Federal websites focusing on youth-serving entities in order to improve
access to the most useful content;

(ii) providing for training to youth-serving entities to enable effective
use of the Federal website;

(iii) developing additional strategies and tools and resources accessible
through the Federal website that will help promote effective community-
based efforts to reduce the factors that put youth at risk and the
provision of high-quality services to at-risk youth across the country; and

(iv) developing strategies to ensure that the Federal website is routinely
updated, improved, and publicized;

(c) encourage all youth-serving Federal and State
agencies, communities, grantees, and organizations to
adopt high standards for assessing program results,
including through the use of rigorous impact
evaluations, as appropriate, so that the most effective
practices can be identified and replicated, and
ineffective or duplicative programs can be eliminated
or reformed;

(d)(i) identify and promote initiatives and activities
that merit strong interagency collaboration because of
their potential to offer cost-effective solutions to
achieve better results for at-risk youth, including
volunteer service in concert with the USA Freedom Corps
and mentoring in concert with the Federal Mentoring
Council; and,

(ii) encourage rigorous evaluations, as appropriate, of such initiatives
and activities to ascertain their effectiveness in improving academic,
employment, social, and other individual outcomes, and make these findings
publicly available, and

(e) annually report to the President, through the
Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, on its
work and on the implementation of any recommendations
arising from its work, with the first such report to be
submitted no later than 6 months after the date of this
order.

Sec. 5. Administration of the Working Group. (a) The
Secretary shall, to the extent permitted by law,
provide administrative support and funding for the
Working Group.

With the consent of the Secretary, other member
departments or agencies may provide administrative
support to the Working Group, to the extent permitted
by law and consistent with their statutory authority.

(b) The heads of executive departments and agencies
shall provide, as appropriate, such assistance and
information as the Secretary may request to implement
this order.

(c) The website referred to in section 4(b) of this
order shall be funded by contributions from executive
departments and agencies to the extent permitted by law
and consistent with their statutory authority.

Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to a department, agency, or the head thereof;
or

(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budget, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create
any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity, by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.

    (Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    February 7, 2008.