In 2018 the City of San Antonio identified the need to serve approximately 30,000 to 35,000 opportunity youth. The term opportunity youth describes young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 who are disconnected from education, work, and major social institutions. Current research from The Aspen Institute currently projects the number of opportunity youth in San Antonio to be at an estimated 75,000 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To support opportunity youth with reconnecting to education or career opportunities, the City of San Antonio Department of Human Services, in collaboration with Goodwill of San Antonio and Communities in Schools of San Antonio, opened the state’s first comprehensive youth re-engagement center in February of 2019. The three organizations operate in a collaborative effort to ensure participants have a seamless experience at the NXT LEVEL Youth Opportunity Center. When participants enroll at the NXT LEVEL Youth Opportunity Center, they are paired with an education and life coach to come up with a participant lead plan to to help them reach their goals while working to remove any life barriers.