For Immediate Release
February 7, 2006

Contact:
 Kara Tershel, (202) 662-9500

 

Professor Peter Edelman

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Why are three million Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 out of school and work, with little hope of educational or economic advancement?  Why has this disconnect from school and work become more common for young men, particularly those with minority and low-income backgrounds, than for young women?  And what role should government play in bringing these young men into the economic mainstream?

These are just some of the issues Georgetown University Law Center Professor Peter Edelman and his co-authors tackle in their new book, "Reconnecting Disadvantaged Young Men" (Urban Institute Press).

The book, which Edelman co-authored with Harry Holzer, associate dean and professor at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute, and the late Paul Offner, a former Wisconsin state legislator and consultant for the Urban Institute, provides policymakers with a blueprint for enhancing opportunities for deprived youth.  These recommendations include expanding education and training, improving financial incentives to work, and reducing barriers facing non-custodial fathers and ex-offenders. 

"By proposing bold interventions for fellow citizens who aren't the least bit popular with politicians, the authors have embarked on an arduous journey of policymaking and moral suasion," notes Hugh Price, past president and CEO of the National Urban League. "The enlightened investments proposed could become the 21st century magic carpet for hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged young men who fear they’ll never get another shot at the American Dream."

Andrew Hahn, professor at the Brandeis University Heller School for Social Policy and Management, writes, "We are fortunate that Edelman, Holzer, and Offner came together to take on the sad phenomenon of disconnected young males cut off from the economic mainstream.  This dilemma – really a national scandal – is so deep that it demands the highest levels of policy analysis.  Here is a book of reasonable, research-driven recommendations that could make a true difference in helping the young males having an incredibly tough time in communities across America."

Edelman joined the Georgetown Law faculty in 1982, where he teaches constitutional law, federal legislation, public interest lawyering, and social welfare law and policy. He took leave from the Law Center during President Clinton’s first term to serve as counselor to Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and as assistant secretary for planning and evaluation.

Prior to coming to Georgetown, Edelman had served as director of the New York State Division of Youth and vice president of the University of Massachusetts. He was also a legislative assistant to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and issues director for Sen. Edward Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1980. Before that, he was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg and Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He also worked in the U.S. Justice Department as special assistant to Attorney General John Douglas.  In 2005, he was honored with the William J. Brennan Jr. Award, presented biannually to a D.C. Bar member in recognition of "outstanding work toward furthering the public interest and equal justice."

About Georgetown Law

Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's leading law schools. It has the largest full-time faculty in the nation and is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, the Georgetown Law has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body.

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