Getting young people back on track in Connecticut
We partner with schools, youth-serving organizations, and employers to help off-track and disconnected youth reconnect to learning and work.
The challenge and why it matters
Our work is grounded in research and data. We commission independent studies to
understand disconnection and turn evidence into action with our partners.
In Connecticut are at risk of not graduating high school
Young people education and employment
Statewide, with costs felt by families and communities
There is no story without data and no data without story
There is a path forward
Disconnected
Young people ages 14-26
who are not engaged in
school and/or are not
working.
Still At Risk
Students who remain
enrolled in High School but
show warning signs of not
being on track to graduate.
On track
Students advancing toward
graduation and gainful
employment.
Disconnection has many causes, from chronic absenteeism to unstable housing, food insecurity, trauma, and more. While the causes are many, the reason to help this population is simple: it will improve individual lives, strengthen entire communities, and make Connecticut a better place overall.
what we do
How we bring
about change
Through youth-serving organizations
We work collaboratively with a group of grantee partners that help get youth back on track through a myriad of services throughout our state. These groups are experts in their field and we offer support in helping them expand their reach and grow their impact.
Through schools
Together with the RISE Network, we help districts build educator capacity and strengthen data systems, with RISE facilitating school improvement networks where high schools share what works to improve graduation rates and reconnect more young people to school, career, and community.
Through Employer Partnerships
With partnerships with Nuvance Health, MATCH, and others, Dalio Education has expanded its involvement in supporting groups focused on workforce development.
Through these collaborations, we co-create pathways that combine paid training, credentials, and supportive services so young people can learn the soft and hard skills to step into good jobs, and grow.
Through data
Through the years, Dalio Education has commissioned multiple qualitative and quantitative reports to dig deeper into at-risk, disconnected, and young people at risk of becoming disconnected. These reports offer insight, data, and actionable next steps. The foundation to affecting change.
Positive Outcomes through collaborative efforts
OUR STORY
Youth first.
Barbara’s vision is founded on the belief that every young person deserves an opportunity.
Founded on the belief that every young person deserves an opportunity, Dalio Education invests in organizations that know their communities best.
We listen, learn, and support partners who help young people reconnect to school, work, and opportunity.
From school re-engagement to workforce pathways, we back local leaders building solutions for and with young people.
Explore how current collaborations are moving the needle in communities across Connecticut.
WHAT WE ARE READING
Our recommended reads on at risk youth
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Dalio Education Donates $5.1M To Launch Nuvance Health Career Academy
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Dalio Education awards $5.1 million for at-risk youth job training
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Nuvance Health receives $5.1 million donation from Dalio Education to launch a career readiness initiative for young people experiencing disconnection
Read Publication
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Dalio Education gives $5.1M to Nuvance Health, teams up to train ‘disconnected’ young people for health jobs
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On-Track Coaches Making A Difference For Students At Risk Of Disconnection
Report date: October 2023
Getting Young People
Back on Track
Published by the Boston Consulting Group [BCG] in October 2023, this report finds that approximately 1 in 5 young people in Connecticut between the ages of 14 and 26 are disconnected or at risk.
Report date: April 2024
Elevating the Voices of
Young People
Community Science’s qualitative research report published in April 2024 expands our understanding of the lived experiences of young people who are disconnected from work and school in Connecticut.
National Review of State Policies
Report date: April 2024
National Scan of Policies, Practices, and Systems change
This report by MDRC published in 2024 reviews the programs, practices, and policies across the country that are facilitative of, or create barriers to, supporting our target population.
In the News
Stories from our partners
and communities
From school re-engagement to workforce pathways, we back local leaders building solutions for and with young people. Explore how current collaborations are moving the needle in communities across Connecticut.
Nuvance Health receives $5.1 million donation from Dalio Education to launch a career readiness initiative for young people experiencing disconnection
Empowering Youth for a Brighter Future in Healthcare DANBURY AND NORWALK, Conn. June 25, 2025 — Nuvance Health, part of Northwell Health, has announced the arrival of a substantial $5.1 million donation from Dalio Education to support its newest workforce development initiative, the Academy for Career Readiness. This innovative initiative,...
Dalio Education gives $5.1M to Nuvance Health, teams up to train ‘disconnected’ young people for health jobs
Opinion: Local adult education must be part CT plan for our youth
Pilot program would re-engage Connecticut’s at-risk high school students under new bill
Survey From CCM’s New Foundation For Youth Finds Residents Support Increased Education Funding
CT schools should be places for growth, not failure and disappointment
Opinion | The Power of Goals And Intergenerational Aspirations
Opinion: Time to fund CT education
Opinion: Action Plan To Re-engage Connecticut’s At-Risk Youth Is Needed Now
CT’s unspoken crisis: Elevating the voices of young people
Face the Facts: Addressing the crisis of young people disconnecting from school and work
Dan Haar: ‘Transformational change’ to save youths will mean hard choices. Can CT make them?
October — a month to focus on improving CT children’s lives
Connecticut education would see sweeping, ‘transformational’ changes under new proposal
Developing a path forward for CT’s disconnected youth
Connecticut has nearly 90,000 students ‘chronically absent’ from school. See how your district ranks
CT youth facing obstacles need additional support
119K Commission’s Second Panel Discussion Focuses On Poverty, Homelessness, Housing Insecurity
Opinion: Going deeper in the data on Connecticut’s 119,000
Opinion: Working together toward a brighter future for CT’s young people
CT’s disconnected youth crisis has an enormous human, economic cost
Opinion: 119,000 reasons to take action in Connecticut in a crisis
Opinion: For CT’s disconnected youth, there are 119,000 reasons to hope, and 119,000 reasons to act
CT has a massive ‘crisis’ of disconnected youth. How town, state leaders plan to solve it.
Connecticut Launches 119K Commission to Reconnect At-Risk Youth, Aiming for Statewide Impact
CCM, Dalio Education Announce New Commission, Website, More Discussions On Disconnected Youth
Dan Haar: A new effort to address disconnected youth in CT launches four years after a letdown
For youth, CT’s ‘Quiet Corner’ is becoming the ‘Forgotten Corner’
Adhlere Coffy and Amanda Olberg: How to address Connecticut’s unspoken crisis
When Fact is More Alarming Than Fiction, Action is Required
Opinion: CT’s children in crisis can learn that ‘letting people help me is OK’
Homeless children sleep in cars in a CT city and woods elsewhere. ‘We’ve never seen this before,’ says an advocate
Panelists: Young People Need More Support, And Earlier, But The Public Still Needs To Get Behind It
Editorial: The economic cost of disconnected youth
OP-ED | Dalio Report Should Spark a Bipartisan Conversation
CT has 12,000 young people who have dropped out of high school. Experts are sounding the alarm
Dalio Education Report Highlights Connecticut’s ‘Invisible’ Youth Crisis, Prompts Calls for Awareness, Action
What CT’s unspoken crisis is all about
