[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 5 (Monday, February 11, 2008)]
[Pages 163-165]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Executive Order 13459--Improving the Coordination and Effectiveness of
Youth Programs
February 7, 2008
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.
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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
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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.
George W. Bush
The White House,
February 7, 2008.
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., February 11,
2008]
Note: This Executive order will be published in the Federal Register on
February 12.