[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.

[[Page 164]]

    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

[[Page 165]]

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.