Justin Sink, The Hill, September 27, 2014

The White House is partnering with mayors and community leaders to develop a “cradle to college and career strategy” for young men of color, President Obama is set to announce at Saturday’s Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awards dinner.

The “Community Challenge” initiative will be the latest effort of the “My Brother’s Keeper” program, a bid by Obama to find ways for the federal government to offer greater assistance to minority men.

“By partnering with Mayors and other local leaders, we believe we can help communities become better equipped to tackle the challenges that too many youth face–from ensuring that our schools provide a quality education that will prepare them for good careers, to making sure we have a fair criminal justice system,” a White House official said.

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The administration has solicited over $200 million in private donations to be dispersed over the next five years into child development, school readiness, parent engagement, literacy, and school discipline reform programs. {snip}

“The president’s commitment to this couldn’t be stronger,” Broderick Johnson, the president’s Cabinet Secretary and the head of the program, said in an interview with The Hill last month. “And it’s a real honor to work as I do, on this for him, because I know how much this matters to him.”

The White House will release full details of the program and a list of communities that have elected to participate next week.

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