Shaping the Narrative: Community Stories of Effective Practice and Impact Across the OYF Network, lifts up the stories from Opportunity Youth Forum (OYF) communities working on the ground to improve policies and programs to support opportunity youth, who are 16- to 24-year-olds out of work and school. The OYF began as a group of 21 community collaboratives and has grown to a network of more than two-dozen urban, rural, and tribal communities. Roughly one-quarter (about 1.2 million) of all opportunity youth in the United States reside in or near OYF communities.