While states have put in place scores of youth polices, no state can claim to have a single, coherent youth policy that serves as a lens for assessing and planning individual policies. However, across the country, states are working to develop more coordinated approaches to youth policy. This paper highlights the work that states are doing to create state youth policy frameworks, advance youth development principles and undertake nine critical tasks to better coordinate and align state youth policies. Steering a Course toward Effective Youth Policy: Dashboards for Youth is appended. (Contains 18 endnotes.)