Preparing Court Involved Youth for Jobs in High Growth/High Demand Industries

Improved Solutions for Urban Systems, Inc. (ISUS) will serve 50 court-involved youth through this grant cycle. Participants in the program will prepare for careers through an applied-academics model and earn industry-recognized credentials such as A Plus computer certification, NCCER construction certification and Nurse Assistant Certification. They will gain confidence by building 60 homes for low income families, refurbishing computers that are gifted to inner-city children or interning as volunteers in our partner hospitals. The goals of the program are participants will average two-year gains in math and reading for each year of attendance; less than 25% of participants will recidivate by the end of the year, as compared to 65% of the youth offender population in Montgomery County that recidivates; 35% of graduates will have industry certification in their chosen vocation; and 75% of graduates will be placed in jobs, continuing education, military or technical training programs. The program will be measured by the overall attendance for program participants will be tracked daily by the ISUS attendance office and participant timesheets; participant recidivism will be tracked by periodic reviews of juvenile records by the ISUS probation officer; and each participant will complete a minimum of 450 hours of volunteer service in the community. NCA/NCF