Urban Ventures Youth Mentoring and Employment Project

This grant program is authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) (the 'Recovery Act'). Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention made awards to support local organizations that develop, implement, or expand local mentoring programs leading to measurable, positive outcomes for at-risk youth. This program furthers the Department's mission by enhancing the capacity of local mentoring programs to develop and implement mentoring strategies to reduce juvenile delinquency and prevent violence.

The purpose of the Urban Ventures Youth Mentoring and Employment Project is to partner 15 years of successful work mentoring high-risk and at-risk urban youth with an urban high school specializing in preparing urban youth for careers and with a workforce center which operates an employment program for youth. Major partners are Cristo Rey Jesuit High School and the Minneapolis Workforce Center. The population to be served is high-risk and at-risk youth ages 12-17 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Activities will be one-on-one mentoring by trained adults, weekly support groups, weekly leadership development group, educational support and after-school tutoring, employability skill development at the Work Force Center, and employment for youth. The goal of the project is for 200 at-risk and high-risk youth ages 12-17 in Minneapolis to break the cycle of generational failure and initiate a reduction in their involvement in violence, gang activity, and school failure.

This grant award will retain 20 jobs over 4 years (4 full-time; 16 part-time) and create 122 jobs over 4 years (10 full-time; 112 part-time), thus the project achieves the Recovery Act objective of promoting economic recovery by preserving or creating jobs. CA/NCF