Siena College DEEP Service Initiative: Developing, Engaging, Educational, Partnerships for At-Risk Youth

The OJJDP FY 10 Earmarks Program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, to organizations identified in the Conference Report to accompany the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117), H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 111-366 at 702-714.

Siena College Deep Service Initiative (SCDSI) is focused directly on at-risk youth and specifically addresses two of the major challenges facing the New York's Capital Region: poor rates of high school graduation and corresponding disappointing rates of college attendance. These challenges are particularly acute among the African American population, which represents the majority ethnicity in the City of Albany and the Greater Capital Region. Siena College through the SCDSI is committed to assisting children by preparing them for personal achievement, social responsibility, and moral integrity through sustainable relationships of service, in partnerships between highly respected community partner agencies and Siena College faculty, staff and students. SCDSI will assist at-risk youth by promoting programs that teach them to expand their ability to think logically and critically, to comprehend accurately, and to communicate effectively. These programs will leverage the considerable community outreach and service learning experience of Siena's faculty, staff, and students to build and sustain community partnerships that research has shown are successful at serving at-risk youth. The goal of the SCDSI is to create an inner-city network of learning environments focused on education, cultural, and career opportunities for at-risk youth that will result in increased academic success and persistence. NCA/NCF