Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2010, $860,000)
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.
Improved Solutions for Urban Systems, Inc. (ISUS) has created three technical charter high schools that train low income and court-involved young adults for jobs in construction, advanced manufacturing/computer technology and healthcare. It is this unique experience that ISUS contributes to molding promising scenarios into an effective approach that overcomes barriers, uses strategic partnerships, delivers work-specific skills, and, through this grant, will achieve job success for court involved youth participants in emerging industries with a major focus on "green industries." ISUS will provide Health Care to Manufacturing Institute students, including court involved youth seeking employment pathways out of poverty into self-sufficiency. ISUS will enhance current training in construction trades to include energy efficiency, green building, green space management and the installation and retrofitting of renewable energy systems. ISUS will also train and offer residential energy efficiency assessments and green space management, both growing needs in todays economy and declining cities. This project will serve individuals in the greater Dayton area and progress will be measured through diploma and certification attainment, assessment score improvements, recidivism rates and job/continuing education placement. The overall 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; 85% 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 participant recidivism that will be tracked by periodic reviews of juvenile records by the ISUS probation officer and each participant will complete volunteer service in the community. This will be tracked by participant daily attendance in Rediker, graduate job training, and education placement will be tracked by the Career Development Specialist. NCA/NCF