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Youth challe n ge academy

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Georgia Department of Defense
Georgia Department of Defense

The Georgia National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Academy intervenes in the lives of at-risk youth, with over 10,000 graduates since its founding in 1993. The program provides youth with the skills, education, and discipline to succeed as adults at a low cost to the state. If these youth did not participate, they would be more likely to drop out of high school, become unemployed, commit crimes, and be incarcerated. Through the program, cadets earn their GED and go on to employment, higher education, or military service. The Georgia Department of Defense runs two campuses that each accommodate 225 students per year through a 22-week residential program based on military structure and discipline. Graduates are matched with ment

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Youth ChalleNGe Academy The Georgia National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Academy (YCA) offers great value to the state of Georgia and local communities. March 5, 2011, Georgias 10,000th YCA graduate walked the stage after earning his diploma, highlighting 19 years of outstanding success by intervening and changing the lives of the states at-risk youth. Georgia has two of the 33 YCA programs nationwide, yet has produced 10% of the total number of graduates nationally. Georgias Youth ChalleNGe has produced graduates with the values, skills, education, self- confidence and self-discipline necessary to succeed as adults. This success comes as an incredible bargain to the entire state in that the federal government pays 75% of the cost of the program, thus allowing the state to pay only 25%. Additionally, YCA program statistics show that, nationally, communities surrounding ChalleNGe facilities receive the benefit of 590,665 hours of volunteer service. Those hours are valued at more than three million dollars, based on the present federal minimum wage. Conversely, had these youth not been given a second chance, the negative effects on the state would have been significant. High school dropouts have a six percent higher unemployment rate, are 3.5 times more likely to be arrested, and eight times more likely to be incarcerated. Eighty percent will appear before a judge within five years. A staggering two-thirds of prison inmates are high school dropouts. Through YCA, a large number of cadets receive their GED, with at least 53 percent joining Georgias work force, 23 percent going on to college or vocational school, and 20 percent entering the military. The Ga. DoD orchestrates two campuses, one at Fort Stewart and one at Fort Gordon. Both campuses accommodate approximately 225 students in each of their two classes per year. Each class is 22 weeks in length, residential, and follows the military model of discipline and structure. One of the most important aspects of the curriculum is that all graduates are taught valuable life-skills. These life-skills have a strong, positive impact on the future of each and every young person who participates in the program. Each young person who enrolls is matched with a qualified mentor who follows the student during the residential phase and then formally assists and monitors their success during the 12 months following graduation. This helps to further solidify the changes that have taken place, both mentally and physically, in the graduate. Under the constant leadership of Mr. Frank Williams, State Director of YCA since the program was a pilot program in 1993, and a highly trained and seasoned staff, the program has become a model for ChalleNGe academies nationwide. All of these factors are key components of a highly successful program that is turning the at- risk youth of today into the productive, tax-paying citizens of tomorrows state and nation. (Word Count 460)

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Youth challe n ge academy

  • 1. Youth ChalleNGe Academy The Georgia National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Academy (YCA) offers great value to the state of Georgia and local communities. March 5, 2011, Georgias 10,000th YCA graduate walked the stage after earning his diploma, highlighting 19 years of outstanding success by intervening and changing the lives of the states at-risk youth. Georgia has two of the 33 YCA programs nationwide, yet has produced 10% of the total number of graduates nationally. Georgias Youth ChalleNGe has produced graduates with the values, skills, education, self- confidence and self-discipline necessary to succeed as adults. This success comes as an incredible bargain to the entire state in that the federal government pays 75% of the cost of the program, thus allowing the state to pay only 25%. Additionally, YCA program statistics show that, nationally, communities surrounding ChalleNGe facilities receive the benefit of 590,665 hours of volunteer service. Those hours are valued at more than three million dollars, based on the present federal minimum wage. Conversely, had these youth not been given a second chance, the negative effects on the state would have been significant. High school dropouts have a six percent higher unemployment rate, are 3.5 times more likely to be arrested, and eight times more likely to be incarcerated. Eighty percent will appear before a judge within five years. A staggering two-thirds of prison inmates are high school dropouts. Through YCA, a large number of cadets receive their GED, with at least 53 percent joining Georgias work force, 23 percent going on to college or vocational school, and 20 percent entering the military. The Ga. DoD orchestrates two campuses, one at Fort Stewart and one at Fort Gordon. Both campuses accommodate approximately 225 students in each of their two classes per year. Each class is 22 weeks in length, residential, and follows the military model of discipline and structure. One of the most important aspects of the curriculum is that all graduates are taught valuable life-skills. These life-skills have a strong, positive impact on the future of each and every young person who participates in the program. Each young person who enrolls is matched with a qualified mentor who follows the student during the residential phase and then formally assists and monitors their success during the 12 months following graduation. This helps to further solidify the changes that have taken place, both mentally and physically, in the graduate. Under the constant leadership of Mr. Frank Williams, State Director of YCA since the program was a pilot program in 1993, and a highly trained and seasoned staff, the program has become a model for ChalleNGe academies nationwide. All of these factors are key components of a highly successful program that is turning the at- risk youth of today into the productive, tax-paying citizens of tomorrows state and nation. (Word Count 460)