Three of the nation’s largest youth-serving agencies will partner with six “persistently dangerous” high schools to run violence reduction programs, using $34 million in grants recently awarded to the schools by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.
The youth-serving agencies teaming up with schools in Schenectady, N.Y., Philadelphia and Baltimore are the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the United Way and the YMCA, respectively. All of the schools had been deemed persistently dangerous by state educational agencies.
The goal of the grants is to reduce violence within the schools through a combination of mentoring, educational, employment, case management and violence prevention strategies. The programs will also seek to improve educational outcomes for youths at the schools.
The funds may be used to restructure the schools and implement alternative learning strategies aimed at addressing the root causes of violence, high dropout rates and low student achievement in schools.
The program will focus on at-risk youth, such as those who present the greatest challenges in terms of behavior, attendance and academic performance.
Schenectady High School, Schenectady, N.Y., is partnering with the Boys & Girls Club of America under its $6.27 million grant.
Samuel Fels, Olney West, Frankford and Edison high schools, all in Philadelphia, each received grants of $6.27 million and will partner with the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board and the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Reginald F. Lewis High School, in Baltimore, received a $3.4 million grant and is partnering with the YMCA, Johns Hopkins University and the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development.
For detailed descriptions of the projects visit, http://www.doleta.gov/pdf/PD_OnePagers.pdf.
