The 2009 Urban League of Central Carolinas Leadership Awards brought to you by the Urban League of Central Carolinas Young Professionals Auxiliary, is designed to recognize the outstanding achievements of the Young Professionals in Charlotte, North Carolina and surrounding areas. This year’s award recipients have demonstrated a commitment to professional/personal development, philanthropic opportunities, and/or community activism. In 2009, all proceeds from the Leadership Awards will benefit the Urban League of Central Carolinas Urban Youth Empowerment Program (UYEP).
Urban Youth Empowerment Program
Background
In October 2004, the Urban League of Central Carolinas was one of 15 affiliates awarded grant funds by the National Urban League in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, Youth Offender Division for a national pilot. The Urban Youth Empowerment Program (UYEP) targeted at-risk and adjudicated youth, ages 18 – 21 in Mecklenburg County. Clients in this program may have dropped out of school and the adjudicated youth may have been arrested, convicted of a non-violent felony, misdemeanor, or on probation. The purpose of the program was to provide six to twelve months of workforce development activities for eligible youth. From January 2005 to August 2008, UYEP in Charlotte has served 169 young adults.
Services Provided to At-Risk Youth
In addition to our targeted outreach and recruitment activities, we provide our clients with:
- Assessment, Case Management (Counselor-Advocates) and Mentoring;
- Educational Opportunities & Academic Coaching (Pre-GED, GED and Adult Basic Education in partnership with CPCC);
- Personal Development (Life Skills & Work Preparedness Training);
- Work Experience (Community Service and Internships)
Additional components of this successful at-risk youth program include:
- Placement (full time & part time jobs, enrollment in college or certified job training, and military enlistment)
- Follow-up & Retention Services.
The Impacts on the Community
The loss of UYEP will be devastating to this community. Currently, there are only two additional “non-traditional” workforce development programs in the Mecklenburg County area that serve youth lacking high school credentials. UYEP was the only program in the county that targeted both out-of-school and adjudicated youth with or without high school credentials. As such, losing these funds will leave a growing population of at-risk and adjudicated youth without services.
Our program changed lives. In fact, no other program in Mecklenburg County, serving the 18-21 year old at-risk and adjudicated population:
- Can boast placement goals of 60% for this population on average each year;
- Has served the hardest to reach of whom 57% were adjudicated youth and 66% dropped out of school;
- Accomplished a 50% GED attainment rate for its at-risk population and 57% for single mothers;
- Partnered with faith-based organizations to provide work experience for its clients;
- Established strong partnerships with Probation Officers, Judges, District Attorneys, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools dropout prevention programs, alternative schools, and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department for referrals;
- Has a solid reputation amongst the clients that it serves. In fact, client surveys taken between 2005 and 2008 indicate that the vast majority of our clients were referred by a past youth client;
- Nurtured and maintained a partnership with CPCC. The Urban Youth Empowerment Program in Charlotte has helped more adjudicated youth and single mothers ages 18-21 obtain GEDs than any other CPCC program partner in Mecklenburg County in the last three years.
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