Investment in Youth Job Skills Development Pays Real Dividends

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

New Hanover County’s Community Justice Services Department’s Community Service and Restitution (CSR) Program facilitates successful completion of community service sanctions assigned to youth who are court ordered or court diverted and referred to the department. In October 2014, CSR staff, utilizing existing county resources, began developing an innovative Job Skills Development (JSD) component to enhance the services provided to our youth with the goal of preparing them to successfully enter the local job market. CSR staff collaborated with our county library to secure a meeting space and access to educational and technological resources for the facilitation of the first successful cohort in Spring 2015. JSD seeks to further the county goals of reducing juvenile recidivism rates while promoting increased school participation and high school graduation rates. This is accomplished through collaborative efforts with community partners and local stakeholders to empower youth seeking employment in the local job market. Of the ten youth that have graduated from the first two groups of the JSD component, four are now employed. All the youth are attending school full time and the program has experienced a zero-percent recidivism rate among its graduates.