FY 21- HFY1

GREENBELT CARES GED PROGRAM:

The Greenbelt Cares - GED Program served 26 new youth, which is 52% of the targeted number of youths to be served for FY21. Due to COVID-19, the provider encountered challenges in transitioning to a virtual system which directly impacted the number of youths they were able to serve in 2021. The program faced challenges in enrolling and maintaining participants due to the pandemic. Many of the youth did not have the resources to complete the program and were distracted due to the Holidays and their home environment. As a result of these challenges, the provider did not have the capacity to start the Life Skills program for the first half of FY 21. In order to address these challenges, the provider focused on the following to ensure they provided services to assist the youth:

• Resources – The Greenbelt Cares GED program provided 3 youth with cell phones to assist in participating in the program
• Tutoring sessions - Staff had weekly contact with students and offered tutoring as needed outside of class time.

Based on the monitor’s observation, there’s a great probability that the provider will not meet its target for FY 21. The monitor is unable to track the effectiveness of the program because  the provider is contracted to provide the number of youths who earned their GED after completing the GED program, but the provider stated that the program does not have the capacity to provide any information about the number of youths who actually earned their GED due to lack of program funds.

Employment Readiness Greenbelt CARES YSB will provide GED Preparation classes, Life Skills Workshops, and Employment Workshops for young adult 16-24 years of age who are not in school, habitually truant, or have completed school and not employed.

In the GED preparation classes, participants will have the opportunity to enroll in four core subject areas: Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, and Reading and Writing.

In the Life Skills Workshop, the participant will have the opportunity to learn money management and budgeting such as opening bank accounts, saving, percentage and interest rates, debt vs credits card, and budgeting.

The employment readiness workshop includes resume preparation, completing job applications, interview skills, dress codes and behaviors for the workplace, and community resource utilization.

Youth 16 – 24 yrs. old disconnected from education and residing in the following zip codes in northern county: 20912, 20903, 20703, 20782, 20710 and 20781, and Parkdale High School (students enrolled and not attending school)