There was a slight drop in program participation in the second half of the fiscal year due to staff turnover, with a brief vacancy in the Youth Engagement Coordinator position. The new staff person began in April and was able to resume the program with little interruption. By year end, there was a significant increase in the level of interest in the Ready4Life program via the web-based portal Ready4Life-SOMD. 167 disconnected youth made contact with the web administrator (Resource Coordinator) and requested information about educational and employment opportunities. These individuals were referred to the Youth Engagement Coordinator for follow up.

CSM provided FAFSA or college advisory information; JobSource provided job skill building and further resume writing assistance; Calvert County Health Department provided recovery support, as well as, behavioral health therapy as needed.  Participants were referred to the Calvert Library for additional educational resources and use of the free wi-fi for conducting research. Youth in need of recreation activities were referred to the Calvert County Parks and Recreation Department. These partnerships allowed clients to know that they have community support and resources available when or if they should need them. The Youth Engagement Coordinator regularly attended the Calvert County Interagency Council meeting (IAC), with over 100 community service providers, to network and devlop new partnerships. As a result of the IAC meetings, a new partnership was forged with Project Echo Homeless shelter for access to homeless young adults, and with Calvert County Public Schools for access to children who meet the FARMS category, or whose parents are incarcerated.

The  program was initally designed to meet with youth in a group setting, the Youth Engagement Coordinator discovered that most Opportunity Youth desire to work independently with the Coordinator, rather than attend group sessions.  The one-on-one meetings allowed each client to be more open and honest about struggles and allowed the Youth Engagment Coordinator to cater each program to the client to assist with reconnection. Meeting one-on-one and discussing goals outside of education and employment helped to build each client's soft skill set, overall.

Youth Engagement provides case management, community outreach, and peer lead groups to build resiliency and soft skills.

Disconnected Youth; Children of Incarcerated Parents

The Youth Engagement Coordinator administers a developmental assets survey with each client at intake. The survey tool determines gaps and strengths in the 40 developmental assets indentified by the SEARCH Institute, and also gathers information on personal, professional, financial, and educational goals. With the survey results in mind, SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable and Time-Bound) goals are set by the client. Research shoes that the more assests a youth has, the less likley they are to engage in high-risk behaviors such as alcohol use, illicit drug use, risky sexual activity, violence, school problems and depression/suicide. The more assets a child has, the more likely they are to engage in positive behaviors including stying healthy, helping others, valuing diversity, suceeding in school and delaying gratification.