The foundation of the P21 Initiative was based upon the fact that the Commonwealth is "losing" a significant number of its young people, particularly low-income, ethnic minorities, youth in foster care and aging out of foster care, and court involved youth. These youth are not making the connection with the education and workforce systems in order to sustain their economic self-sufficiency. As a result, these disenfranchised youth are creating an adverse impact on the overall quality of life and economy in the state of Massachusetts. For the past three years funds have been received from Commonwealth Corporation to support pilot programs which would rethink traditional approaches when designing services for at-risk youth. These funds have enabled us to accomplish the following:

• Conducted a Needs Assessment of youth, businesses and youth service providers to determine to what extent current programs and services in Lowell (NMSDA) match the needs of our areas most vulnerable youth. These findings formed the basis of our 3 year Strategic Action Plan
• Supported salaries of staff during the implementation phase of The Lowell Alternative Diploma Program {LADP}, based at the United Teen Equality Center in Lowell {UTEC} and also helped Lowell Adult Education expand their GED preparation classes at UTEC.
• Improved access to information about public resources by partnering with Merrimack Valley WIB in building the capacity of the MVHub website
• Provided funding for GED tests for 150 youth who participated in a CBDG funded program for out-of-school youth.
• Partnered with Middlesex Community College to implement a college credit bearing pilot program for WIA youth which will provide case management services during their first and second semesters at MCC
• By partnering with Connecting Activities, we implemented a campaign to bring local businesses into the youth workforce development system. We currently have a base of over forty employers who are committed to interview and provide first consideration to youth referred by the GLWIB
• Standardized "World of Work" Workshops for all youth entering the Career Center and seeking to use Career Center services. Expanded outreach to youth enrolled in alternative schools in Lowell including The Bridge Program, The McHugh Alternative School, The Molloy and Leblanc Schools
• Afforded the CCL greater flexibility in its outreach to local DYS and DSS involved youth
• By empowering the Greater Lowell WIB to act as the intermediary for the conveyance of grant initiatives to serve at-risk youth, community awareness of the Greater Lowell WIB and its Youth Programs has increased significantly
• Changed the community's perception, as well as the physical appearance, of Career Center of Lowell as one strictly serving adults and dislocated workers by creating a Resource Room adjacent to the Career Center's Youth Department
• In FY09, funding for these initiatives will cease. The challenge is upon the community to sustain these initiatives and to retain the lesson imparted by in their programs.

For more information click here or contact Vera Gallagher at (978) 459-2336 or vera.gallagher@cclowell.org

For more information on P-21 Activities statewide click here: http://www.p21.us