PROJECT EEVE
Education, Employment training,
Vocational skills development, and Entrepreneurship training
Targeting Population:
120 Baltimore City foster youth ages 16-24
Program Cost:
$993,630 two-year total program budget
Contact Information
Daniel Williams
10 May 2012
I. JUSTIFICATION OF NEED
Statement of Policy Problem Youth are often thought of as separate members of society (Roberts, 2004). The media often portrays youth as individuals that only engage in activities that are negative in nature (Hogeveen, 2005). Government funding for youth services is minimal compared to funding for early education programs for children 0-5 years of age as well as to funding for the juvenile justice system (Isaacs, Hahn, Rennane, Steuerle, & Vericker, 2011). Within the minimal funding available for youth programming the focus tends to be towards the reduction of risky behaviors of youth. Youth who engage in in one or more risky behaviors are labeled at-risk youth. Risky behaviors include school failure and early school dropout which can lead to underemployment, violence that can lead to criminal behavior, substance use that can lead to addiction and related health problems, and risky sexual behavior that can lead to sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies. Increased opportunity for engaging in risky behaviors can stem from individual characteristics of youth, the contexts they live in, the situations they encounter, and how these factors interact over time (Guerra & Bradshaw, 2008). Research is moving towards demonstrating that in order to reduce at-risk youth's negative behaviors, their protective factors have to be addressed and interventions need to be more comprehensive (Sullivan, 2006). Comprehensive services, which are preventative in nature, are becoming more of a focus for practitioners and program developers.