Young Parent Demonstration Program
We are thankful that great opportunities for achieving success are available in our community to support pregnant and parenting youth. These opportunities remove our "excuses" for why our youth cannot succeed any longer. Change is a "process" and not an "event" and we say to our youth "Yes We Can Achieve Success Now In This Time and We Are Delighted to Be Part of Your Success Team".
The Department of Labor (DOL), awarded The Dannon Project a Young Parents Demonstration Project that will expand the number of slots available to youth ages 16-24, who are pregnant or parenting, in school and out of school, to 400 male and female eligible youth over twenty-four months. Two hundred of the participants will be matched with trained mentors for an 18-month period while receiving the stepped up level of services and the other two hundred participants will receive the basic level of services available to all youth participants. Through the demonstration project, the DOL will determine what impact having a mentor makes on the participants outcomes compared to those who do not receive a mentor.
Prior to this new DOL funding, the local JC-WIA Workforce TDP funding provided short term allied health training opportunities leading to national certifications, job prep and placement, life skills, financial literacy, Character Counts, HIV Series, Integrity in the Workplace, Smoke Free Living, Pathways Out of Poverty, Community Service, Parenting Assessment and Training, peer to peer mentoring, case management and supportive services and follow up services. These services are currently available to 17-21 year old pregnant and parenting youth who meet JC-WIA eligibility. We are excited about this expansion of resources, which will allow us to serve more youth and their families to plan for and achieve success in their lives. The program also expands our training to include construction/green job training opportunities in partnership with the local CEFA program. Other partners include the local JC-WIA Workforce Office, DHR Food Stamp Program, Child Support, JOBS program, Family Courts, Jackson Olin Young Mothers Program to name a few.
If you know any 16-24 year old pregnant or parenting youth, both males and female, who could benefit from the short term training and certification services and job prep and placement, please have them to contact our office at 205-202-4072 to make application for this dynamic program that we know will impact our community for generations to come. Also, if you would like to serve as a mentor, please complete an application for consideration for training and placement to work with a youth for 18 months.
The New Ribbon Campaign
TDP would like to introduce to you our NEW Green Ribbon Campaign! We hope by promoting our green ribbon campaign that it will raise awareness about the issues that previously incarcerated persons (PIP) face when reentering communities across America. Your support is needed to make this campaign a success.
Success Stories
Our Career Readiness “Dannon Star” is Mr. Reginald Woodson. He enrolled into our Success Lab on December 13, 2011. During his initial career counseling session, he told us that he wanted to receive computer training and test for his GED. He stated that he had never used a computer before and had no idea what email was. After his third day in the computer lab, Reginald was able to log on to the computer and complete Financial Literacy without the assistance of the lab instructors.
© 2012 The Dannon Project
