Positive Youth Impact
What is Positive Youth Impact?
Under the Positive Youth Impact umbrella, Nevada Partners has structured specialized youth services that specifically address the needs of in-school and out-of-school youth, ages 14-21.
From classes to remedy basic skills and school credit deficiency, to case management and wrap around services to address barriers and risk behaviors, to training that develops qualities that lead to life-long success, Nevada Partners provides opportunities for youth to learn about a broad range of careers and education pathways, and after-school, summer and full-time employment.
Through its work, Nevada Partners has achieved the following:
- Built a community network that supports all local youth in making healthy choices, succeeding in school, re-connecting to education and work if they are at risk or out-of school
- Provided education and career pathways that lead to life-long success.
- Led community-wide collaboratives that assist youth find caring, committed adults, mentors and peers who offer effective strategies and support in the following areas:
- developing basic academic skills;
- understanding and achieving higher education opportunities;
- building skills for leadership and long-term success;
- coping with serious challenges; and
- giving back to the community.
Youth Program Services
Recognizing there is a direct nexus between creating an educated workforce and Nevada’s dismal high school graduation rate, Nevada Partners has led community-wide efforts to address the career development and educational needs of youth in our community. Furthermore, Nevada will not be able to affectively create an educated workforce if young adults who enter the job market after high school and even college are ill-equipped with the basics they need to succeed.
Labor experts indicate that young adults’ failure to acquire career skills by holding down summer and holiday break jobs will only exacerbate the problem of an already ill-prepared workforce. The rate of high school and college students obtaining temporary and part-time summer jobs has steadily declined since the 1970’s and is a troubling trend where youth get late starts developing good work habits and skills essential for obtaining and retaining a job in the future.
To respond to the need for both employers to have an educated workforce and to equip young people with the career skills they will need to compete, Nevada Partners has designed several projects to improve Nevada’s graduation rate and create a more educated workforce. Through strategic partnerships, spanning public and private sector interests, Nevada Partners has built a web of educational, developmental, and economic services to ensure Nevada’s youth graduate from high school, ready to succeed in work and community life.
In collaboration with the Clark County School District (CCSD), Communities in Schools of Southern Nevada (CISSN), the City of Las Vegas, Clark County, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada Partners has established a comprehensive continuum of educational programming. In keeping with a holistic youth-centered approach, Nevada Partners provides the following services:
- High School Proficiency Exam preparation
- Tutoring and homework assistance
- Credit Retrieval
- General Education Diploma pre-testing and skills assessment
- Adult Education programming
- Distance Education
- Individualized Study
- College and Career Planning Assistance
- Career and Technical training
- Leadership and Resiliency training
- Entrepreneurial Training
- Parent Education
In an effort to decrease the rate of prison incarceration, projected to increase 61% by 2017, Nevada Partners has also established services targeted toward youth who are involved in the juvenile detention and court system. In partnership with Clark County Juvenile Justice, the Spring Mountain Youth Camp and Caliente, Nevada Partners augments juvenile justice programs with education, character development, and career exploration services for youth who are involved in the court system and assist them to be equipped with pro-social skills to exhibit good behaviors that lead to productive lives and an improved quality of life for the youth, their families and their community.
This year, Nevada Partners was recognized by the state of Nevada as one of only two programs for youth that met the nine indicators for success and has demonstrated positive social and behavioral development in the participants who have graduated from the Leadership & Resiliency courses offered by the agency.
