New Program Gives Youth Who Drop Out a Second Chance Says The Youth Development Institute.

NEW YORK -- As 1.1 million New York City children return to public school this month, more than 70,000 teens and young adults who have dropped out of high school are going nowhere. With reading levels too low to obtain a GED, enter and successfully complete college or find sustained employment, they live precarious lives. However, there is a new program that can give these young people another chance for success.

Community Education Pathways to Success (CEPS) offers intensive reading instruction for young people 16 to 24 years of age while helping to address non-academic barriers they may face. In the CEPS model, local community organizations provide rigorous academics along with counseling and other supports and give youth hands-on opportunities to put new skills to use in community service projects. CEPS helps youth address the often harsh realities of their lives and move forward with the skills they will need to achieve a GED and go to college.

"Most programs for youth who have dropped out require that they have higher levels of skill so that we can get them into jobs quickly. CEPS is the first that allows us to reach and help those with very limited reading and math skills. This approach is needed desperately in communities."

-- Michelle Neugebauer, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation in East New York

Without intensive interventions like CEPS, youth who have attained very few credits before dropping out of school do not have much of a chance of resuming and finishing their education. In its pilot year, CEPS saw its student participants gain an average of 1.8 years in reading in their first four months in the program.

The Youth Development Institute (YDI) of the Fund for the City of New York, whose work supports programs that serve thousands of youth throughout New York City, designed CEPS in the summer and fall of 2005 working with America's Choice, a national organization that specializes in high quality curriculum and instruction development.

"CEPS reaches those young people with low reading levels and few alternatives for continuing their education," explained Peter Kleinbard, vice president, Fund for the City of New York and director, Youth Development Institute. "Little is offered for older youth who are low readers and have dropped out of school. We need models like CEPS, which has demonstrated that these youth can achieve high reading gains."

Increasing interest from both local and national government, as well as from major foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has resulted in major high school reforms. New strategies are also needed for youth who have already dropped out to get a second chance.

CEPS completed its pilot phase last July after being implemented in January 2006 at three community-based organizations (CBOs)--Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (Brooklyn), Eastside House Settlement (Bronx), and New Heights Neighborhood Center (Manhattan). YDI is now expanding CEPS to three additional CBOs--New Settlement Apartments (Bronx), The Door (Manhattan), and the Center for Family Life (Brooklyn)--and will continue to provide ongoing technical support and training in partnership with America's Choice. CEPS is supported by the Altman, Clark, Pinkerton, and W.K. Kellogg foundations in partnership with America's Choice, Inc., the City University of New York, New York City Technical College, and LaGuardia Community College.