Lynette Locke, OED Communications 410-396-3670
or llocke@oedworks.com

Alice Cole, Youth Opportunities Program 410-396-6722
or acole@oedworks.com

"Peer to Peer" Baltimore Youth Opportunity System Forum. The U.S. Department of Labor selected Baltimore City to host a youth forum to showcase the City's accomplishments in serving youth. Last year Baltimore was awarded a multi million dollar federal grant to create a network of community based "youth ports" and provide mentoring, advocacy and a broad range of education and training services to its most at risk youth. Its strong Workforce Investment Board's Youth Council has worked to bring a coordinated, holistic approach to the delivery of services to young people. Youth policy makers and practitioners from around the five state region will come to Baltimore for a two-day symposium Thursday and Friday to learn how the city is forging connections between all of its youth services to create a seamless, comprehensive delivery system. The event, which highlights several of Baltimore's most successful youth programs, is organized by the Mayor's Office of Employment Development (OED) and the Sar Levitan Center at the Johns Hopkins Institute of Policy Studies. Participants will explore and learn about the Living Classrooms, meet the "Youth Advocacy" staff at the new Eastside Youth Opportunity (YO!) Center, and visit the Academy of Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality at Southwestern High School where they will hear Ms. Carmen Russo, City schools CEO, share the City's high school reform plan. Other programs to be showcased include FUTURES, the City's successful dropout prevention program, Career Academy, a Department of Labor awarded "best practices" alternative learning center, and CivicWorks, an exemplary community service youth corps project, as well as the (YO!) neighborhood ports and the connections to

community resources, employers and the City's One-Stop system. Karen Sitnick, OED's Director and Marion Pines, Director of the Sar Levitan Center, will provide overviews and insights into Baltimore's innovative approach.

The afternoon tour will showcase new techniques and collaborative resources for helping at-risk young people succeed despite the odds. The forum participants will be driven through Baltimore to get a sense of the physical locations of the Youth Opportunity Center partners. The newest YO! Center boasts a state-of-the-art Urban Technology Computer Lab, a full counseling staff, and Sylvan Learning System's newest tutoring technology - Career Starters.

Career Academy, 101 West 24th Street - Baltimore, Maryland 21218 410-396-7454 (Thursday, April 5 @ 10:30)

Marion Pines, Director of the Sar Levitan Center, Karen Stinick, Director of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development, Dr. Skipp Sanders, Chair of the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board's Youth Council, Council members, a myriad of professionals and practitioners from around the region, Department of Labor representatives, community leaders and cabinet officials will hear the experiences of colleagues involved in Baltimore's Youth Opportunity System. The event is hosted by the Sar Levitan Center of the Johns Hopkins Institute of Policy Studies in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Employment Development and the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board's Youth Council, Baltimore's Youth Practitioners Institute and over 30 local youth serving organizations.

Last year, Baltimore City was one of 36 communities to win competitive Youth Opportunity Grants from the U.S. Department of Labor. Baltimore was one of only four cities across the country to receive the largest available award of $44 million. Youth Opportunity Grants target out-of-school, at-risk youth.

For more information about Baltimore's Youth Opportunity System, please contact Alice Cole or Ernest Dorsey on (410) 396-6722 .