Two Baltimore Youth Programs Win National PEPNet Awards

BALTIMORE – Two of Baltimore’s youth development programs have just been selected by the Department of Labor and the National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) to receive PEPNet Awards (Promising and Effective Practices Network) this year. The Fire Cadet Academy and the Career Academy will be officially recognized on September 21 in Washington D.C., with eight other programs, for demonstrating effectiveness in preparing youth for careers and independent learning.

PROGRAMS:
In 1993, the heads of the Baltimore City Fire Department, the Baltimore City Public School System and the Office of Employment Development created a two-year internship program to prepare Baltimore students to become firefighters and emergency medical technicians. The result was the Fire Cadet Program. To date, 39 graduates have been employed by the Fire Department as either Firefighters or Certified Cardiac Rescue Technicians. Of this group, two students (one of whom is female) were recently promoted to be Pump Operators.

The Fire Cadet initiative seeks to:

1. make City youth aware of the range of jobs available in Fire and Emergency Medical Service and the related educational/skills requirements for these careers.
2. identify youth interested in pursuing a career in the field and provide an opportunity for them to build their skills and become qualified for employment.
3. promote school performance and ensure graduation and the successful transition of the students to further education, training and/or employment.
4. assist the Baltimore City Fire Department in meeting its future workforce development needs by connecting qualified program completers to the department.

The Career Academy is an alternative education center operated by the Office of Employment Development. This program integrates academic classes with occupational specific training and serves young people, 16-21 years old, who have dropped out of school. Al Academy students are assisted in obtaining their Maryland High School Diploma in a non-traditional learning environment. In addition to extensive academic preparation, workplace training is offered in business technology, human services, A+ computer repair, help desk support, landscaping and information technology. The Academy has also partnered with the Woodstock Job Corps, Civic Works, the S.A.G.E.D. Teen Parent Project and Project S.P.A.R.K. to help out-of-school young people reach their full career potential. Annually, the Academy assists 100 students.

AWARDS
To achieve recognition, the Fire Cadet Academy and the Career Academy went through a rigorous application and review process in which they had to demonstrate effectiveness in management, youth development, preparation for youth career success and soundness in data evaluating results. PEPNet enables programs to engage in a thorough self-assessment and to implement continuous improvement process. To date, 58 organizations have achieved PEPNet recognition.

The National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) is a network of over 150 youth employment/development organizations dedicated to promoting policies and initiatives which help young people succeed in becoming lifelong learners, productive workers and self-sufficient citizens. PEPNet is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor - Employment and Training Administration; the Ford Foundation; the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; and the Pinkerton Foundation.

For more information about the PEPNet Awards, please visit the National Youth Employment Coalition website at www.nyec.org. For more information about the Career Academy or Fire Cadet Program, please contact Gail Woods Waller (OED) on 410-396-9928 or Hector Torres (Fire Department) on 410-396-5616.

Official Department of Labor photographs will be available in late September.