Fiscal Year 2022-2032 Grantees of the Community Partnership Program Awards
Allegany County Board of Commissioners – The Detention Center (partnering with Allegany College Maryland)
Program Description: The program serves incarcerated parents housed at the Allegany County Detention Center. Allegany College of Maryland Adult Basic Education works with the Allegany County Detention Center to develop programming to support the various academic and personal needs of the population. Programming includes a Reentry Program, Adult Education Class (commonly referred to as GED), and a Work Readiness Class.
The Reentry Pre-release Program is based upon the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections Pre-release Preparation Program and is designed to reduce recidivism. Instruction and practice focus on examples and scenarios to help students “practice the skills needed to gain sustainable employment and maintain crime-free lifestyles.” The Reentry Pre-release Program is tailored to adult offenders with instruction that offers cognitive-based skills instruction, real-life instruction and practice activities, relevant examples and scenarios to offenders’ lives, and manageable content that can be completed in a few weeks’ time. Highlights of this program are it is customizable to fit the needs of the program, changes the reasoning skills needed to make good judgments and decisions by addressing cognitive deficits associated with criminal behavior, the content is tailored for adult learners with instruction that is easy to read, interpret, and apply for various learning levels and skill sets and it is affordable.
While not a traditional 2Gen/whole family approach program the programs offered during incarceration are focused on the role the parent plays in the education of their child(ren). During the course, learners identify the barriers in their own lives which led to their current situation and will discuss alternative paths they can encourage their own family to pursue. Giving parents the opportunity to improve their family finances and train for a new or better job, allows them to provide their children with better services, health and well-being.
Additionally, efforts to support the programming for parents included the purchase of Brainchild Study Buddy’s which provide an opportunity for inmates to practice skills independently using a handheld device that does not require internet access. Study Buddy units come with 50 content specific cartridges, which allow for supportive skills remediation outside the regularly scheduled classes. Distribution of the Study Buddy devices has increased the GED testing and increased the percentage of passing rate. The Allegany College of Maryland Adult Education Program will continue ongoing efforts to implement the Reentry Program, Pearson Vue GED Testing, and the Work Readiness Class. The curriculum pace is individualized by the inmate, and after successful completion of a skills certification, the reentry coordinator may assist them with connections to prospective employers or apprenticeship programs upon release.
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The HOMEBUILDERS® Program – Pressley Ridge
Program Description: The HOMEBUILDERS® Program, an evidenced based program, was established in 1974. The Program is an in-home, intensive family preservation service (IFPS) and reunification program for families with children (newborn to 17 years old) returning from or at risk of placement into foster care, group or residential treatment, psychiatric hospitals, or juvenile justice facilities. The HOMEBUILDERS® model is designed to eliminate barriers to service while using research-based interventions to improve parental skills, parental capabilities, family interactions, children’s behavior, and family safety. The goals are to prevent the unnecessary out-of-home placement of children through an intensive, onsite intervention and to teach families new problem-solving skills to improve family functioning.
HOMEBUILDERS® will serve families with children birth to 17 years of age who are at imminent risk of an out of home placement or cannot be reunified with their family as the result of parental substance use and incarceration. The Allegany County Department of Social Services will make all referrals to the HOMEBUILDERS® Program.
To learn more visit: Pressley Ridge
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Project AIM – Cumberland YMCA
The YMCA will implement the Project AIM curriculum to youth ages 11-14 in out of school settings in Westernport, Lonaconing, Frostburg and Cumberland. This is an evidence-based program that was developed to encourage at-risk youth to imagine a positive future and discuss how current risk behaviors can be a barrier to a successful adulthood. This youth development intervention is designed to provide youth motivation to make safe choices and to address deeper barriers.
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Pathways to Learning – Allegany College of MD
The Pathways to Learning Outreach Program was created to provide an adaptable place-based model for rural communities to address dispositional barriers that may be affecting adult’s non-participation in learning opportunities. Adapt and infuse the curriculum to reflect the local needs and culture of your community. The program is based on research that posits that dispositional barriers to adult participation in education may be amongst the most influential and yet least addressed deterrent to learning engagement for adults. A culturally responsive motivational framework developed by Wlodkowski (2008) was combined with a curriculum that addresses learning to learn competencies. The world that we live in continues to move ahead and our rural citizens’ success in the ever-changing global economy will come down to their ability to acquire knowledge. It is my hope that this project will open doors and possibilities for those who have not learned to learn or discovered the power of knowledge.
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PREVIOUSLY FUNDED PROGRAMS
FY22 Planning Grant for Youth Services
This planning grant will help the Youth Services Coalition to build on the community’s strengths by helping to align current efforts, fill necessary gaps, and creating a strong strategic framework for improved youth services in Allegany County. The vision for the Youth Services Coalition is “Youth will have the resources and support to succeed in education, career, and life”. The goal of the planning grant is to help the Youth Services Coalition establish a strategic focus and local strategy. Elements of the local strategy will include: 1) Developing a list of priorities; 2) Forging more deliberate program connections rather than allowing fragmentation and isolated programs to be the norm; 3) Targeting resources and shape budgets based on the identified priorities and the opportunities created by program connections; and 4) Establishing outcomes that can be measured by data to inform decisions about what works and what needs to be changed.
Please feel free to view the research survey results: AllCo_Youth.Program.Eval_2022
Local Management Board of Allegany County 