The purpose of the Youth Challenge Program (YCP) is to recruit, enroll, and train at-risk youth who have left high school without a diploma (dropouts or expulsions) to complete work on their General Educational Development (GED) Diploma, and to receive life skills training. The program is structured similar to a US Army basic training company, providing military structure and discipline, drill and ceremony, self-control and motivation. Eight core components form the basis of the curriculum: academic excellence; life coping skills; vocational training; responsible citizenship; leader/followership; health, hygiene and sex education; physical fitness; and, community involvement/community service projects. The program is drug-free, gang-free, and tobacco-free. The 22-week residential program ensures a safe, secure environment where the eight core components can be achieved through individualized instruction. In addition, 40 hours of service learning is required of all cadets in order to graduate. The majority of the graduates continue on to post-secondary school education, vocational-technical training, full-time employment, military enlistment, or some combination of these. With two campuses at Fort Stewart in Hinesville and at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia’s YCP is one of the most successful “at-risk” youth programs in the nation, graduating over 20,000 cadets since the program’s inception in 1993.
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Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
High school or GED