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Our-Mission-Within-the-Service-Area

Our Mission Within the Service Area

While we believe passionately that most youth could use the adult life-work success skills we focus on and far too many youth are currently struggling with the transition to adult life our mission within our service area has been and remains preventing youth disconnection among our most vulnerable youth populations.
Youth Disconnection is the phenomenon of youth who are between the ages of 16 and 24 who are not working, not in school, and usually not well connected to community resources. Youth disconnection is too often a precursor to homelessness, addiction, incarceration, and/or being trafficked.
Each year that a youth spends in disconnection costs the community an average of $16,000 in services, not to mention the impact of a lost labor force. Current estimates put the number of disconnected youth in our direct service area (the Hampton Roads/Southeastern Virginia) at between 21,000 and 30,000.
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Understanding a Changing Landscape

Since we have been in operation, we have also noticed a change in the nature of youth disconnection. While we have effectively reduced the rate of disconnection among youth with the traditional risk factors, the number of youth without these risk factors who are experiencing disconnection has risen dramatically.

Beyond the traditional risk factors, a confluence factors seems to be impacting many more youth with an often lengthy interruption in the transition to adult life.
And while our mission of preventing youth disconnection has not changed, this has caused us to rethink who we reach and how we reach them.
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Understanding-a-Changing-Landscape
Who-We-Serve-in-Hampton-Roads

Who We Serve in Hampton Roads

Since 2008, we have focused our efforts on youth with key risk factors for disconnection:

  • Having been in foster care or involved with the juvenile justice system.
  • Having experienced family poverty and homelessness;
  • Being at academic risk for dropping out
  • Mental or behavioral health challenges; or
  • Developmental delays.

With years of strong evidence for improving outcomes for over 13,000 youth who were struggling to transition to adult life and work, we continue to build upon and refine our resources and programmatic interventions and serve the local agencies and organizations that serve youth, and, by extension, the youth themselves.

If it made a difference in the lives of the youth we serve, we believe it can make a difference in the lives of the youth you serve.
Meet the Youth We Serve

Smart Transitions Resources and Programs

Smart Guides for Youth and Training for Adults

Focus on critical adult life-work transition success skills:
  • GET SET: A Smart Guide to Life Skills and Adulting
  • GET WORK: A Smart Guide to Workforce Readiness
  • GET MONEY: A Smart Guide to Money Management
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Smart Transitions Online

A Self-Paced Online Version of our Life-Work Portfolio Course.

  • Get Ready for Work and Ready for Life
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Smart Transitions Courses

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