By Vivian Shipe
KNOXVILLE, TN — The reasons for needing a second chance are many. Some young people got mixed up with the wrong crowd, many made bad decisions, and ended up in jail, others never had guidance at home due to a loved one being incarcerated in prison or jail. Still others have been in the foster care system and have now aged out; nowhere to go but the streets where predators wait to snatch them up. For these 18- to 24-year-olds a second chance or a way up, can be found in the Go Places Initiative. In Cocke and Knox County, the program is sorely needed. The poverty rate in Cocke County is 22.5 percent more than 7 percent living below the poverty level. The latest point in time count of the homeless in Knox County revealed the largest homeless population ever recorded with more than 700 homeless youth between the ages of 18 to 24. Nationally, according to the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, 1 in 5 teens who age out of foster care experience homelessness and a review by states found that rearrest rates for youth are the highest within one year of release. The purpose of Go Places is to interrupt this cycle.
Go Places works to introduce and prepare youth in this age demographic for the world of work through placement in paid work experiences paying $15 per hour, providing tools and resources need to attain equitable opportunities, and provide 12-month mentorship. The objectives are focused: decrease recidivism rates in specific populations and census tracts, decrease violent crimes, and increase labor and positive participation in specific populations and communities. The approach is holistic and collaborative, focus is not only on employment but also deals with social determinants and collaboration within communities, organizations, and nonprofits. So that the youth never have to feel alone in the journey they are assigned a mentor.
Each participant works with a certified community health worker and violence prevention professional, or CHW-VPP, who has had similar life experiences and looks like them. These CHW-VPPs walk alongside them, providing mentorship, encouragement and support. They also help remove barriers to employment as the program pays for obtaining personal identification documents, work safety equipment, tools, and shoes, laptops if needed for post-secondary education, and transportation assistance. In addition, participants receive free training that normally cost hundreds of dollars in areas of financial literacy, grooming, basic car care, resiliency training, and mental health resources from community organizations and local nonprofits. The teams of CHW workers partner in the community to find organizations willing to give these young an opportunity to get their lives back on track by helping them with employment opportunities, training, and helping them understand their past does not have to be their future.
Copyright TNTRIBUNE 2024. All rights reserved.
