Specifications include, but are not limited to: 1. Case Management: Case managers will be responsible for providing a mental toughness program that will serve as a program orientation in addition to an assessment of each youth that will determine their enrollment in the program. Case management shall involve case managers constructing Life Plans for individual Program participants upon their entry into the Program that shall include addressing their educational skills, career interests and aptitudes, identification of potential careers, resume preparation, and assistance with job applications. Case manager assessments of individual program participants made at the Program’s beginning shall direct the education and training that the participant shall receive throughout the Program and the job types they will be advised to pursue at the Program’s conclusion. A leadership component should also be an integral aspect of the program where participants share in the governance of their own program and participate actively in community affairs, learning the values and the lifelong commitment needed by effective community leaders. 2. Education and Occupational Skills Training: Education and occupational skills training shall provide program participant youth with the opportunity to obtain the education and employment skills necessary to achieve economic self-sufficiency and the ability to apply such skills in meaningful service to their community. Education services shall include providing participant youth with the ability to obtain a New York State high school diploma or equivalent, and at least one construction industry recognized certification along with the opportunity to acquire additional vocational and occupational certifications. 3. Construction Skills Training: Construction skills training shall involve providing Program participant youth with the opportunity to use their Program acquired skills in actual on-the-job construction and renovation of homes within their respective communities of Mount Vernon and Yonkers. Construction skills training shall include hands-on construction of model rooms, demolition and teardown, recycling and reusing of materials and building and repairing systems such as those involving mechanical, electrical and plumbing as well as basic trade competencies such as carpentry, drywall, framing, roofing and siding, plumbing, electrical, tile flooring and finish millwork. Providers must be certified under the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), and the Home Builders Institute (HBI). 4. Build or Substantially Renovate Affordable Housing: Because one of the goals of the Pathway to Employment program is to provide affordable housing, all prospective applicants must demonstrate their commitment to the goal of increasing the supply of permanent housing for homeless and/or low-income individuals and families. The construction of affordable housing benefits the community where the affordable housing is built or renovated, and also provides youth with an opportunity to give back to their communities and work and learn in a team environment. Pathway to Employment grantees must accomplish this goal by having a sufficient number of youth enrolled in and completing the construction skills training component to enable the program to build or substantially renovate at least one unit of housing within the grant period of performance.
