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State grant benefits central Pennsylvania youth By Vera Klinkowsky
	The Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation (CPWDC) has received a $348,000 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Youth Challenge grant to expand and develop preventive youth services in the central Pennsylvania area.   The Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation will use the funding to improve programming for 150 identified at-risk youth in Centre, Mifflin and Lycoming counties; develop community partnerships; and create a regional Communities That Care network.   Penn State Cooperative Extension is a partner with CPWDC in this initiative.   “Penn State Cooperative Extension is thrilled to be working with the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation through our youth development initiatives,” Dr. Theodore R. Alter, associate vice president for outreach, director of Cooperative Extension and associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences, said. “By investing in young people, we strengthen our society’s workforce of the future and capacity for community leadership.”   Dr. Natalie Ferry, coordinator of special program initiatives for Penn State Cooperative Extension, said, “The position that Cindy Iwig has assumed at CPWDC is unique to Pennsylvania Cooperative Extension’s system. Through the collaboration with the central region’s programming, Cooperative Extension is capable of addressing the needs of at-risk youth in a new partnership that has the potential for creating long-lasting impact in the lives of individuals and within our systems. Cindy has taken the leadership to create a position in a manner that has proven a success for both organizations in furthering our workforce development efforts.”   Shirley B. Bixby, regional director for the Susquehanna Region of Penn State Cooperative Extension, added, “Bringing an idea to fruition is rewarding in itself, but creating a youth position such as the one in the CPWDC that can help at-risk youth develop life and work skills is especially rewarding. I believe the fruits of this collaboration are just beginning, and M. Annette Goodling, Cindy Iwig and Bill Brock are to be congratulated on transforming a vision into reality.”   M. Annette Goodling, Cooperative Extension director for Union County and family strengths agent, and Harry Van Sickle, Union County commissioner, were instrumental in conceiving the idea for the youth development position.   Rod Keller, CPWDC’s Youth Council chair, noted, “Without intervention, many of the youth identified by local Communities That Care partnerships run the risk of delinquency, substance abuse, dropping out of school, teen pregnancy and violence. There would continue to be gaps in delinquency prevention services in the region, allowing students to experience a decrease in intensive case-management services. The Communities That Care model offers us a chance to create partnerships that reduce duplication of services, link programs and leverage resources in the best interest of all youth.”   Communities That Care partnerships help communities identify risk and preventive factors for youth and develop a comprehensive prevention plan based on those factors. This program will be introduced in Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties, and the program will be further developed to provide more youth services in Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming and Mifflin counties, Cindy Iwig, CPWDC’s Youth Council coordinating agent, said.   “Communities That Care is a model teaching tool for community leadership, for coming together as a community and for determining the community’s risks,” she said. “We have worked with our local Communities That Care partners to identify programs that have been successful with youth and improve on their success. We really needed this grant to get this process going.”   The Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation hopes the grant will help link Communities That Care with local Youth Service Navigators and the CareerLink system. CareerLink is a statewide, one-stop service delivery system that brings together community partners to meet the employment needs of job seekers and employers. Youth Service Navigators work with youth to use the resources of the CareerLink system, identify educational and career goals and create a plan of action for achieving those goals, Iwig said.   By creating the regional Communities That Care network, CPWDC will be able to share best practices across the nine central Pennsylvania counties, William Brock, CPWDC executive director, said.   The Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation is one of only five organizations in the state to receive full funding for its proposal. The grant was the CPWDC’s first funding awarded for non-CareerLink types of services, he said.   CPWDC received the grant money in September 2001 and has until Sept. 30, 2002, to spend the money, Iwig said.   Brock credits CPWDC’s success to Penn State Cooperative Extension’s financial support of the full-time youth coordinator position held by Iwig.   “Penn State took a huge risk in becoming involved in this new workforce development system, and Penn State was one of the first partners to see the potential of a regional workforce development model and the CPWDC,” Brock said. “While Penn State Cooperative Extension has a statewide mission, I believe that this relationship in central Pennsylvania has assisted us both in serving our customers better. We are both regionally/locally focused and both require that our services and activity be based upon local and community needs. Both Penn State Cooperative Extension and CPWDC have a keen understanding of local issues and dynamics. The relationship combines our resources in some instances and helps us both fulfill our missions.”