| Oregon Youth Challenge Program |
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The Oregon National Guard Youth Challenge Program is a public alternative High School. It is a residential school where cadets (students) live on site for 5 ½ months while attending the military model school. This period is followed by a mandatory 12 month mentor phase back in the community. Eligible individuals are accepted from all 36 counties in Oregon. The school is a non-traditional model that operates similar to a military academy. The program is guided by military principles, structure and discipline. Students are eligible to earn a high school diploma, GED or credit recovery of 8 certified credits if they complete the required work. The school is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities. It is approved by the Oregon Department of Education. The school is not easy…but it is rewarding.
The target population of students are generally students who are considered “at risk”, dropped out of high school, not attending school or are failing in school. Students must be able and willing to participate in all 8 CORE areas to graduate. A student who enrolls must stay the entire 5 ½ months and graduate to receive any credits, diploma or GED. It is all or nothing. You must be 16 to 18 years old and an Oregon resident. Applicants are required to have a minimum of two eligible mentors prior to enrollment. You must be drug free at time of entrance and may not be on probation or parole at time of entrance. An individual with a felony crime conviction is not eligible.
There are three phases to the program. First is a two week mandatory “pre-challenge period consisting of military indoctrination, physical development, discipline and structure. This is followed by the 20 week academic classroom instruction period. The final phase is a 12 month mentor active period when the student returns to the community to implement goals, objectives, placement and post residential activities developed while in the residential phase. All students must have a placement and responsible plan to implement back in the community to be eligible to graduate. Many students earn their high school diploma, go on to community college, enlist in the military, return to high school, join the job corps, start a job or similar vocational interest.
General Information
Congress authorized and funded the National Guard Bureau to enter into agreements with the nation’s governors to operate youth programs beginning in Fiscal Year 1993. The Oregon National Guard (ORNG) began its first pilot iteration of the Youth Challenge Program (OYCP) in September 1994. In January of 1999, OYCP became an official ChalleNGe Program. The goals of this program are to provide young people with values, self-esteem skills, education, and to succeed as students and young adults. OYCP is designed as a intervention program rather than punitive. It is an "at-risk" youth program which targets drug free, unemployed/underemployed male and female school dropouts ages 16 to 18. The program´s mission is to provide work skills and alternative learning opportunities to meet the unique individual needs of students in order to increase positive behavioral and academic skills. The student is better prepared for transition to and subsequent success in his or her next learning or work environment by promoting learning, goal setting, and self image building.
This 17 and ½ month program consists of three distinct phases. First is a 2 week Pre-Challenge Phase. This is the trial period in which each Corpsmember (Cadet) is given a chance to prove his or her commitment to the program. A cut is done at the end of this Phase. For those who pass the Pre-Challenge Phase, next comes the 20 week Challenge Residential Phase. Both of these residential phases take place at the Central Oregon Training and Education Facility (COTEF) in Bend, Oregon. The third is the post-residential Mentorship Phase which begins during the residential phase and continues for one year after the cadet successfully completes the residential phase. This is a highly important phase of the program.
Please go to the Mentor Page for more mentor information.
The OYCP program is a military style environment. Core components consist of citizenship, preparation for the GED or high school completion, work skills, community involvements and projects, health, hygiene, skills, training, leadership, fellowship, and physical fitness. The eligibility/selection criteria for entrance into the program are that the participant must be: a volunteer; within the ages 16-18; a citizen or legal resident of the U.S. and of the State of Oregon; unemployed or underemployed; must not possess felony or capital adjudications/convictions and must have physical capability to complete the program within reasonable accommodations for physical challenges. The staff of the program screen the applications and select those most likely to complete the program. Cadets have two educational options in the program: GED or high school credits and make this choice in the first week that they are enrolled. The critical work ethic portion of the program teaches cadets to accept work assignments which vary in scope and length. During the Residential Phase, cadets are in the classroom for ½ of each week and doing work projects for the remainder of the week. These assignments are designed to foster initiative, flexibility, creativity, and leadership. These important skills are reinforced so that they are understood and incorporated by the cadets as part of their work ethic no matter what the task. Cadets are exposed to a variety of agencies while working on work projects.
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