Dear Colleagues —

I am pleased to announce that the Department announced today the availability of $1.9 million in discretionary grant funding for the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Reentry Education Program.  This program is designed to build on existing efforts to improve reentry outcomes for justice-involved youths, make CTE the education focus of their efforts, and build strong partnerships to implement a comprehensive, collaborative approach to improving education, employment, and other well-being outcomes for justice-involved youths. 

On any given day, more than 60,000 young people under age 21 are confined in juvenile justice facilities throughout the United States.  Youths involved in the juvenile justice system typically have a history of poor school attendance, grade retention, or disengagement from school due to academic failure and school disciplinary issues.  Many youths in the juvenile justice population have had little employment experience before confinement, and their employment challenges often intensify post release, with many struggling to find and keep jobs. The JJ Reentry Program is designed to tackle these issues and facilitate the successful reentry of these most vulnerable youth.

The Federal Register Notice Inviting Applications can be found here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-08-31/pdf/2015-21533.pdf

We also invite you to a pre-application Webinar on September 9, 2015, at 3:30 pm EDT. View webinar details.

Finally, we encourage you to check for updated information on the program on the PCRN under National Activities, JJ Reentry Education Program.

Best —
Sharon Lee Miller
Director, Division of Academic and Technical Education