Approve Cooperative Agreement With Camelot Community Care, Inc.

Connected by 25, a division of Camelot Community Care, Inc., is a program developed to provide the tools for foster care youth and youth adults to achieve economic success. The focus of Connected by 25 is to ensure that foster care youth are educated, housed, banked, employed and connected to a support system by age 25. Currently, Connected by 25 is providing office space for a school guidance counselor whose salary is paid through a grant acquired by the program. Since many of the students who are served by Connected by 25 are also under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), the program director has offered to also provide office space, furniture and equipment for the district’s DJJ Transition Department. This department, staffed by two resource teachers, has successfully accomplished school placement for over 1,500 students per year since 2003. These students are either returning to the district from out-of-county DJJ programs or are re-entering traditional programs from in-county DJJ programs. Seventy percent of these students have stayed in school and/or graduated. Twenty percent of the population is also part of the foster care system.

Office space will be provided by Camelot Community Care, Inc. at no cost to the district.

An evaluation of the success of students placed by the DJJ Transition Department will be conducted by June 30th each year of this agreement.