Young offenders benefit from USAID’s SKYE project

Dec 31, 2012 News

Over 25 young people, who faced the courts for minor offences, were able to acquire alternative methods of sentencing via the USAID’s Skills and Knowledge for Youth Employment (SKYE) project.
The Inter-Agency Team on Juvenile Justice is a group supported and formed by USAID’s SKYE Project to be a sustainable body to advance justice options for youth, within the existing legal framework.

Key members in the team include the Ministry of Human Services, UN’s Rights of the Child Commission, the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports, the Probation Department, UNICEF, and USAID’s SKYE Project.
The judicial limb of the project which commenced on October 19 of this year has since seen an average of thirty young people being enrolled.
In October and November, these youth met with SKYE’s Employment Coaches to develop Individual Employability Plans and map out their paths to sustained employment opportunities and reintegration into society.

Additionally, they received counseling from the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security Probation Department.

This initiative is part of the SKYE’s mandate to prevent or reduce the number of at-risk youth between the ages of 14 and 25 from being ‘held’, jailed, or incarcerated in the Juvenile Justice System through its Detention Prevention Strategy.
Representatives from the Inter-Agency Team on Juvenile Justice, USAID’s SKYE Project COP, Juvenile Justice Specialist, and Employment Coaches met with the youths diverted from incarceration and provided them with options, which include community services, technical vocational training, and other formal and non- formal education opportunities.
During the process, employment coaches and local Probation Officers were assigned to each young person.

SKYE expands education, skill-building, and employment for at-risk youth in Guyana, with the goal of reducing youth crime and violence by strengthening economic participation and civic engagement.
The two-year project provides targeted alternative sentencing, work-readiness training, and livelihood coaching activities for 805 youth, in Regions Four, Six, Nine, and Ten. SKYE is also working within the New Opportunity Corps detention facility in Region Two.
The Project is funded by USAID under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative and executed through the Education Development Center; a US based global education and training institution.

The SKYE Project is a two-year initiative to equip youth with market-driven skills and improve their ability to transition into the workforce. SKYE’s target youth beneficiaries are school dropouts, youth who completed formal education but do not have the necessary skills to find employment, and youth involved in the juvenile justice system.

Contributors of SKYE project hope to further this aspect of their work in 2013.

Latest News

Young offenders benefit from USAID’s SKYE project

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 13th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Madray, Klass impress on Day Two

Sajid, Noman, Abrar share all 20 wickets as...

India skittle WI, SL bundle out Malaysia

The shortest Test match to produce a result in...

Windies crumble to spin as Pakistan seize control...

Ashby, Inverary, Lewis among winners on Friday

Features/Columnists

Mental illness is real and a serious public health concern

OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus

Budget 2025: first take

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Young offenders benefit from USAID’s SKYE project

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 13th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]