In April, CASES received a grant to take part in the National Youth Employment Coalition’s Postsecondary Success Initiative (PSI). The three-year pilot is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and the Open Society Foundations to increase the number of low-income youth and young adults to attain a postsecondary credential.

Under this grant, CASES will work in partnership with the City University of New York’s Black Male Initiative to provide a wide range of support services designed to help 20 court-involved students enroll and succeed in college annually, including mentoring, counseling, academic advisement, supplemental instruction prior to college enrollment, monthly support meetings for college enrollees, re-engagement supports for those at risk of dropping out and transportation stipends.

CASES joins a very select group of nine other nonprofit grantees that reflect an advanced array of approaches, a spirit of innovation and an unparalleled commitment to youth. The initiative aims to identify effective practices and strategies; expand organizations’ ability to use data to inform programming and interventions that lead to postsecondary attainment for low income and minority youth; strengthen formal partnerships with postsecondary institutions; influence systems change for youth service providers and postsecondary institutions to sustain programming for completion of postsecondary outcomes and, ultimately, to inform national and state policy.