“The Foster Care Youth Employment Program will accept Foster Care youth from the Mid-Shore Departments of Social Services. The Mid-Shore Departments of Social Services will screen the youths and provide referrals to the Grantee. Each referral will include the youth’s preferred career field. The Program’s roster will likely contain between 5-7 youth at any given time. After receiving a referral, the Grantee will provide 20 hours per week of subsidized employment opportunities for participants in a 3-tier approach that provides a higher level of service at the start with a decrease in intensity as the youth progresses with the goal of entering into a competitive and sustained position that matches the youth’s interests, skills and goals. The tiers are as follows (note: the length of time each youth will spend in a tier will vary based on their skill level and progress): – Tier One – Orientation – A beginning level of service that includes education and orientation to prepare youth for work and placements with job shadowing for those youth in need of higher levels of supervision. All youth will start in Tier One and remain in that tier for a minimum of two weeks. However, youths shall not remain in Tier One for more than six weeks without written approval. – Tier Two – Individual Placement – This tier involves Job Placement for youth in a position that requires a lower level of supervision. During this phase, the Grantee will provide a minimum of weekly check-ins with the youth as well as their employer to track progress and address employment barriers. The Grantee will perform on-site observations of the youth, but does not provide continuous supervision. 17 – Tier Three – Transition –The final level of the program. At this level, the Grantee will help the youth sustain their current placement independent from the Program or find and transition to permanent placement.”
Excerpted from Maryland’s Human Services Agency’s “REQUEST FOR GRANT PROPOSALS (RFGP) SOLICITATION NO. CARLN/SERV/17-009-S”