Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Joe Manchin
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, cosponsored a bipartisan resolution to recognize the 30-year anniversary of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program (NGYCP). The resolution honors the NGYCP’s three decades of success in providing free and alternative education for at-risk youth in communities across West Virginia and the United States, as well as commends the accomplishments of its graduates and reaffirms Congressional support for the program.
“For thirty years, the National Guard Youth Challenge Program has provided at-risk youth across our state and country with the education and structure they need for a bright future,” said Senator Manchin. “I’m proud to advocate for this bipartisan resolution to recognize the program’s success in helping more than 200,000 young Americans reach their full potential through academic and professional development, as well as support for physical and mental wellness. As a longtime supporter of the NGYCP, I will continue working with my bipartisan colleagues to advance their critical mission and help uplift our young people across the Mountain State.”
NGYCP provides at-risk youth between the ages of 16-18 the opportunity to enroll in free, alternative education with structured discipline. The five-and-a-half-month residential program focuses on eight core components: life coping skills, leadership and followership, service to community, job skills, academic excellence, responsible citizenship, health and hygiene and physical education. The subsequent one-year mentoring phase builds upon those core components to help shape graduates into productive citizens ready for workforce success. NGYCP has thirty-nine Youth Challenge Program locations, including two in West Virginia, and has been responsible for the graduation of over 200,000 Youth Challenge and Job Challenge Program participants.
Senator Manchin joined Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jon Tester (D-MT), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim Risch (R-ID) and Steve Daines (R-MT).