Programs › Youth Development Centers
JMG offers a customized program to students who are detained at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland and the Mountain View Youth Development Center in Charleston.
The JMG program at Mountain View Youth Development Center is a training program specifically for incarcerated youth that consists of classroom preparation in personal and career development competencies and reality-based work situations. This program, JMG’s correctional model, prepares youth for employment, post-secondary educational opportunities, and citizenship when they re-enter their communities after incarceration. JMG students at MVYDC participate in the following competency areas: job/career exploration, attainment, and survival, college admissions readiness, effective communication, values clarification, leadership skills, understanding self, and financial literacy. Students participate daily in on-site work teams that provide hands-on learning opportunities in career & technical areas such as Food Service, Culinary Arts, Small Engine Repair, Building Trades, and Custodial Maintenance. Students are assessed based on statewide standards in CTE and are evaluated on a daily basis by the JMG Team Leaders and Program Manager. Eligible students may be nominated for and selected to participate in the JMG Experiential Learning Program (ELP) which places them in cooperative work opportunities with local employers where they learn job skills, social skills, and have an opportunity to earn a stipend to be placed in their facility account for future use.
At Long Creek Youth Development Center, direct off-grounds employment opportunities are available for eligible residents. JMG students at Long Creek attend a comprehensive life skills classroom program which covers career exploration, job-readiness, financial literacy and service learning. Based on observed engagement and assessed readiness throughout this course, select youth ages 17-20 are placed in jobs with area businesses in fields such as carpentry, plumbing, construction, culinary, retail, food service and hospitality. The JMG Program Manager ensures job retention, mentorship and follow-up support for these youth upon their release to the community.