The Pima County program aims to reach out to these unmotivated youth. We partner with non-profit job centers and career development organizations to increase opportunities for our participants.

A one-year program, Pima Cycle Breaker is run under the leadership of Pima County School Superintendent Dustin Williams.

Cyclebreaker’s goal is to reduce recidivism rates among young people and young people involved in the justice system by providing educational services, skills training, employment opportunities, and need-based assistance in the form of transportation, housing, food, and other areas. is to lower for a successful transition into the workforce.

“There’s a saying in life: ‘Lock in and throw the key away,'” Williams said. “Our mission and goal is not only to help people get back on track and become productive members of society, but also to feel good about themselves and confident that they can really do good. ”

The partnership with nonprofit Pipeline AZ represents a wide range of opportunities for Pima Cycle Breaker’s clients, including resources and employment relationships through a streamlined job skill discovery platform.

Pipeline’s extensive network of employers provides young people with tailored job offers based on resume-like skill profiles. Employers in Pima County may also post job listings specifically for Cycle Breaker participants on designated pages on Pipeline’s online platform.

One of the biggest financial contributors to Pima Cycle Breaker was Potoff Private Philanthropy, who provided the initial funding to get the program up and running. Other key contributors and partners include the National Retail Federation and the Arizona Center for the Future, who helped bring Pipeline AZ to fruition.

Goodwill of Southern Arizona is one of Pipeline AZ’s largest registered employers, along with nearly 7,000 other companies, according to Pipeline AZ research analyst Katie Belous.

Pipeline AZ is reaching out to employers associated with the National Retail Federation to inform them of the benefits and benefits of the system so they can add more jobs to the platform, Belous said.

“For Cycle Breaker, we are very excited to offer customization with site resources that are fully targeted for subscribers to the Cycle Breaker portion of Pipeline,” said Belous. “I really hope that we can use our technology and infrastructure to enable these powerful connection points to facilitate the excellent work already underway in the superintendent’s office and the Pima County team.”

Pima Cycle Breaker is led by Monica Wright, an educator with nearly 38 years of experience. Her Wright’s goal is to provide participants with the resources and support they need to create a sustainable future.

“We want to make sure that people are served and supported,” Wright said. “If it’s handholding, that’s what we do. I will support you throughout the process to make you feel something.

Pima Cycle Breaker revolves around three pillars: education, support systems and job placement. Success depends on how active participants are in each of these scenarios.

“We know that with those three attributes, you can make someone successful, break the cycle, and get someone back into the community,” Williams says.

To provide more empirical evidence of success, Wright said he uses a structured process to keep clients on track and engage with each pillar. The plan features a 90-day process that includes 36 hours of education, vocational training, check-in dates, and time in the classroom.

Participants are not removed from the program after 90 days, as obtaining a GED or diploma may take longer than that period. The timeline is not meant to rush or rush applicants, but rather to give them priority and help guide them, Wright said.

“With kids, if you don’t give them a timeline, they often just let things like this go by themselves,” says Wright. “We don’t want to rush it, we want to be like, ‘It should be important now that you make these moves.'”

The support system provided to participants includes advising services, educational assistance in class, and a variety of other accommodations to help you achieve success. Wright said the Pima Cyclebreaker, for example, caters to clients by paying for transportation through her Uber or Lyft, and escorts them to job opportunities and job interviews without emphasizing how clients will arrive on time. I said I could participate.

Additionally, when clients complete the program, they will be given a $250 scholarship to help pay for rent, food, or other miscellaneous expenses, giving them a little financial peace of mind so they can focus on completing the work they need to do. will be

The program faces some challenges in keeping some clients active and connected. Wright pointed out. Many participants face unique and challenging situations that make it difficult to stay on track, and addressing these dilemmas in a beneficial way is key to their future success.

“The challenge for us is to keep people on track and keep them connected,” says Williams. “It’s really, really hard to control an individual and what happens in their life, especially when they already have a lot of trauma in their lives.”

Upon completing the program, clients receive a certificate along with a GED or high school diploma. This, coupled with the resources provided by Cycle Breaker and Pipeline AZ’s job network, will enable the next step in your workforce to kick off.