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Youth Challenge Program
National Guard program for at-risk youth

The Youth ChalleNGe Program is a program for at-risk youth run by the National Guard of the United States (which is why the NG in ChalleNGe is either: Capitalized, Italicized, Bolded or all of the above), which consists of Youth Challenge Academies (known as YCA's) in each participating state. The stated mission of the Youth Challenge Program is "to intervene in and reclaim the lives of at-risk youth to produce program graduates with the values, skills, education and self-discipline necessary to succeed as adults." The program accepts 16- to 18-year-old male and female high school dropouts who are drug-free and not in trouble with the law. The program lasts for 17½ months. The first 5½ months are part of the quasi-military Residential Phase. The last 12 months are part of the Post-Residential Phase. Most participants will earn their GED or a high school diploma by the end of their Residential Phase.

The program is one of many programs administered by the National Guard Bureau that address leadership, life skills, and physical training.

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Phases

Acclimation phase

The program begins with a 2-week Acclimation Phase where candidates can adjust to the physical, mental, and disciplined aspects of the program.2 At the end of the Acclimation Phase, candidates graduate to cadets and begin the Residential Phase of the program.

Residential phase

The residential phase is a 22-week long phase and the main phase of the Youth Challenge Program. During the Residential Phase, Cadets will attend school, participate in physical training, learn the values of discipline and teamwork, and explore numerous career opportunities.

Post-residential phase

The post-residential phase is a 12-month period that focuses on placement. Cadets must secure positive placement via a job, returning to high school, enrolling in college or a trade program, enlist in the military, or volunteer at least 30 hours a week.3 Cadets are also expected to maintain contact with their mentor and the program placement staff.

Participating states and territories

The following is a list of states who participate in the Youth Challenge Program. Some states have multiple campuses; for example, Georgia has a YCA at both Fort Stewart and Fort Eisenhower, but both fall under the same state director.

Alaska Military Youth Academy in *Alaska4

Arkansas Youth Challenge in *Arkansas5

Sunburst Youth Academy in *California6

Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy in *District of Columbia7

Florida Youth ChalleNGe Academy in *Florida8

Georgia Youth Challenge in *Georgia9

Hawaii Youth ChalleNGe Academy in *Hawaii10

Idaho Youth ChalleNGe Academy in *Idaho11

Lincoln's ChalleNGe Academy in *Illinois12

Hoosier Youth ChalleNGe Academy in *Indiana13

National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program in *Kentucky14

Louisiana National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program in *Louisiana1516

Freestate ChalleNGe Academy in *Maryland17

Michigan Youth ChalleNGe Academy in *Michigan18

Mississippi ChalleNGe Academy in *Mississippi19

Montana Youth ChalleNGe Academy*Montana20

Battle Born Youth ChalleNGe Academy in *Nevada21

New Jersey Youth ChalleNGe Academy in *New Jersey22

New Mexico Youth ChalleNGe Academy in *New Mexico23

Tarheel ChalleNGe Academy in*North Carolina24

Thunderbird Youth Academy in *Oklahoma25

Oregon Youth ChalleNGe Program in *Oregon26

Puerto Rico Youth ChalleNGe Academy in *Puerto Rico27

Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy in *Pennsylvania28

SC Youth ChalleNGe Academy in*South Carolina29

Tennessee National Guard Volunteer ChalleNGe Academy in *Tennessee30

Texas ChalleNGe Academy in *Texas31

Virginia National Guard Commonwealth ChalleNGe Youth Academy in*Virginia32

Washington Youth Academy in *Washington33

Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy in *West Virginia34

Wisconsin ChalleNGe Academy in *Wisconsin35

Wyoming Cowboy Challenge Academy in *Wyoming36

See also

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References

  1. National Guard Programs and Presentations Archived May 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine http://www.partnersineducation.com/Content/Default.aspx?pid=9 ↩

  2. "Youth Challenge Program Phases - National Guard Youth Challenge | Dream. Believe. Achieve". https://ngchallenge.org/about-us/challenge-phases/ ↩

  3. "Youth Challenge Program Phases - National Guard Youth Challenge | Dream. Believe. Achieve". https://ngchallenge.org/about-us/challenge-phases/ ↩

  4. "Alaska Military Youth Academy". dmva.alaska.gov. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://dmva.alaska.gov/AMYA/ ↩

  5. "Arkansas Youth Challenge". www.aryouthchallenge.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.aryouthchallenge.com/ ↩

  6. "Sunburst Youth Academy". www.sunburstyouthacademy.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://sunburstyouthacademy.com/ ↩

  7. "Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy". www.cgyca.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. http://www.cgyca.org/ ↩

  8. "Florida Youth ChalleNGe Academy". www.floridayouthchallengeacademy.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://floridayouthchallengeacademy.org/ ↩

  9. "Georgia Youth Challenge". www.georgiayouthchallenge.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.georgiayouthchallenge.org/ ↩

  10. "State of Hawaii Youth Challenge Academy". dod.hawaii.gov/yca. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://dod.hawaii.gov/yca/ ↩

  11. "Idaho Youth ChalleNGe Academy". www.idyouthchallenge.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018. http://www.idyouthchallenge.com/ ↩

  12. "Lincoln's Challenge Academy". www.lincolnschallenge.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.lincolnschallenge.org/ ↩

  13. "Hoosier Youth ChalleNGe Academy". hoosieryouthchallenge.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. http://hoosieryouthchallenge.org/ ↩

  14. "Kentucky National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program". www.kychallenge.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.kychallenge.org/ ↩

  15. "Louisiana National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program". www.langycp.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.langycp.com/ ↩

  16. "Ansel M. Stroud, Jr". The Shreveport Times. Retrieved 11 July 2016. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=a-m-stroud&pid=180534402&fhid=6593#sthash.kalJIGS7.dpuf ↩

  17. "Freestate ChalleNGe Academy". freestatemil.maryland.gov. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://freestatemil.maryland.gov/ ↩

  18. "Michigan Youth ChalleNGe Academy". miycp.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. http://miycp.org/ ↩

  19. "Mississippi ChalleNGe Academy". msyouthchallenge.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://msyouthchallenge.org/ ↩

  20. "Montana Youth ChalleNGe Academy". www.youthchallenge.mt.gov. Retrieved 18 March 2018. http://www.youthchallenge.mt.gov ↩

  21. "Battle Born Youth ChalleNGe Academy". nvng.nv.gov/BBYCA/. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://nvng.nv.gov/BBYCA/ ↩

  22. "New Jersey Youth ChalleNGe Academy". www.nj.gov/military/challenge/index.html. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.nj.gov/military/challenge/index.html ↩

  23. "New Mexico Youth ChalleNGe Academy". www.nmyca.net. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.nmyca.net/ ↩

  24. "Tarheel ChalleNGe Academy". nc-tcachallenge.org/national-challenge-program. Retrieved 18 March 2018. http://nc-tcachallenge.org/national-challenge-program/ ↩

  25. "Thunderbird Youth Academy". thunderbird.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. http://thunderbird.org/ ↩

  26. "Oregon Youth Challenge Program". www.oycp.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.oycp.com/ ↩

  27. White, Jeff (3 April 2017). "Puerto Rico Youth ChalleNGe Academy Graduates 225 Cadets". LinkedIn. Retrieved 19 March 2018. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/puerto-rico-youth-challenge-academy-graduates-225-cadets-jeff-white ↩

  28. "Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy". Keystone State ChalleNGe Academy. Retrieved 2024-12-03. https://www.dmva.pa.gov/KeystoneStateChallengeAcademy/Pages/default.aspx ↩

  29. "SC Youth ChalleNGe Academy". www.scyouthchallenge.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://scyouthchallenge.com/ ↩

  30. "Tennessee National Guard Volunteer ChalleNGe Academy". www.tn.gov. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.tn.gov/tnvolunteerchallenge ↩

  31. "Texas ChalleNGe Academy". tmd.texas.gov. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.tn.gov/tnvolunteerchallenge ↩

  32. "Virginia National Guard Commonwealth ChalleNGe Youth Academy". www.vachallenge.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. http://www.vachallenge.org/ ↩

  33. "Washington Youth Academy". mil.wa.gov/youth-academy. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://mil.wa.gov/youth-academy ↩

  34. "Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy". wvchallenge.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://wvchallenge.org/ ↩

  35. "Wisconsin ChalleNGe Academy". www.challengeacademy.org. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://www.challengeacademy.org/ ↩

  36. "Wyoming Cowboy Challenge Academy". wycowboychallenge.org. Archived from the original on August 14, 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20130814015824/http://wycowboychallenge.org ↩