Palo Alto, California, Sept. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Class Updates is pleased to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Stanford University. The Stanford partnership principal goal is to assist youth transitioning from juvenile detention centers to access to higher education and employment in industries experiencing phenomenal growth, such as the technology sector.
Class Updates plans to collaborate with a consortium of colleges, universities and tech companies that support the education and employment prospects of incarcerated youth who are reentering society with the pilot launching this fall at Stanford University. The Class Updates team intends to use existing networks to enhance improved access to personnel and resources critical to establishment of a youth-focused program.
“The Business Case for the Program is not as important as the social case and mission from the Class Updates team and those we can affect,” according to Richart Ruddie, one of the founders of the direct communication application, who’s passionaite about doing what he can leveraging technology to improve education and social justice causes. Now, the Stanford University partnership is something that Richart Ruddie is ecstatic about.
Until now, there has not been a holistic solution to the problem of incarcerated youth and their reentry into the society. The organizations and resources serving this population have been fragmented and ineffective. To remedy this problem, Class Updates Stanford partnership is conducting a pilot program to bridge the communication gap among the service providers and create a program that will train and educate the youth on careers in the creative and IT industries.
Rolling the program out correctly is key. The program will bring on board a horde of other organizations that support juvenile youth who have been in conflict with the law. These organizations will bring a holistic approach to rehabilitation to avoid the disjointed approach that has hitherto been used. These organizations include non-profits, youth advocacy groups, after school and sports programs, reentry organizations and other willing partners.
The program will also leverage on the extensive knowledge of Stanford Law School professor Debbie Mukamal whose work in the juvenile justice, employment and rehabilitation has been seminal.
Grounding the Program in Empirical Research
To ensure success of the program, empirical research would be conducted around four key objectives. These are: adolescent development, modern higher education system, jobs and employment in the tech space, and the juvenile justice system. Richart Ruddie is pushing the program and putting all resources into ensuring they make an impact on the world. Findings of research on the above areas would inform the existing structural challenges of higher education as far as non-traditional students are concerned and “that’s where we can make a difference.”
Research will also seek to establish the impact of juvenile justice system on the youth populations. The study of developmental differences among the youth will provide an insight into the design and implementation of effective rehabilitation programs. The effect of early intervention, college attendance, and entrepreneurship will enhance understanding of the patterns of desistance and recidivism among the youth.
If successful, this project will be key in bringing together the scattered community resources and organizations that are dedicated to helping youthful population. The impact would be felt in legislation by ensuring the unique needs of vulnerable youth population are taken into consideration. Impact would also flow into how the society perceives incarceration and education. College education will be the preferred alternative to incarceration, considering the rehabilitated youth will now have the tools to break into the job market.
Education will therefore provide a flow of talent to the technology space by a population that has not found its footing in tech until now. It will help successful youth to gain a foothold in the creative and technology industries through apprenticeships, where they will gain real-world experience. With vocational skills and a supportive community, it is hoped the youth will successfully reintegrate and become valuable members of the productive society.
