In order to join the KWEST Inc. YouthBuild program, applicants must meet the following 4 requirements:

1. You must be age 16-24 on the date of enrollment.

2. A permanent resident of Ulster County, NY.

3. Be either a high school dropout or homeschooled.

4. AND be one or more of the following:

   • A member of a low income family

   • A youth in foster care

   • A youth aging out of foster care

   • A youth offender

   • A youth with a disability

   • The child of an incarcerated parent

   • A migrant youth.

EXCEPTION

We can enroll up to 25% of participants who do not meet the requirements if they can provide proof that they are either:

• Basic skills deficient (even if they have their high school diploma or GED) OR

• Have been referred by a local secondary school to our program for the purpose of attaining a secondary school diploma.

There are 4-steps to become enrolled in this program:

1. Submit your application. Once submitted, a staff member will contact you to schedule a 60-minute in-person meeting.

2. Go to the in-person appointment at our office and bring the required documents. The required documents are listed on our application page. After the meeting we will be in touch about scheduling our Mental Toughness Orientation.

3. Attend every day of Mental Toughness Orientation. Mental Toughness is a trial period that will introduce you to the program structure and expectations to see if this is right for you.

4. Do the final interview on the last day of Mental Toughness. After the interview our staff will evaluate your commitment and decide if you are accepted into this year’s cohort.

Mental Toughness Orientation is a 2-3 week trial period for eligible students who submitted their application and attended the scheduled in-person meeting. Acceptance into this program is not guaranteed! The goal of Mental Toughness is to make sure this program is a good fit for you and to give you a solid introduction into what the program will be like. During Mental Toughness students will learn the rules and expectations of the program, meet the staff, discuss challenging topics, get to know other participants through team building activities and try their best to prove their commitment. We will have a strict attendance and lateness policy in effect so once you commit to join it is very important that you do whatever it takes to show up on time for everyday of orientation.

Our program has two parts: an in-person period and then a follow-up period.

• When students begin, they enter the “in-person” part of the program which lasts a minimum of 6-months. During this time they receive a bi-weekly stipend and are expected to regularly attend the full-time program activities. Sometimes students need more than 6-months to achieve the requirements to graduate so they may go a few months over.

• Once students graduate the in-person part of the program, they enter what is known as “follow-up" which lasts 12-months (1-year). During follow-up students get help finding/maintaining a job and/or going to a post-secondary school as well as continue getting support services. Students in follow-up are no longer required to attend daily programming, nor do they receive a stipend.

Students become alumni once they complete the 6-month in-person program and the 12-months of follow up. The total amount of time a student can be in the KWEST Inc. YouthBuild program is 18-24 months depending on their needs and performance.

During the in-person part of the program, students are expected to attend everyday, Monday-Friday, 8:30am - 3:00pm. KWEST Inc. YouthBuild does NOT follow the regular school schedule. Our program operates year-round with a specific holiday schedule.

When students graduate the in-person part of the program and enter follow-up, they are no longer required to attend regular program hours.

Our program always has at least 2 “sites”:

• Our main office / classroom which is located at 2 Main Street, Kingston, NY.

• Our construction site, which varies in location but is always within Ulster County, NY.

Stipends are based on a point-system which tracks student daily attendance and conduct. Students who are enrolled in the in-person part of our program can earn up to $30/day in their stipend if they achieve perfect points. Stipends are distributed bi-weekly so in a typical 4-week month, students with perfect points can potentially earn up to $600/month.

The stipend is not intended to be compensation for work. KWEST Inc. YouthBuild is an education and training program that instead of charging tuition, offers students supplementary income to help with daily expenses while attending. Additionally, the stipend is a valuable tool we use to help reinforce positive work habits and practice financial literacy.

Yes, our program accepts mixed-gender cohorts that work together to complete all program components.

Potentially yes. Our program model allows up to 25% of our students to join having already obtained a diploma on the condition that they can prove they are:

1. Basic skills deficient (even if they have their high school diploma or GED) OR

2. Have been referred by a local secondary school to our program for the purpose of attaining a secondary school diploma.

Students who enter our program with a diploma will likely spend more time on our construction site than in the classroom.

All KWEST Inc. YouthBuild students are required to participate in BOTH the academic and hands-on skills training components of our program without exceptions. If construction is not for you, we also offer an advanced manufacturing pathway where you will get experience in a different, high-demand industry.

One thing to keep in mind is that even if you don’t think you want to do construction as a career, learning basic carpentry skills and participating in building affordable housing for the community are both valuable experiences that can help you no matter what job path you choose. You will be growing a diverse skill set that can improve your resume and transfer to many different occupations.

This program is all about personal transformation. We accept students with criminal records - in fact being a youth offender is one of our eligibility requirements. This being said, there are some offenses, such as sex-crimes that may prevent us from accepting you into the program.

All students are expected to be in attendance by 8:30am. We encourage participants to arrive a few minutes early. At 8:30am we begin what we call “morning meeting” where we do a roll call, share any important news or updates, do some light physical activity to warm up and say our daily pledge. By 8:45am our students split into two teams with one taking the van to our construction site to begin the day building affordable housing, the other team goes to the classroom to focus on studying for their GED exam with the teacher. Throughout the day our staff helps keep students focused and may schedule individual meetings to check in, discuss important topics or schedule appointments. Students take a 12pm lunch break and are dismissed at 3:30pm.

On Fridays, all students come together to participate in either a Community Service or Leadership Development activity which may take place in the classroom or offsite on a field trip.

We aim to accept 15-20 students each cohort. It is possible more than 15-20 students will be invited to Mental Toughness so it’s important to understand not everyone who applies will be accepted.

Students are expected to find their own means of transportation for getting to and from the program. While in program, we provide transport in our program van to the different worksites as well as to any field trips or workshops scheduled in the field.

Students are expected to make arrangements to make sure they have food for breakfast and lunch. On special occasions we may provide lunch for all students but we do not provide meals on a daily basis. We do stock a cabinet of free snacks and drinks and offer help with support services for any student dealing with food insecurity.

If you are missing any of the required documents listed on our application page, please contact our office. We may be able to help you take steps to obtain the missing documents. If we are unable to get the required documentation by the application deadline, we will not be able to accept you into the program.

Every student who joins our program is given the structure, support and opportunity to study toward earning their GED. The majority of students who take advantage of the program earn their GED but ultimately whether or not students pass their test is up to them.

KWEST Inc. YouthBuild is a drug free program and may drug test if a student is suspected of using illegal substances during program.

Unfortunately no, you must live in Ulster County, NY to participate in KWEST Inc. YouthBuild.

All KWEST Inc. YouthBuild students are required to wear the official KYB shirt and steel-toe construction boots as part of their daily uniform.