The 2019 Kentucky Extension Community Assessment for Bullitt County Report showed that one of the priority needs for Bullitt County is better youth/adult career readiness skills.

The Bullitt County Cooperative Extension Service partnered with Bullitt County Family Court’s Court Designated Worker program to provide career readiness and workforce preparation skills to teenage juvenile offenders. Youth were selected to serve in the 2nd cohort in the 4-H Preparing for Careers program as part of their time completing court ordered diversion and the 3rd cohort was open to other teens in Bullitt County.. The diversion process is designed to educate, instill a sense of accountability, and deter young people from getting into further trouble. The Preparing for Careers series was designed to enable teens to learn tools that will prepare them for the workforce now, after high school, or after college, as well as addressing barriers to higher education.

The Bullitt County 4-H Preparing for Careers series for teens program was designed to address the requested need from the Court Designated Worker’s office, as there are limited opportunities for teens to complete the education piece of the diversion program, teens were reporting they needed help in career skills, and there were not many opportunities available to them. The program served as an opportunity to aid teens in developing essential skills needed to obtain employment during and after high school. The goals of the program are focused on learning and practicing phone and in-person interview skills, resume and job application skills, decision-making skills, and communication skills.

At the conclusion of the 2nd and 3rd cohorts, 15  teens completed Zoom education, mock job interviews to assess their level of success in skills areas such as hand-shake,  eye contact, tone of voice, greeting/conclusion, and poise in addition to their level of knowledge in completing a resume and job application. 

Ten teens officially completed all requirements for the program. In addition to a verbal evaluation, a final mock job interview served as part of the program evaluation at the conclusion of the program. The results showed that all participants increased their level of competence in career readiness skills, such as feeling comfortable completing a job application, resume, and interview. In a verbal evaluation, all teens reported feeling better prepared when applying for jobs after high school or applying to college and feeling comfortable answering questions during an interview.

One teen is progressing to the district level for their mock job interview as part of the Kentucky 4-H Communications Contest. Two teens successfully applied for high school jobs after the program and were successfully offered the jobs!