A Program of Settlement Housing Fund, Inc.
The DREAMS YouthBuild & Young Adult Training Program is an equal opportunity employer/program, auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities

Pre-GED

Community Education Pathways to Success (CEPS) is partnered with the New York City Department of Education, and serves as an alternative educational setting.

Community Education Pathways to Success Blended Approach: The integration of instruction and social supports within a youth development framework to assure young adults progress on a path towards GED completion. The CEPS model incorporates that youth development framework. It builds on strengths and seeks to bring together all of the resources in a young person's life, including family, school, and the community.

CEPS principles are built into key components of each program: clear and high expectations, competency and mastery, safety, engaging activities, youth voice and participation, and continuity. Staff professional development experiences are designed using these youth development principles.

Recruitment - Helping the participant understand the relationship between their individual goals and the goals of the program.

Intake - Expectations for participation in the DREAMS Program are explicity presented by a DREAMS staff member.

Assessment - Participants are given feedback on their intake test results, and a plan of action to meet program goals is created.

Orientation - Expectations concerning attendance, attire, responsibilities, and behavior are conveyed to the participant.

Instruction - Instructors set clear rituals and routines for the classroom, as well as the program.

Support - Our leadership counselor will establish a relationship with the participant and routinely meets with the participant to keep them on track.

Transition - Graduating participants will receive job placement assistance.

The CEPS program is funded by the Youth Development Institute. The program added a Pre-GED track to the DREAMS YouthBuild Program, allowing us to accommodate the nearly 50% of applicants who do not meet the academic requirements of our GED classes.

Students reading between a 4th and 7th grade level are placed into our Pre-GED class. Students reading on a 7th grade level may apply for YouthBuild.

In our Pre-GED classroom participants receive classroom instruction designed to improve literary skills. Pre-GED students are tested monthly. As the students’ test results get stronger the student graduates into our GED class.