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By Rachel Ravina, Staff Writer

(Jan. 3, 2018) Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services (WYFCS) is working to help a group of people who have been identified by the state as “disconnected youth”

The Governor’s Office for Children said the phrase refers to a person between the ages of 16 and 24 who is not in school or working.

Worcester County has the highest number of disconnected youth in Maryland, according to the Governor’s Office for Children.

WYFCS Executive Director Steven Taylor said the state office is providing funding to counties across Maryland in the hopes of mitigating problems such as childhood hunger, childhood homelessness, children with incarcerated parents, and disconnected youth.

WYFCS launched the program officially last week, but it’s been a process months in the making. Taylor said his team has been working to design the program and develop relationships with community members since the summer.

Worcester County received $645,229 for these programs, according to Jessica Sexauer, of the county’s health department.

She added that the Local Management Board, the local arm of the state’s program for children, awarded $190,000 to Worcester Youth to help fund several of those programs, and said $150,000 is designated for career development.

Taylor said he hopes to help at least 30 people. He said his team will meet with people who fit the program’s criteria, assess their needs and work to provide them with training. There will also be an assigned social worker for “additional support.”

“We’ve designed a program based on how we might think we might reach this group, and the kind of supports that the might need to find a job or enroll in college for higher education,” Taylor said.

“We’ll be working with them one-on-one to give them the tools that they need so they can become employed and be successful employees,” Taylor said.

“If we have to drive to their community and meet with them at a public place that’s more convenient for them, then we’ll do that,” Taylor said. “We don’t want transportation to be an issue for people.”

Taylor said the program also would help address the larger problem of poverty in Worcester County. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation rates counties across the state on a myriad of factors including socioeconomic conditions.

Out of the state’s 24 counties, Worcester County sits third from the bottom, according to the county health rankings website.

“You know [a] community is really only as strong as the people within it, and the abilities of the people within it, and so the more that we build strength within our own community, the more productive, more lucrative we’ll be as a whole,” he said.

To that end, Taylor emphasized the need to entice people to remain here, even though many young people find they must go elsewhere because of greater employment opportunities beyond this area.

“We really need to change that, and keep our brightest people here in the county, and give them opportunities so that we can build greater strength within the county, within the community,” Taylor said.

In reference to the area’s business community, Taylor said there’s an opportunity to cultivate a partnership. He said young people could gain employment exposure through apprenticeships, and businesses can gain employees to grow their businesses.

“They expressed interest in this as well because … they are willing to take these individuals on and help them with the skills that we’ve been teaching, help them grow and become good employees with that company,” he said.