Sunday, September 9, 2001

For more information, contact: Jen Waller, Communications Assistant 859-288-6154 or http://gov.state.ky.us/sga/index.htm

Southern Governors push for youth challenge stay under Defense

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Today the southern governors called on President Bush to maintain oversight of the National Guard Youth Challenge program at the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Guard. In a resolution offered by Governor Paul E. Patton of Kentucky, the governors expressed their opinion that the quasi-military aspect of the Youth Challenge program was critical to its success.

Each year, thousands of young people drop out of high school. Currently, 33 million young people between the age of 16 and 18 years do not have high school diplomas. Governors in the southern states use the Youth Challenge program as an option to help these at-risk young people.

However, due to limited funding, only 26 states are able to offer Youth Challenge programs, and within those states, only 33 percent of the young people who apply are able to participate. The program has an outstanding success rate of 96 percent.

Governor M.J. "Mike" Foster, Jr. of Louisiana specifically praised his state's Adjutant General, Bennett C. Landreneau, for his leadership and commitment to the program.

"Louisiana is the only state in the country that has three sites," said Governor Foster. "General Landreneau works hard, along with each site's director, to ensure that these kids are getting their education and learning the value of work. Without close coordination and input from DoD and the National Guard, the program would cease to exist."

Mississippi governor, Ronnie Musgrove, also touted the success of his state's program.

"Each year our program graduates around 400 young adults," explained Governor Musgrove, "When these people enter the program, they are high school dropouts with little opportunity for a stable and secure future.

After six months in Youth Challenge, these same young people graduate as cadets of the program with high school diplomas or GEDs and a bright future with better options. We need to do everything possible to make sure this program continues in its present structure and that its funding is increased."

Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas noted that the military spends a lot of money on promoting itself to the public.

"I believe the Youth Challenge program is one of the best tools the military has to promote itself and build goodwill in our communities," he said. "After all, the military is about more than winning wars, it's about winning people over to a disciplined way of life."

Founded in 1934, the Southern Governors' Association is the oldest and historically largest of the regional governors' associations. The mission of SGA is to support the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan, regional forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve state and regional problems. The association's membership is composed of the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia and West Virginia