ABOUT US
ABOUT US
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The Montana Youth Challenge Academy (MYCA) helps young adults overcome common challenges impacting their education. Our predictable, highly detailed routines and quasi-military approach allow our students, whom we call cadets, to focus on academics, strengthen emotional and behavioral regulation, and improve their physical health. More sleep, consistent meal times, regular exercise, positive peer and classroom experiences, increased in-person interactions, and leadership opportunities are just a few examples of how cadets make progress here.
This is a voluntary program that runs twice per year. Class sessions begin mid-January and mid-July. Over the course of 22 weeks, our cadets gain valuable leadership and career readiness training. They develop crucial life skills that help them become better prepared for adulthood, and they leave behind old beliefs about their capabilities and self-worth. This transformation empowers them to take control of their lives and have a greater positive impact on their families and communities.
We provide graduates with a personal mentor for one year after graduation. This layer of support helps our cadets with the transition into adulthood and is proven to increase long-term success.
PROGRAM PHASES
PROGRAM PHASES
ACCLIMATION- FIRST 11 DAYS
ACCLIMATION- FIRST 11 DAYS
The first two weeks of the program provide an entry level adjustment period to determine a candidate's willingness and ability to succeed in the 20-week residential phase. During this phase, candidates relinquish personal items, receive haircuts, and exchange street clothes for uniforms.
Candidates are introduced to a structured environment and adjust to the physical, mental, and social discipline required to complete the program. The focus is on team building, Close Order Drill, Code of Conduct, leadership training, and building a foundation for improved physical fitness.
During this phase, staff members continually assess each candidate’s potential for success in the Residential Phase.
RESIDENTIAL PHASE- 20 WEEKS
RESIDENTIAL PHASE- 20 WEEKS
At the end of the Acclimation, motivated candidates are selected to officially become cadets. They are recognized during an internal ceremony to acknowledge and celebrate the commitment. Historically, the majority of the selected cadets go on to complete the Residential Phase.
During the next five months, cadets are fully immersed in a quasi-military training environment that emphasizes discipline, consistency, and structure.
Cadets also develop their social, emotional, and academic skills through an ambitious daily training schedule. Cadets complete the Residential Phase with the skills and values necessary for their successful transition and integration into adult society.
POST-RESIDENTIAL PHASE- 12 MONTHS
POST-RESIDENTIAL PHASE- 12 MONTHS
Mentors, who have been nominated by the cadets, begin to establish constructive relationships with cadets midway through the Residential Phase. The mentors help support the cadets during the remainder of the Residential Phase and help them prepare to re-enter community life. Mentors continue their responsibilities throughout the 12-month Post-Residential Phase.
The Post-Residential Phase begins when graduates leave the Challenge Academy and return to their communities. MYCA graduates go on to one of the following "placements": high school completion, higher education, employment, military enlistment, or volunteering at least 30 hours a week.
The goal of the Post-Residential Phase is for graduates to sustain and build on the gains made during the Residential Phase, and to apply the new skills they have learned to their home environment. Mentors, who have been matched with cadets during the Residential Phase, play a critical role in ensuring their continued success.
OUR HISTORY
OUR HISTORY
In 1999, the Montana National Guard established the Montana Youth Challenge Academy (MYCA) on the campus of the University of Montana Western as an intervention program to reclaim the lives of Montana teens who had dropped out of high school or who were not on track to graduate. The term "at-risk", for our purposes, refers to the risk of not graduating from high school. We are well aware of the negative life outcomes that are associated with this risk: poverty, incarceration, and early death are among them. It is because the stakes are so high that the Department of Defense invested in the Challenge model of youth development and community outreach.
MYCA is one of more than 35 programs in 28 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. All Youth Challenge Programs help at-risk youth earn their high school diploma, an equivalency, or credit recovery toward graduation.
The Academy incorporates best practices in positive youth development from a combination of educational and military models. Staff leverage high-quality and trusting relationships with program participants, their parents and guardians, and a vast network of MYCA supporters to achieve success. Challenge continues to work with program participants for one year after they graduate from the residential phase to help them enroll in college, trade school, start a career, or join the military.
To date, the Academy has graduated over 4,300 cadets from across the State of Montana!
OUR IMPACT
OUR IMPACT
A multi-year study by RAND Corporation, on behalf of the Department of Defense, has found that the program participants achieve impressive results in educational attainment and employment. Key findings of that study include: GED or high school diploma attainment increased by 29%; college attendance increased by 86%; annual earnings increased by 20%.
According to RAND's cost-benefit analysis, every government dollar invested in Youth Challenge Programs yields $2.66 in benefits – a return on investment of 166%. This return is substantially higher than other rigorously evaluated social programs that target disadvantaged youth.
Additionally, cadets at the academy have performed more than 226,407 cumulative volunteer hours in support of service to community projects (a CORE component) throughout the state since the program's inception in 1999. Calculated at the current minimum wage, they have contributed roughly $1,614,426 to Montana's economy.
Youth Challenge is unmatched in its effectiveness in helping young people prepare for the future.
VISION
VISION
Our vision is to be the premier alternative education setting for promoting the success of youth, between the ages of 16 to 18 years old, in the State of Montana. We will fulfill this vision by continuing to demonstrate our commitment to the youth we serve, and their families, with mastery of the quasi-military training model— a proven delivery method.
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