Fundraising Effort Started In Lafayette For Scholarship Program

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — The Lafayette Workforce Investment Board is sending out an SOS for one of its workforce programs that targets high school dropouts.

The board has started a fundraising effort for Second Opportunity Scholarships to fund a GED and job skills training program called Keeping Youth Trained and Educated.

The program is housed on the campus of South Louisiana Community College and offers out-of-school youth ages 16 through 21 a second chance at completing their high school education while receiving job skills training and exposure to careers available in the Acadiana area.

Cortney Boutte-Breaux, a Workforce Investment Board planner, tells The Advocate federal funding cuts have impacted the program's viability.

She says the program takes 25 students per six-month session twice a year, and its annual operational costs are about $100,000.