In CCFN's 2016 Needs Assessment of the Governor’s Goal Areas, surveys and a series of focus groups were conducted with disconnected youth and parents in the community and at the Calvert County Detention Center and the following themes emerged related to employment/education:

• Lack of education and job training opportunities
• Need for more reentry services
• Mental health and substance use treatment - cost and restrictions prior to detention; and need for more while in detention
• Challenges securing adequate stable housing with criminal record and/or no savings
• Lack of connection with children

In CCFN's 2016 Needs Assessment of the Governor’s Goal Areas, vendor IMPAQ, Inc. made the following recommendations for strategies to address disconnected youth, including the incarcerated population:

• streamline data assessment processes for disconnected youth and currently or formerly incarcerated individuals and their families
• cross-county collaboration through the development of a Tri-County Youth Advisory Board
• a strategic planning process to address key stakeholders around the impacts of incarceration
• exploration of potential policy options and solutions for a lack of specialized services; barriers to youth employment; lack of affordable housing and transportation; and school-based interventions for at-risk youth prior to disconnection.

Disconnected youth are young people ages 16 to 24 who are neither working nor in school. According to the most recent Measure of America report, there are 5.8 million, or one in every seven, American young people in this age group who are not connected to either of these anchor institutions.

Emphasis is placed upon this group because the years between the late teens and the mid-twenties are believed to be a critical period during which young people form adult identities and move toward independence. The effects of youth disconnection—limited education, social exclusion, lack of work experience, and fewer opportunities to develop mentors and valuable work connections—can have long-term consequences that snowball across the life course, eventually influencing everything from earnings and self-sufficiency to physical and mental health and marital prospects. There has been much discussion on how to reach these young people and connect them with broader social institutions in order to prevent these negative consequences.

The economic impact of youth disconnection has also been examined. According to the Measure of America report, the average disconnected youth costs $37,450 a year in government services.

More than 1 in 10 youth in Maryland is disconnected, making it a statewide issue.

For Calvert County, there were a total of 870 youth in 2015, which represents 8.2% of the total county youth population, below the Maryland and National percentages. Calvert County is ranked 21st statewide for percent of youth population that is disconnected.

According to the 2014 Documented Decisions report for Calvert County in the Maryland State Report Card, the majority of Calvert County graduates reported that they plan to seek some level of postsecondary education after graduation. 17.2% reported immediate employment and 5% reported no response.

In Calvert County, youth have opportunities for job mentoring through the Career and Technology Academy. Calvert County’s Job Center prepares youth ages 14 to 21 for employment and/or post-secondary education through strong linkages between academic and occupational learning. Additional supported employment programs are available through local agencies that serve individuals with disabilities.

In 2015, College of Southern Maryland lost their program funding for the Juvenile Offenders Building Skills (JOBS) program for young adults, ages 18 to 21, with prior juvenile justice system involvement. The program provided each student with 500 hours of trade instruction in the classroom with mentoring, soft skills training, and assistance with job placement. Despite the short term successes of the program, the program participants had challenges that were difficult to overcome - learning disabilities, reading on a 3rd grade level, habitual substance use and social skills deficiencies.

According to the Calvert County Detention Center’s (CCDC) Classification Supervisor, Jay Haines, the median age of inmates is 35 years, with nearly a quarter of the population in the 18 to 24 age range. Additionally, Calvert County's increasing substance use is reflected in the CCDC’s inmate population. In a review of the CCDC’s quarterly reports from the past year, their therapist, Ann Ueno reported an estimated 42% of inmates with a mental health diagnosis, and of that population 93% with a co-occurring (substance use) disorder. The average recidivism rate is 42% with the majority of the estimated 3000 inmates annually returning to Calvert County communities