Goal-Setting to Support Cadet Success: Insights and Recommendations for the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Corte, Colleen

Contributor:

Sontag-Padilla, Lisa

Language:

English

Other Title:

Goal-Setting to Support Cadet Success

Place of Publication:

Santa Monica, Calif. RAND Corporation 2021

Summary:

The Post-Residential Action Plan (P-RAP) is a process used by the National Guard Youth Challenge (ChalleNGe) Program to assist at-risk youth ages 16 to 18 with identifying placement goals and developing a plan to achieve them based on where cadets envision going in life after they complete the residential, quasi-military ChalleNGe Program. ChalleNGe focuses on eight core components: academic excellence, health and hygiene, job skills, leadership and followership, life-coping skills, physical fitness, responsible citizenship, and service to community. A cadet's plan may focus on obtaining additional education or training, searching for and obtaining employment, joining the military, or some combination of these options. Youth in the ChalleNGe program may have struggled with academic, social, or behavioral problems prior to the program, and they may need enhanced support with goal-setting. ChalleNGe has 40 sites across the United States and implementation of the P-RAP varies considerably across sites. The implementation and utility of the P-RAP has not yet been examined. The purpose of this project was to examine the various approaches to using the P-RAP across ChalleNGe sites, draw insights from the literature on best or promising practices for goal-setting in adolescence, and provide recommendations on the use of the P-RAP in the ChalleNGe program. The authors used three main methods to achieve these aims: literature review, examination of the P-RAP template, and conversations with staff at select sites to discuss implementation of the P-RAP.