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The Educational Alternative Outreach Program comprises many centers, which serve students who are outside the mainstream of the regular school programs. The number of students enrolled in
the Outreach Program fluctuates, but averages approximately 3,000. A standard academic program is provided in each center, with the emphasis on the basic skills. Other subject areas include pre-vocational classes,
art, physical education, and exceptional student education.
The 57 centers in the Outreach Program are composed of four major types: detention centers, drug/alcohol rehabilitation centers, alternative
programs, and shelters. Referrals to, or placement in these programs is based on the students' school adjustment problems, substance abuse, being a runaway and/or dependent, removal from the alternative school,
adjudication of delinquency by the juvenile court, placement in detention while awaiting adjudication, or expulsion from all regular Dade County Public Schools and approved for the Work Back Program.
The
Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) Educational Alternative Outreach Program provides a vehicle for cooperation between Miami-Dade County Community-Based Organizations and M-DCPS toward the instruction of
alternative education students. Community-Based Organizations are funded through the M-DCPS Educational Alternative Outreach Program at 95% of the FTE per school year including Summer Programs. Some Community-Based
Organizations work with both the Department of Juvenile Justice and with M-DCPS as mandated by the State of Florida. Other Community-Based Organizations, with M-DCPS, provide Work Back Programs as part of the
dropout prevention plans for keeping students in school during expulsion periods. Still other Community-Based Organizations, with M-DCPS, provide students new to our society and culture a more familiar educational
environment from which they may more comfortably migrate into the educational mainstream.
Besides creating cooperative educational opportunities between Community-Based Organizations and M-DCPS, the
Educational Alternative Outreach Program imparts enormous savings to the school system. These savings are generated because Community-Based Organizations provide and maintain the educational facilities, eliminating
the need for the construction of M-DCPS school buildings for Outreach students, the need for M-DCPS maintenance, custodial and cafeteria personnel for Outreach students, and the need for varied support staff for
Outreach students that are common at all other M-`DCPS facilities.
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