Whereas the National Guard Youth Challenge Program (referred to in this preamble as the Youth Challenge Program ) is celebrating 30 years of providing successful and free alternative education and structured discipline to at-risk youth between the ages of 16 and 18; Whereas the Youth Challenge Program was born from the visionary concept of using a whole person intervention model to combat the effects of gangs, violence, high rates of school dropout, and drug abuse on a generation of youth; Whereas the Youth Challenge Program is a federally and State-funded program that offers a unique opportunity for at-risk youth to change course at a critical time in life; Whereas the multiphased Youth Challenge Program uses quasi-military discipline and training, coupled with educational instruction, learning, and mentorship, to promote the character development and resilience of at-risk youth; Whereas one phase of the Youth Challenge Program is a 5 1/2 -month residential program that focuses on the following 8 core components: life-coping skills, leadership and followership, service to community, job skills, academic excellence, responsible citizenship, health and hygiene, and physical fitness; Whereas another phase of the Youth Challenge Program is a 12-month mentoring phase that builds on the 8 core components to help shape youth into productive citizens ready for societal success; Whereas there is now an optional fifth phase of the Youth Challenge Program called Job Challenge, in which Youth Challenge Program graduates under the age of 21 years old can pursue in-demand job certifications; Whereas the Youth Challenge Program offers more than 8,000 cadets annually an opportunity to succeed outside of a traditional high school environment; Whereas there are currently 39 Youth Challenge programs operating in 28 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia; Whereas more than 200,000 cadets have graduated from the Youth Challenge Program