Isabella County, Mich. – Former Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc., participant Emilie and her mother Katelin are both attending Kirtland Community College in Michigan thanks to the Tom Jeffers Endowment Fund for Continuing Education.
YAP® is a national nonprofit in 33 states and Washington, D.C., providing trauma-informed services that reduce the nation’s overreliance on youth incarceration, residential care, group homes and other out-of-home placements. Celebrating its 50th year in 2025, YAP® partners with public systems to provide community-based wraparound and behavioral health services as an alternative to residential care or corrections. Named for YAP®’s founder, the Tom Jeffers Endowment Fund scholarship provides $1,200 for tuition and fees or a laptop computer to eligible program participants and their parents or guardians.
Emilie was in YAP® Michigan’s Youth Justice Program after being discharged from a residential treatment facility in October 2024. The program serves young people ages 10-21 referred through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The unique YAPWRAP™ individual and parent/family wraparound approach provides program participants with neighborhood-based Advocates who empower them to see and nurture their strengths, guides them to develop positive goals, and connects them and their parents and guardians with individualized support tools that may include housing, employment, economic or behavioral health services.
“I have benefitted from [YAP®] because they have given me opportunities to do things I haven’t done before,” Emilie wrote in her scholarship application essay. “It also feels like I always have someone I can contact when I’m struggling even if I don’t always think so.”
Emilie and Katelin were paired with YAP Michigan Intensive Family Coordinator Emily Munsell who describes Emilie as “passionate, empathetic and determined.”
“My YAP Advocate is always there when I need help,” Emilie said of Munsell. “I have also gotten to do a lot of fun things with the workers at YAP, have gotten to meet new people, and it has helped to improve my social skills.”
Earning her high school diploma at age 15, Emilie’s goals were to get a job and prepare for college. She is currently a college freshman and although she hasn’t chosen a major yet, her interest includes social work and nursing.
“Since joining YAP, Emilie has shown consistent growth and maturity, taken full advantage of resources and support available to her, and demonstrated responsibility and a genuine commitment to making positive changes in her life,” Munsell said. “Emile’s determination to create a better future for herself and those around her is truly inspiring.”
Consistent with the YAP community-based service model, Munsell worked closely with the family, connecting them with basic needs resources. Along the way, she learned that the mother and daughter shared some common goals.
“We have benefited from the program by getting two new tires on our car to help with transportation. YAP has also helped with pointing us in the right direction to get help from different resources,” Katelin said.
Katelin is currently taking online courses in coding. Once she completes her degree, she hopes for a career and home for her family.
“I know that with this being my third time in school, I have accumulated quite a bit of student loans but this will help to cut the cost of loans that I will need to pay back,” Katelin said. “In doing so, my family and I can start to get ahead.”
Munsell said Katelin’s resilience is remarkable and she is a role model for Emilie and her siblings.
“Katelin has faced many challenges, yet she continues to work tirelessly to overcome them,” Munsell said. “As a mother, she has taken responsibility of supporting her family and is determined to provide them with the stability and opportunities that she herself is working hard to create. She is currently striving to finish her college education, a goal that is essential to her ability to achieve financial independence and offer her children a brighter future. Katelin’s commitment to her academic goals speaks to her incredible work ethics.”
Guided by the nonprofit’s “no reject, no eject” policy, YAP’s decades of service include working with many young people whose histories include serious offenses, multiple arrests, and lengthy out-of-home placements. John Jay College of Criminal Justice research found 86% of YAP’s youth justice participants remain arrest-free, and six – 12 months after completing the program, nearly 90% of the youth still lived in their communities with less than 5% of participants in secure placement.
“I think this scholarship would help me because my family has not always gotten opportunities to further their education,” Emilie added. “These goals are very important to me because I know a lot of people in my life have not always gotten second chances like how I am getting.”
For more information on YAP, visit yapinc.org.
