Lexington, Kentucky — A year ago, Caden would never have imagined that he’d be where he is today — looking forward to graduating high school next spring, taking the commercial driver’s license exam, and making his mother proud.
He thanks Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. for giving him tools to turn his life around. In its pre-50th anniversary year, YAP is a national nonprofit in 35 states and the District of Columbia that partners with youth justice, child welfare, education, behavioral health, and other systems to deliver safe and effective community-based services as an alternative to youth incarceration and residential care.
Now 17, Caden said the past five years have been a challenge.
“I was a wild child,” he said. “I was locked up several times.”
Caden said as a little kid, he loved school. But by his twelfth birthday, things had begun to fall apart.
“I was called names,” Caden said, adding that the bullying got so bad that he began refusing to go to school.
At home in a rural Kentucky community with his mother and older sister, things were also tough. His father was away in prison and making ends meet was not easy.
Caden felt there was no relief.
“When I would get back on track, the teachers would piss me off. They hated me,” he said.
He recalls only one glimmer of hope.
“There was this one teacher my 8th grade year, she saw potential. She didn’t want me to get in trouble.”
But it wasn’t enough. Eventually, Caden was in the youth justice system. Truancy was a reoccurring charge.
By the end of his 10th grade year, he was on house arrest, wearing an ankle bracelet, often angry and turning to substance use to feel better.
I was smoking pot every day whenever I had the chance, Caden said.
One morning in summer of 2023, he woke up in a Juvenile Detention Facility with no memory of how he got there or what happened leading up to it.
he said meeting with his lawyer later that morning, he learned he was facing charges of drug induced assault and terroristic threats.
Still on the ankle monitor from his earlier truancy charge, he returned home with a January court date for the new charges. The ankle monitor came off in September, but by November, he received a contempt of court charge, again, for truancy, and was sent back to the detention facility.
He said in January, a judge put him on probation and referred him to YAP, a decision that Caden said changed his life.
YAP paired him with Advocate Jennifer Locker who had been on the job for about a month and had recently received her training in the YAPWrap™ youth and family wraparound services model. The unique no-reject; no-eject model centers on hiring culturally relevant, mostly neighborhood-based staff Advocates who empower program participants to see and nurture their strengths. Advocates guide youth and their parents, guardians, and other family members to develop individualized service plans and connect them to accessible tools to help put their lives on a positive path.
“At first, Caden was going to school maybe once a week,” Locker said.
While spending time with the family, Locker came to appreciate the importance of basic needs in firming a youth’s foundation. She connected them to local food, clothing, and utility support services and drove them to court and other important appointments.
“I’d pick him up and take him to school,” she said, adding that she did everything in her power to remove barriers to his progress. “I’d also wash his clothes,” she said.
Unconditional caring is central to the YAP model.
“You have to experience something in your own life to have that kind of compassion,” Locker said. It’s not in my genetic DNA to walk by someone without caring.”
Caden’s school attendance picked up and Locker said his participation in YAP activities was remarkable.
“He never missed one appointment,” she said, referring to Peaceful Alternatives to Tough Situations (PATTS) conflict resolution sessions and classes that focus on cooking, laundry, applying for jobs or college, and other life skills.
A few months after working with Caden, Locker introduced him to Jacob Charlton, the YAP Advocate who would begin working with him when her job responsibilities expanded. Like Locker, Charlton came to YAP with a desire for meaningful work.
“I wanted something different than factory work. I wanted to help people,” he said.
Charlton saw immediately that Caden could benefit from a male role model and learned from Locker how best to engage him and his family.
“When he would get angry and upset, he’d call her and she would take him to do something productive where he could work out his anger,” Charlton said. “He was just so angry one day and was on the verge of getting violent. He called Jennifer and she took him to mow a lawn to work out his frustration.”
Observing Caden with his PATTS classmates, Charlton saw Caden’s strengths in action.
“He’s an amazing people person; he’s great with little kids; he is such a big brother to all these kids. He’s very disarming with people, then he’ll take it very seriously,” Charlton added.
With Caden’s growth, Charlton and Locker saw the network of support for him and his family expand.
“Once the judge gave him clothing — three big bags,” Charlton said, adding that before long, Caden began to advocate for himself, particularly with his health and fitness.
“A few times, we went to the gym together and he said he walks a lot now,” Charlton said. “He also understands the link between smoking and his behavior.”
Caden said when he posted a story about his progress on social media, he heard from the teacher who believed in him back in 8th grade.
“She texted me to say to keep up the good work.”
Caden’s plan is to do just that.
“If everything goes well, I’ll be a truck driver and if I make enough money, open an auto mechanic business,” he said. “I want to make my mom proud, my sister, too,” he said, adding that he also now has a girlfriend.
“She’s another one I want to make proud.”
Locker and Charleton said they’re proud of him already.
Learn more about YAP at www.YAPInc.org.
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