A little more than a year ago, Chris made a mistake that could have taken him away from his family and out of his community. Now 19, he thanks Will Conyers, his Baltimore Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. Advocate, for empowering him with tools to turn his life around. YAP is community-based alternative to youth incarceration/out-of-home placement. Advocates like Will are trained to provide intensive mentoring that helps youth realize their strengths while connecting them and their parents with resources to firm their foundation and help them succeed.
Holidays Highlight Gifts, Talents and Generosity of Youth Turning their Lives Around
MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NJ — Brian, 13, and Esteban, 14, stood proudly before community leaders and family members as they unveiled a mural decorating a wall at the New Brunswick, NJ Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. office. The unveiling was part of a holiday gathering that gave the boys a unique perspective on how their strengths and talents can be a special gift to others.
“They described how the mural depicts the phoenix facing the future with optimism and the feathers entangled represent different paths in their lives and how they might intertwine,” said YAP Middlesex County Program Director Rebecca Escobar, who also serves on the New Brunswick City Council. “It reminds the youth that no matter what circumstances they faced, there’s always a lesson, making it possible to overcome obstacles.”
Brian and Esteban participate in YAP’s Diversion program where schools, police officers and/or parents refer young people who are beginning to exhibit behaviors that put them at risk for coming into conflict with the law. “They might be smoking marijuana or fighting, being disrespectful to teachers or running away from home,” Escobar said.
With the help of local artist Bob Ahrens, Brian and Esteban joined other YAP participants to create the mural as part of their Diversion program community service. Among those attending the holiday mural unveiling gathering were young people who had completed the YAP program in previous years. Escobar said it’s not unusual, especially around the holidays, for former program participants to come around to ask how they can give back.
The Diversion program is based on a model YAP developed 44 years ago to give youth justice, child welfare, social services and other systems community-based alternatives to incarceration and out-of-home placement. It’s a unique wraparound model where neighborhood-based Advocate mentors empower young people to identify and realize their individual gifts as they give parents and guardians tools to reinforce the family foundation.
Using the YAP Advocate model, YAP provides youth in the Diversion Program with facilitator Advocates who guide the young people through group sessions, individual mentoring and community service projects that enhance their individual interests and talents. At the same time, YAP Advocates support the youths’ families.
“In the right situation everyone can improve,” Brian said.
Throughout the holiday season, Middlesex County, YAP Diversion Program youth participated in holiday-focused service projects, including Thanksgiving turkey distributions to 250 community members, including 40 YAP program participating families. In addition, YAP’s New Brunswick School-based Youth Services Program provided gifts for 43 families it adopted from New Brunswick High School, Lord Stirling Community School and McKinley Elementary School, where 27 students received new coats.
“This is the season to give back,” Escobar said. “As they give back, the youth reflect on what YAP means to them and how we are a safe space for them; a place where they don’t feel judged and where they express how hopeful they feel towards changing themselves and achieving more for a brighter future.”
As Escobar spoke to TheNeighborhoodAdvocate.org, she received news from the from Rutgers Community Health Foundation that the program will receive funding again in 2020.
Los Angeles Families Now Benefit from Community-based Alternative to Out-of-Home Placement
A community-based alternative to youth incarceration and institutionalization in 28 states and the District of Columbia, Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. recently began serving young people in Los Angeles. Adhering to its “no reject; no eject” policy, YAP serves South Los Angeles youth through a partnership with Shields for Families. As more communities embrace social justice and child welfare systems reform and seek safe, cost-effective alternatives to out-of-home placement, YAP’s Safely Home model has been expanding globally. Founded 44-years ago, YAP has a time-tested model that matches individuals it serves with professional mentor Advocates who receive special training to empower young people to identify their strengths and connect them and their parents/guardians to accessible tools to achieve their personal, family and career goals.
TheNeighborhoodAdvocate.org Chronicles Lives Changed by Youth Justice and Social Services Systems Reform
Dec. 18, 2019 —TheNeighborhoodAdvocate.org launches today, chronicling the lives of families, advocates and program practitioners on the front lines of the youth justice, child welfare and social services systems reform movement.
TheNeighborhoodAdvocate.org was developed by Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc., a four decades-old nonprofit provider of holistic community-based programs that serve as an alternative to youth detention/incarceration and out-of-home placement/family separation. A content provider for journalists and bloggers, TheNeighborhoodAdvocate.org shares stories and videos of young people and families receiving youth justice and child welfare/social services at home, in their neighborhoods. As part of its debut, the news site also introduces YAPTalks, short, heartfelt presentations from practitioners of community-based services.
YAP serves more than 20,000 youth and families in more than 100 communities in 28 states and the District of Columbia and expects to expand to at least a half dozen more states by the end of 2020. Youth justice, child welfare, behavioral health, developmental disabilities/autism, education and other systems partner with YAP to provide or adapt the nonprofit’s unique Safely Home community-based wraparound model to serve individuals at the highest risk of institutionalization. Without YAP, the prospect for the nonprofit’s youth justice program participants is immediate incarceration for violent and other offenses.
YAP’s model is guided by principles that reflect the nonprofit’s mission to keep young people and families Safely Home together. Staff adhere to a no-reject, no eject policy with referring agencies; are available 24 hours, seven days a week; and serve the entire family, ensuring that they have voice, choice and ownership in their individualized service plans. Committed to cultural and linguistic competence, YAP matches youth and families with professional advocate mentors with similar backgrounds, interests, and when possible, shared zip codes. YAP’s services are strength-based, empowering youth and families with tools to identify their gifts and talents, while connecting them to accessible resources to help them pursue their personal, family, educational and career goals and give back to their communities.
In addition to expanding service in the U.S., YAP partners with global organizations to design programs based on its effective, evidence informed Safely Home model in Ireland, Sweden, Australia, Sierra Leone and Guatemala.
Please share our promo video. For more information on YAP, please visit www.yapinc.org.
Innovative Alternative to Youth Incarceration and Out-of-Home Placement Serving Los Angeles
Los Angeles, Ca. (December 3, 2019) — Standing a block away from her Jordan Downs apartment in Watts, Abriana, 15, reflects on her life and its dramatic turn for the better.
“Before I thought I was just going to be a lowlife; like I wasn’t going to have a future,” she said.
Several months ago, Abriana spent a night in youth detention facing burglary charges. As part of her probation, she was connected to Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc.
“Now that I came to YAP, I know that I will have a future,” she said. Her eyes brightened as she spoke of her love of literature and interest in writing and nursing. “Now I know I will go to college; now I have the faith that I will.”
A community-based alternative to youth incarceration and institutionalization in 28 states and the District of Columbia, YAP recently began serving young people in
Los Angeles. Adhering to its “no reject; no eject” policy, YAP serves South Los Angeles youth through a partnership with Shields for Families. As more communities embrace social justice and child welfare systems reform and seek safe, cost-effective alternatives to out-of-home placement, YAP’s Safely Home model has been expanding globally. Founded 44-years ago, YAP has a time-tested model that matches individuals it serves with professional mentor Advocates who receive special training to empower young people to identify their strengths and connect them and their parents/guardians to accessible tools to achieve their personal, family and career goals.
Abriana’s YAP Advocate Kayla Alexander moved to South Los Angeles from the Bay Area four years ago to attend UCLA, where she majored in bio psychology. Alexander said it didn’t take long for her to see Abriana’s strengths.
“I could always see that she was motivated to be better and I think that us working together allowed her that space to do so,” she said. “I think sometimes in life its hard to see where you can be your best self and I think she saw it in her and I also saw it in her and working together, we’re able to bring out more strengths and like she said, see her in places she never saw before.”
YAP’s Los Angeles office is in Watts, two blocks from Abriana’s home. Like the youth the nonprofit serves, YAP Program Director Brandon Lamar’s childhood came with complex challenges.
“I was former foster care; I was former [youth] probation. In my first month in foster care, I had 27 social workers,” he said. “So, I never was able to get used to one person. Growing up in foster care; I dealt with abandonment. I grew up with neglect; I neglected myself. Being in this position, I’m able to help young people. There’s lessons that I feel I can teach,” he said.
After earning his bachelor’s degree from Azusa Pacific University, Lamar began working with nonprofits that helped young people conquer their personal and educational challenges. At YAP, he’s looking to hire more neighborhood-based culturally competent Advocates to
show youth, families and the broader community how the YAP model of providing intensive Advocate mentorship for young people and families can replace youth incarceration and congregate placement.
“YAP has a heart,” he said. “When I went to the [recent national YAP] Directors’ training, I saw the heart of everyone and the compassion they have. That’s what I’m all about. I wanted to be the person to help develop people to bring change to peoples’ lives and I feel like that’s the position I’m in right now.”
Los Angles YAP Administrative Manager Precious Lacy feels the same way and is encouraged by how Lamar matches each program participant with the right Advocate. She said her hope for the community is “to be more closely knit, holding on to what the community wants to bring and just holding on to one another.”
Prior to joining YAP, Los Angeles YAP Advocate Deborah Hawkins worked with youth in residential facilities. She said delivering services to youth and their families at home gives her more opportunities to encourage and give young people hope.
For Abriana, the hope provided through the YAP model has not only made a difference for herself; it’s been positive for her entire family.
“Before, me and my mom were struggling and I’d just be in my own world,” she said. “I changed. I feel like I’m going to have a future and I feel my mom – she gets more help and now she’s not stressing; and neither is my family or me.”
Alexander added that Abriana wants to be a role model for her four younger siblings.
“I’m just really being proud of what she is; she’s been through so much and I really see her being that person they can look up to and now I think she sees it too,” she said. “I think she was always great; now she’s able to really be great.”
See video from this interview here. To learn more about YAP, please visit www.YAPInc.org.
After Serving 15 Years in Prison, Charles Bentil Helps Other Men Coming Home
Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. program leaders deliver impassioned messages about their work as part of the launch of YAPTalks. YAP delivers services that are an alternative to youth incarceration and out-of-home placement. The YAP Advocate Wraparound Service model provides intensive one-to-one mentoring by professional, primarily neighborhood-based staff. YAP Advocate mentors empower young people with tools to identify and realize their strengths. At the same time, they support the family foundation by connecting parents/guardians with accessible resources to reinforce their foundation. This YAPTalk features Washington DC YAP Re-entry Programs Leader Charles Bentil.
Advocate for Sexually Exploited Youth Featured in YAPTalk Series
Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. program leaders deliver impassioned messages about their work as part of the launch of YAPTalks. YAP delivers services that are an alternative to youth incarceration and out-of-home placement. The YAP Advocate Wraparound Service model provides intensive one-to-one mentoring by professional, primarily neighborhood-based staff. YAP Advocate mentors empower young people with tools to identify and realize their strengths. At the same time, they support the family foundation by connecting parents/guardians with accessible resources to reinforce their foundation. This YAPTalk features Clark County, Nevada YAP Program Director Nyeri Richards.
New York State 0-5 Family Reunification Expert Highlighted in YAPTalk Series
Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. program leaders deliver impassioned messages about their work as part of the launch of YAPTalks. YAP delivers services that are an alternative to youth incarceration and out-of-home placement. The YAP Advocate Wraparound Service model provides intensive one-to-one mentoring by professional, primarily neighborhood-based staff. YAP Advocate mentors empower young people with tools to identify and realize their strengths. At the same time, they support the family foundation by connecting parents/guardians with accessible resources to reinforce their foundation. This YAPTalk features New York State YAP Regional Director Dana LaCoss.
Chicago YAP’s Chris Sutton Featured in YAPTalk Series
Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. program leaders deliver impassioned messages about their work as part of the launch of YAPTalks. YAP delivers services that are an alternative to youth incarceration and out-of-home placement. The YAP Advocate Wraparound Service model provides intensive one-to-one mentoring by professional, primarily neighborhood-based staff. YAP Advocate mentors empower young people with tools to identify and realize their strengths. At the same time, they support the family foundation by connecting parents/guardians with accessible resources to reinforce their foundation. This YAPTalk features YAP Chicago Choose to Change Program (where YAP partners with Children’s Home & Aid and the University of Chicago Crime Lab) Director Chris Sutton.
YAPTalks Highlight People Transforming Youth Justice, Child Welfare and Other Systems
Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. program leaders delivered impassioned messages about their work as part of the launch of YAPTalks. The first of a series of talks came during an annual global YAP Directors meeting
.
YAP delivers services that are an alternative to youth incarceration and out-of-home placement. The YAP Advocate Wraparound Service model provides intensive one-to-one mentoring by professional, primarily neighborhood-based staff. YAP Advocate mentors empower young people with tools to identify and realize their strengths. At the same time, they support the family foundation by connecting parents/guardians with accessible resources to reinforce their foundation.
The YAP National Directors event featured 5 YAPTalks led by directors of local programs that have evolved from the YAP Wraparound Service model. The speakers included YAP Chicago Choose to Change Program (where YAP partners with Children’s Home & Aid and the University of Chicago Crime Lab) Director Chris Sutton; YAP (Penn North) Baltimore Safe Streets Director Dennis Wise; YAP New York State Regional Director Dana LaCoss; Nevada YAP Program Director Nyeri Richards; and YAP Credible Messenger and Young Men Emerging (adult re-entry services) Program Leader Charles Bentil.
See each YAPTalk on TheNeighborhoodAdvocate.org.
Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. Introduces Baltimore Penn North Safe Streets Team
Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc., which serves as an alternative to youth incarceration and out-of-home placement in more than 100 communities in 28 states and the District of Columbia, is one of Baltimore’s newest Safe Streets nonprofit partners. YAP Safe Streets Violence Prevention Coordinator Wayne Brewton spoke to The Neighborhood Advocate about how his background uniquely positions him to serve his community.
Baltimore Youth Advocate Programs Participant Gives Thanks
Baltimore Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. participant Tumani shares his thoughts about his Advocate, Jamal. The Neighborhood Advocate met up with him at a YAP Penn North Back-to-School Resource Fair and Safe Streets grand opening. YAP is an alternative to youth incarceration and institutionalization, providing community and family-based support and resources instead.