YAP, Inc.The Neighborhood Advocate

Philadelphia – At age 14, he threatened a teacher; but instead of lockup, Alonzo got a personal Advocate.

Four years after completing his program at Philadelphia Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc., Alonzo was one of two former program participants who shared their stories at the Resilience and Peace Rally held at Philadelphia YAP’s headquarters on Aug. 26.

The event was held for former and current Philadelphia YAP program participants to motivate each other and provide an opportunity for them to come together, take a stance against violence, and stand up for youth justice reform. Food, a raffle, and entertainment were also provided.

“Before YAP, I was bad and doing dumb stuff,” Alonzo, now 18, said. “I would recommend YAP to people who needed it like me.”

For more than four decades, youth justice systems have referred thousands of Philadelphia youth justice and child welfare systems-involved young people to YAP, a national nonprofit providing community-based alternatives to detention, youth prison, away-from-home placements, and neighborhood violence in 31 states and the District of Columbia.

YAP Advocates help young people identify their strengths and empower them and their parents and guardians with accessible tools to turn their lives around.

Among the tools is YAP Supported Work, where young people work for local employers while receiving a paycheck from the nonprofit– often to repay court fees and restitution.

Alonzo’s mother, Christina, owner of Tina’s Arts & Crafts, created decorations for the rally and like her son, is thankful for what YAP did to support her son.

“He’s doing much better,” she said, adding, “He’s not in the streets like he was before.”

Carl Walker, the YAP Advocate who supported Alonzo and his family, joined them at the rally. Walker credits Alonzo for using the program’s tools to control his anger and get his schoolwork done, adding that he graduated from Excel Academy North and is now working.

“He has really matured and grown up,” Walker said. “Before (YAP) he was getting into trouble and misbehaving. He is a lot more focused now.”

The Philadelphia YAP team hosted the rally as an opportunity to inspire, encourage and celebrate the successes of program participants. To learn more about YAP, please visit www.YAPInc.org. Follow the organization on Twitter @YAPInc.

Theirs are among too many stories lost in news headlines about gun violence in their neighborhoods. They are young people who are thriving because of their individual strengths, fostered by Chicago’s Choose to Change program, also known as C2C.

A partnership with Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc., and Children’s Home & Aid, C2C provides young people with intensive trauma-informed wraparound and behavioral health services to help them develop healthy decision-making tools while connecting them and their families with resources to nurture their gifts and talents. The program focuses on young people impacted by neighborhood violence who face complex challenges, including exposure to trauma, justice system involvement, and school disengagement.

“JaShon graduated top of his class!

Ariel is graduating from Excel/Englewood at the top of her class, and she will start classes at Chicago State University this summer,” said YAP Midwest Regional Director of Quality Improvement Dina Harris.

Like a proud parent, Harris joined YAP Advocates Cassandra Bell and Jean Johnson to boast as they shared program participants’ high school graduation and prom photos.

Bell recalled the persistence of Carriana, how her life was full of tragedy as she endured continuous bullying, transferring four times before landing at Ombudsman South. “While Carriana was trying to gain control of her life, her aunt, who was also her best friend, was murdered,” Bell said.

“Carriana graduated with her class, and we hosted a prom send-off for her that included a dessert table in dedication to her aunt with decorations in all her favorite colors.”

C2C launched in 2015 in the greater Englewood communities of Chicago and has since expanded in the South and Westside neighborhoods, engaging more than 800 youth ages 13-18. The C2C team is touched by each student’s unique struggles and ability to achieve their goals.

Johnson shared a graduation photo of a participant named, Alexis, saying she “has come a long way.”  “She was valedictorian at Ombudsman West and plans to attend the University of Illinois Chicago campus for psychology. She has enjoyed C2C and she’s in YAP’s summer program. She’s definitely ready to pursue her future.”

Among the photos Bell shared were pictures of Melanie, who suffered personal losses as a young child including being separated from her mother. Melanie was nine credits away from graduating when she became a C2C participant.

“From the moment we met, we worked on our plan to achieve the impossible,” Bell said. A mantra she and Melanie shared was, “It’s possible because I’m possible.”

YAP’s services are based on the nonprofit’s youth justice model, which provides community-based and individualized advocate and family services. Children’s Home & Aid provides weekly trauma informed – cognitive behavioral group sessions.

“I would pick her [Melanie] up, go to school with her and have homework time with her,” Bell said, adding that she also made sure Melanie spent time with “her YAP brothers and sisters [other program participants].” Central to Melanie’s success were her teachers and members of the staff at Ombudsman South High School.

Through a randomized controlled trial, research at the University of Chicago Crime Lab and Education Lab have found that C2C reduces violent crime arrests by 50 percent while increasing school attendance by about a week.

“The staff was amazing and as a team, we worked together to turn the impossible into being very possible,” Bell said. “Hard work pays off! [Melanie] graduated Class of 2021.”

For more information on C2C, please visit ChoosetoChangeChicago.org.

 

Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc., partners with the Yavapai County Juvenile Probation Department to provide community-based alternatives to youth incarceration and out-of-home placement. A nonprofit in 31 states and the District of Columbia, YAP launched in Yavapai County in 2020. The site is one of six youth justice startups launched with grants from the Safely Home Fund, a joint initiative with YAP with the Georgetown University’s Center for Juvenile Justice Reform to create community-based alternatives to youth incarceration.

The key to the success of program participants are their neighborhood-based Advocates who provide intensive family-based services that help youth see their strengths and establish their goals.

We asked the Yavapai County YAP Advocates to tell us what they enjoy about their jobs and here’s what they had to say:

Gordon Burton and Cami Pollard: 

“For us this is a way to contribute to the local community in which we have chosen to retire. Part of the reward for us, besides a stronger community, is being able to see young people grow and learn to make positive choices in their lives and make contributions themselves to the community.

Further, we have the opportunity to learn more of the Indigenous culture that is all around us.”

Ivan Morales:

“What I love most about being a YAP Advocate is being a kind, loving leader and role model for my kids!”

 

 

Daniel Nash:

“To bear witness to or be a part of when, a child, who’s life you know to be full of trauma and uncertainty, genuinely smiles.”

 

 

 

Kathy Roaleen:

“When a program participant shares something from their heart and thanks me with a grin (or tears) just for listening. So simple and so profound.”

 

Audrey Young:

“The most rewarding part of being a YAP Advocate so far has been hearing about individuals hopes for the future. Everyone has desires and dreams for what they can accomplish with their lives and the numerous things they can become. Hearing individuals openly talk about those wants is truly inspiring. The ability to lay out a plan for the future and discuss the steps needed to accomplish those plans has even pushed me to plan a little bit more in my life. While scheduling day to day activities might still seem daunting to them the idea of what the future holds is still exciting which in turn makes me delighted to work with them through harder times to help them hopefully achieve, as close to, their ideal future as possible.”

Eric Schulze:

“I think that the easiest (and one of the best) answers to this question is getting to see the growth that a YAP youth undergoes as they go through our program, encountering challenges and developing new skills. But the best, most rewarding thing about this wonderful work to me is when one of my boys recognizes growth in himself. All too often, the youth we work with are told that they have failed or that they aren’t good enough, and a punitive justice system is hasty to reinforce that message. To see a youth, take ownership of their future, participate in their self-growth process, and then get to look back and see that they have created something in themselves that cannot be taken away is absolutely extraordinary. To see a young man or woman take pride in who they have become, and to know that I had a hand in their journey is the best gift that I could ever receive.”

Amber LaFon:

“The most rewarding aspect about being an advocate is reaching that inner trust in a kid. Seeing the “light” click on in their eyes when they realize there are good people in the world that care about them and for the first time, they feel safe, important, and worthy. They finally let go, have fun, smile, laugh, play, and just be a kid. First, you see it in their reaction to you but as time goes on you see them connecting with the community in the same way. That is awesome.”

For more information about becoming an Advocate or about Youth Advocate Programs, visit yapinc.org. Follow YAP on Twitter @YAPInc.

Chicago – In high school, Melanie was failing nine credits and felt like graduation was impossible.

Approximately two years ago she was in a domestic battery situation that resulted in her being removed from her home. That, coupled with some other traumatic instances in her life, led Melanie to lose all motivation to do well in school.

“I was in a very tough spot in my life,” Melanie said. “I wasn’t in the right place or the right mindset.”

That is until she connected with the Choose to Change (C2C) program, a partnership to reduce violence in Chicago, between Youth Advocate Programs, (YAP), Inc., and Children’s Home and Aid. The program assists youth who have been impacted by violence and trauma, and links them to supportive, safe services. The program is evaluated by the University of Chicago Crime Lab.

YAP’s services are based on the nonprofit’s youth justice model, which provides community-based and individual advocate and family services. Additionally, Children’s Home & Aid also provides weekly Trauma Informed – Cognitive Behavioral Group sessions to help participants work through past traumatic experiences.

Melanie is the first person in her family to graduate from high school, a major milestone in her life that she credits to YAP Advocate Cassandra Bell whom she says helped her to complete her secondary education.

“I felt like there was no way I was going to graduate,” Melanie said. “She motivated me and pushed me to finish high school. That little accomplishment made a big difference in my life.”

Bell, who nicknamed Melanie “Pixie,” because of her small size, said Melanie only had 45 days to turn her grades around in order to receive her diploma.

“I was like we’re going to set a plan and we’re going to work toward our goal,” Bell said of helping put Melanie on the path toward graduation. “My goal was to show her that if you could put your mind to something, you can do it.”

Bell picked up Melanie and took her to school twice a week and found her a tutor. When Melanie, 19, finally received the letter that said she was graduating, Bell said the two of them were screaming with excitement and describes the moment as being like “the Fourth of July.”

Bell was able to help Melanie get clothes for commencement and get her hair done. Melanie graduated on June 17 from Ombudsman Chicago South.

“The building cheered so hard for her when she walked across the stage to get her diploma,” Bell said. “Now she’s a big person in a little body.”

Melanie says Bell has taught her so much and looks to her as a mother figure in her life.

“She always helps me out when I need her the most,” Melanie added. “At my graduation it felt good knowing she was there to support me. She helps guide me.”

Through C2C, Melanie said she’s also found a small family between other young people in the program with whom she can depend on and it’s a safe space where she never feels judged.

“Having your small group of friends is like having a small family,” Melanie said. “Maybe you guys may not have the same interests…but there’s still a connection.”

A study by the University of Chicago found that C2C helps improves school engagement and misconduct incidents were lowered. The program works with young people ages 13 to 18 and has served over 600 youth since it began in 2015.

Melanie said she’s glad she was a part of the program and is confident her life is moving in the right direction. She’s working a part-time job and plans to enroll in Richard J. Daley College in the fall.

“When you take the risk, you never know what the outcome is going to be,” Melanie said. “I knew that it was going to benefit me in such a good way, and I got something out of it.”

As for Bell, she is excited about Melanie’s future.

“I am just so proud of her,” Bell added. “I always tell my young people they are gifts. I can’t wait to have this conversation about her in five years.”

To learn more about YAP, please visit www.YAPInc.org. Follow the organization on Twitter @YAPInc.

Alameda County, Calif. — By the time Raiden was 15, he’d grown so tired of getting picked on and beat up that he figured the only way to ward off the tough guys was to become a bully himself. 

The strategy worked too well. 

“I went to juvy. I got into a lot of fights. I was an angry kid,” he said.  

When Raiden was 16, he saw a prospective victim, a man walking down the street with a backpack. It wasn’t his first time acting in the manner that followed. Raiden mugged the man and took his cellphone.  

“I thought he was dead,” he said. “I went back to see.” 

A witness spotted Raiden and ran after him until he and a police officer caught him. 

He spent nearly a year in a residential camp for youth offenders. After successfully completing the program, as part of Raiden’s transition re-entry plan, his probation officer referred him to Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. A community-based alternative to youth incarceration in 31 states and the District of Columbia, YAP began delivering services in Alameda County in late 2019.

YAP Advocates live near the young people they support. The program’s evidence-based model includes training that prepares them to help youth see their strengths and connect them with tools and resources to achieve their goals and stay on a positive track. At the same time, the Advocates connect parents and guardians with support systems they need to firm their family’s foundation. 

“Raiden has a lot of strengths. He sticks to school, and he has a job with a landscaping company,” said his YAP Advocate Tyler Livingston. “He has an amazing work ethic and drive, and he’s determined to hone in on what it takes to reach his goals.” 

With support from Tyler and his Alameda County YAP team, Raiden has come to recognize that while he made some bad youthful decisions, he has a lot of positive qualities.  

“I’m a good listener. I can get the job done. I have a good sense of humor, and I’m helpful to my little brother,” he said.  

Tyler and his YAP team helped Raiden get his driver’s license, set him up with a tutor to help him finish high school, worked with him on his resume, and took him to a job training. Since becoming Raiden’s Advocate, Tyler has been a steady source of support for him and his family.

“He switched to the Raiden I knew he could be. You don’t know how happy I am and how happy my family is,” said Raiden’s mother, Donna. “I honestly think YAP helps the whole family. I’m so happy that this program is there — not just to help me and Raiden but to help other teens.” 

Donna, a single mom to Raiden and his younger brother, works two jobs and cares for her mother, whose health is failing. She said YAP has been a source of emotional support for her, even providing a gift card to make things a little easier during the holidays. She said Tyler is making sure Raiden pays the restitution fees he owes to the court as part of completing his probation. 

“Raiden is the only one paying,” she said, adding that she tells him: “You’re working now; that’s your responsibility.” She said Raiden is also now helping with household bills. “He gives me half of his check.” 

Raiden said it feels good to be a source of pride for his family, adding that his turnaround has made a big impression on his little brother. 

“He was getting curious. He sees me home now and sees that I’m in a better situation. Now he wants to do that, too.” 

Now 18, Raiden appreciates the change he has made and the positive path that it’s put him on. At the same time, he recognizes that he still has work to do, saying he often thinks about the incident that brought him to YAP.  

“I still feel bad about it,” he said.  

Raiden is thankful that he got a second chance at life; but he’s just as grateful that his victim is able to live his.  

To learn more about YAP, please visit www.YAPInc.org. Follow the organization on Twitter @YAPInc. 

 

 

Central, PA-area Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc participants jumped at the opportunity to help artist Aryanna Tischler install a mural designed by Symone Salib for the Care, Not Control campaign. YAP is a national nonprofit that provides community-based alternatives to youth incarceration and out-of-home placements. The mural, now a permanent fixture on one of the nonprofit’s Harrisburg, PA buildings, represents the campaign’s work to end incarceration in the state.

“The artist [Tischler] was great, good with kids and personable,” said YAP Program Director Ed Harmon, who was among the nonprofit’s staff members on hand for the project.

According to Care Not Control, 1,500 youth are incarcerated in detention centers and youth prisons across the state, the vast majority of whom are kids of color. As the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Task Force votes on its youth justice recommendations to Governor Wolf, the poster campaign, which launched in Philadelphia and will continue in Pittsburgh, calls on the task force to end youth incarceration and invest in community-based supports.

Participating in the project was personal for the YAP program youth, who were aware of what the mural aims to achieve. “If you want to better the world around you, you start with your community,” Devon said. Expressing similar sentiments, Xavier saw his contribution as a chance “to build a better, positive environment for youth… It was a great experience.”

YAP’s evidence-based program model provides community-based Advocates who help youth identify their strengths and connect them with accessible tools to nurture their gifts and talents. At the same time, YAP Advocates work with parents/guardians to provide resources that help them reinforce their family’s foundation. YAP’s goal is to empower program participants to achieve their educational, emotional, and economic goals while giving back to others.

Taking part in the mural project gave Adam a chance to offer advice to other youth who might be veering onto a negative path. “Stay clean, stay drug and crime free,” he said.

Care, Not Control is a coalition of young people and youth advocates working to end youth incarceration. Together, they have created a vision for, and action steps towards, ending youth incarceration in Pennsylvania once and for all. Read more about their platform at www.carenotcontrol.com.

Learn more about YAP at www.YAPInc.org. Follow YAP on Twitter @YAPInc.

 

By owning her power, A. Toni Young is providing healthcare for hard-to-reach populations. As guest of honor for a Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. Women’s Café: A Global Perspective on Women’s Leadership, Young will share strategies for how we can all own our power to make meaningful change. The virtual event takes place Tuesday, March 30, at 11 am EST.

Young is a new member of the Board of Directors at YAP, a nonprofit that provides alternatives to youth incarceration and other forms of out-of-home placements. YAP has programs in 30 states and the District of Columbia and serves communities in Australia, Guatemala, Ireland, and Sierra Leone. The Women’s Café is one of YAP International’s global Women’s Day and Month initiatives, where guests participate in conversations about “trailblazing as we prepare for an equitable future,” said YAP International Development Director Diana Matteson. YAP’s Women’s Month programming is part of the organization’s Global Youth Voices efforts, which celebrate resilience, hope and collectively advocates for positive change for young people.

Founder and Executive Director of Community Education Group (CEG), Young is a national leader and public health activist for HIV/AIDS training and prevention. CEG is a community-based organization originally founded to provide HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention services for African American Women in urban areas. Recently opening an office in West Virginia, the nonprofit has evolved to serve all at-risk communities, including rural populations impacted by opioid-related deaths and related HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. The core of CEG’s success is the CHAMPS (Community HIV/AIDS Model Prevention Services) model, where formerly incarcerated people, rehabilitated substance users, and HIV positive individuals serve as healthcare advocates.

Young consults with the National Institutes of Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Organization, and serves as an advisor to The George Washington University District of Columbia Center for AIDS Research and the Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Services. She previously oversaw National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, sponsored by the Office on Women’s Health of the Department of Health and Human Services. Young co-chaired HIV/AIDS prevention groups in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. and has conducted international workshops on HIV/AIDS prevention in Australia, Mexico, and South Africa.

Registration at https://cutt.ly/YAPCafeATY is required to attend the event. Learn more about YAP at www.yapinc.org. Follow YAP @yapinc on Twitter.

Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. has joined fellow advocates encouraging New Jersey lawmakers to establish a two-year pilot program to transform the state’s youth justice system. YAP’s partners with systems partners to provide safe community-based alternatives to youth incarceration and congregate placements.

Community leaders, advocates and New Jersey families impacted by youth incarceration are urging for urgent passage of The Restorative and Transformative Justice for Youths and Communities Pilot Program. The bill would establish a two-year pilot program that moves $8.4 million from youth incarceration to community-based programs that incorporate restorative justice, resolving conflicts and building healthy relationships. The new community-based programs would serve youth and families in Camden, Newark, Trenton and Paterson, areas impacted by high rates of youth incarceration.

YAP NJ & DE Director of Operations Fred Fogg, whose programs serve as an alternative to youth incarceration, recently testified at a hearing on the bill, joining advocates urging urgent passage of the bill to ensure that services reach young people whose sentences are ending, in part due to legislation aimed to reduce the prison population to combat COVID-19.

Listen to testimony from Fogg and others advocating for passage of the Restorative and Transformative Justice for Youths and Communities Pilot Program bill A4663.

On Friday, Jan. 29, just about the time a nine-year-old girl was arrested, handcuffed and pepper sprayed, the Rochester Police Department got another call involving a child.

A 14-year-old boy had gotten into a physical altercation with security guards at a human services agency building in the city. In addition to calling police, a supervisor called Rochester County Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc.’s Jerome Ward. Monroe County Child and Family Services began partnering with YAP in September 2020 to provide community-based re-entry services to youths ages 13-18 transitioning home from detention, secure facilities and group foster care. Ward had become the boy’s YAP Advocate just a couple of weeks prior to the incident.

“I rushed there; because at his age, I’m sure he [the boy] didn’t realize how serious the situation was. He was in a room with two security officers, and he was riled up. I asked everyone to leave; I brought Justin [initially assigned to be the boy’s Advocate until sick leave sidelined him]. I spoke to him and had an opportunity to calm him down.”

After the talk, the boy apologized to the security guards. When three Rochester police officers showed up minutes later and began questioning him, Ward stepped in. He immediately wanted them to understand that the boy, who is Black and big for his age, is a 14-year-old child. Ward introduced himself and told them what had happened, and after a conversation, the officers agreed not to make an arrest.

Later that day, the boy heard about the incident with the nine-year-old girl. He said he easily related to what he’d heard on the news about possible mental health and other family struggles. In fact, a volatile domestic situation when he was 13 is how he ended up in a youth facility before transitioning to the foster home where he receives services from YAP.

YAP uses an evidence-based, service delivery model based on cultural competence where neighborhood-based Advocates receive specialized “wraparound” care training.

The Advocates empower program participants to see their strengths and connect them with resources to help them achieve their goals. YAP also works with the young people’s parents and guardians to connect them to basic needs resources and other tools they need to firm their family foundation.

For Ward, getting the 14-year-old to identify his strengths was not easy at first. But once the boy warmed up to him, he told Ward he’s funny, has a big heart and is good at math. He expressed anxiety about how he couldn’t wait to get back to school. In the meantime, because his foster mom works, he’d been spending his days with workers, at times, at the human services building, doing pretty much nothing, bored, which on the day of the incident, led to boiled over frustrations that he took out on office staff.

A week later, Ward has been successful in working with the boy’s social worker to get him enrolled in virtual school. He has already been thinking more seriously about his goals, saying he definitely wants to go to college. More immediately, he wants a YAP Supported Work job, where the nonprofit pays program participants’ wages while local businesses provide on-the-job training. He’s even thinking about giving some of the money to one of the security guards he got into it with. “I feel bad because I didn’t mean to break his glasses,” he said. Another goal — regaining his grandmother’s trust so that he can go back to living with her. In the meantime, he still speaks with her when he can; and the YAP team, does too.

Prior to his involvement with YAP, the boy had been in several foster settings, all in 2020. He vividly remembers his first meeting with Ward and how hopeful he felt. “We went to Altitude – a trampoline park. Then we went to Red Robin. I had a burger, a real spicy burger, a milkshake, Sprite, and fries,” he said, smiling through a mask. “Jerome was like, ‘We’re going to be together, but every day won’t be like this; we’re going to have structure,’ and stuff like that. He was going to teach me discipline and self-control.”

The boy has been thinking a lot about his four younger siblings, all in foster care, and how any one of them could have been that nine-year-old girl. He’s also thought about what could have happened to him that day at the human services building if he didn’t have an Advocate. “I could have gotten arrested — gone to detention,” he said.

He then wondered aloud what would have happened to the nine-year-old if she had an Advocate. “She wouldn’t have gotten maced and thrown into a police car. All kids deserve to have someone stand their ground, to not give up on them; to at least try.”

Learn more and follow YAP www.yapinc.org and @yapinc.

It’s February… and students at Nolan Catholic High School in Fort Worth, TX, are still receiving holiday gift thank you cards from moms, dads and guardians of Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. program participants. A national nonprofit, YAP serves as a community-based alternative to youth incarceration and out-of-home congregate placements.

YAP Southwest Regional Director Kimberly Brandon said for more years than she can count, Nolan students have collected and packed Christmas gifts for her team to deliver to area youth and families they serve. The high school’s support contributes to YAP’s success in helping program participants succeed.

Fort Worth is one of more than 150 communities in 29 states and the District of Columbia where YAP’s neighborhood-based Advocates provide intensive “wraparound” services to program youth and their families. The Advocates help young people see their strengths and guide them in creating individualized toolkits to accomplish their goals. At the same time, the specially trained Advocates work with their fellow staff members to identify accessible basic needs resources and other tools to help parents and guardians firm their family foundation.

“Nolan Catholic High School has provided holiday gifts for the young people and their entire families,” Brandon said. “This is a partnership that has been important to us every Christmas season, but especially in 2020 and now, when our program participants and their families have been struggling through the pandemic.”

To show thanks to the Nolan students, Brandon and her team are continuing their annual tradition of gathering personal notes of gratitude to share with the students.

“We have always delivered thank you cards and pictures of the youth receiving the gifts and presented them to the Nolan students with a handmade gift that they can display as a small token of our appreciation.”

Nolan students created a video last fall to help them collect donations for their YAP gifts. To learn more about YAP and how you can support local or national programs, please visit www.yapinc.org.

 

 

Written by Yavapai County (AZ) Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. Advocate Daniel Nash. YAP partners with youth justice and child welfare systems to serve as an alternative to youth incarceration and other congregate residential placements.

 

As a young boy, Ayden was full of life. He excelled in school and was placed in an academic program for gifted children. He was a skilled archer and often hunted or fished with his grandfather. Ayden also had a strong bond with dad who built custom show cars.  Some of his most cherished memories are the times he spent with his dad at the shop or playing video games together. It’s fair to say, they were best friends.

Tragically, at the age of 9, Ayden lost his dad and best friend to suicide. He was separated from his mother and was placed with his younger sister to live with their grandparents. He began counseling and was only allowed to see his mother during supervised visits.

By the age of 14, Ayden had lost interest in school, become involved in drugs, and had been arrested and placed on probation.Counseling and supervised visits with mom continued but the rules of probation excluded him from core family activities like hunting, firearm training, and archery. Ayden’s local extended family in which his grandparents are actively involved with had also grown. Their time became divided and Ayden slowly withdrew from other family events.

When Ayden was referred to Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. at 16, he was just a shell of a person. I was fortunate to be assigned his Advocate. At YAP Advocates work with young people to help them see their strengths.

We connect them and their parents or guardians with tools to help them achieve their goals. When YAP assigned Ayden to work with me, he had been on probation for almost three years, was in and out of group homes, had been through various rehabilitation programs, and was cut off from friends and social media. Conflict with family members was an almost daily event and he had achieved just a handful of credits toward high school graduation. Ayden’s attitude toward most things was generally negative including his introduction to the YAP program. He voiced his only positive moments as those spent playing hockey which he uses as an outlet for his anger and aggression. Ayden’s probation officer had had recently facilitated his entry into a temporary job assignment and outlined a school schedule that would require double the work in order to graduate with his class.

As Ayden and I began building our relationship, it came to light that many of the goals initially established during the initial YAP intake were not his own and that he was less than enthusiastic about reaching them. We openly discussed the reality of completing high school graduation as outlined. We discussed family dynamics and identified where and how conflict erupted.  Real goals, some of which relied on the completion of others, were slowly identified. Ayden is a brilliant young man with great potential. His logic-based mind plotted a course to reaching his actual goals, which included replacing the high school graduation plan with a GED. This would allow for a full-time job and subsequently moving out on his own while enrolling in community college. Other goals included a cell phone, contact with friends, a car and driver’s license, and of course to be off of probation.

At the time of this writing, Ayden has completed his temporary job assignment and used his very first paycheck to personalize his bedroom, thus creating a comforting space to retreat to during conflict. He gained full time employment at Walmart and purchased a video game console to add to his comforts. Ayden and I worked together to convince his guardian grandparents to withdraw him from public school and he is now actively pursuing a GED through the community college. Reduced family conflict opened the door for a cell phone, which he purchased with his own earnings and friend privileges have been restored. Ayden has saved thousands of dollars, passed the online test for a driver permit, and has been released from probation over a month early. He has plans to purchase a truck from an out-of-state aunt which he will retrieve via a road trip with his grandfather. Although there are still challenges ahead, Ayden, with the help of YAP and the supportive members of his community, has redirected his course and he is now on a path that will work for him, a path to success.  My YAP team and I wish him well on his journey.