YAP, Inc.The Neighborhood Advocate

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.

Some young people coming home from youth prisons under New Jersey’s new COVID-19 public health emergency law will get care packages from Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc., the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ), and justice-reform themed apparel company, FCK Prison.

YAP partners with systems across the U.S. to provide community-based alternatives to youth incarceration and placement. The nonprofit will provide re-entry and aftercare services to some of the recently released NJ youth. NJISJ exposes and repairs the foundation of structural racism and advocates for systemic reform nationally. Founded by Shawn Hartwell in 2018 after he returned home from prison, the FCK Prison brand has grown in popularity with activists and celebrities.

The care packages include masks, socks, a donated gift card from NJISJ, and contact information for regional YAP office leaders, who will provide Hartwell’s new Forget Prison collection warmup suits to the first 50 youths who connect with them.

“Like YAP, NJISJ and Shawn’s company are focused on lifting up and bringing opportunities to young people who too often fall through systemic cracks,” said YAP Northern-Metro New Jersey and Delaware Director of Operations Fred Fogg. “We’re grateful to NJISJ and Shawn for this opportunity to let these young people know we are here for them.”

Fogg is working with NJISJ to distribute the care packages to the young people as they return to their communities.

NJISJ and other advocates pushed for the Public Health Emergency Credits legislation to reduce the prison population to combat COVID-19 among incarcerated people and correctional staff in New Jersey. The state has had some of the highest rates of COVID-19 infection and death rates in the U.S. The new law provides a way for incarcerated adults and youth whose sentences are ending within a year to shave months off their sentences.

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