Alameda County, Calif. – Dorian Glover said one of Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. Alameda County’s biggest success stories is of a participant who has housing challenges but still goes to school and work every day.
“This youth, despite being homeless and everything he is dealing with, is still engaged in school and wants to do the right thing,” Glover said. “His resiliency has been amazing. He stays at home and does not get into trouble. We have to remember that at the end of the day these are still kids.”
YAP®’s Alameda County program participants are young people ages 14-21 who are on probation and referred to the nonprofit by Alameda County Probation Department as an alternative to incarceration and residential facilities. YAP® assigns the youth to a staff Advocate who delivers family-centered, accountability-focused, strength-based services. Working with probation officers, YAP® staff create an individualized service plan for participants, connecting them and their parents/guardians or other family members with individualized economic, emotional and educational support tools.
“I can say the one thing that [YAP] does differently than other organizations is supporting youth and their families,” Glover said. “I think the family piece is a big thing.”
Through the nonprofit’s donor supported Investing in Economic Mobility program, participants and their family receive assistance with housing, workforce development, utilities, tuition and other basic needs resources.
“When youth leave us, they have somewhere to go within the community or they know where to find someone who can connect them to what they need,” Glover added.
Glover has led YAP® Alameda County since November 2025 and has a passion for working with youth. Prior to YAP®, he worked with young people across the bridge in San Francisco County, and previously worked with adults who had been systems involved.
“I was looking to be challenged in a different way, so I took the leap of faith to work with YAP,” Glover said.
Located near the Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, YAP® Alameda County has a spacious office where program participants feel welcome to attend group sessions, meet with their Advocate or other participants, play video games, relax, or play basketball.
“As I spend more time with YAP, there are so many different reasons why this program works,” Glover added.
With four employee Advocates, YAP® Alameda County has 15 program participants, but can service up to 25 at any time. YAP®’s Alameda County Program Coordinator Christopher Neal, who started as a part-time Advocate, said the team isn’t large, but is close-knit and supportive of the youth and families they serve.
“Providing wraparound support, in addition to having Advocates from the area, helps us to be able to relate to youths,” Neal said. “Youth have an opportunity to engage with one another and we collaborate with other organizations that helps us to provide even more support to our youth.”
YAP® is a national nonprofit in 32 states and Washington, D.C., that partners with youth justice, child welfare, behavioral health, and other systems to provide community-based alternatives to youth incarceration and other congregate residential placements.
For more information on YAP®, visit yapinc.org.
