Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. leaders and board members took to Capitol Hill this month for the organization’s first Hill Day to raise awareness of and advocate for the nonprofit’s programs.
“We met with over 40 staffers for both the House and Senate. We met with both Democrats and Republicans. We will continue to do a Hill Day every year,” said YAP President and CEO Gary Ivory. “Now, we need to do the follow up and invite them to visit our local programs.”
Founded in 1975, YAP delivers safe, effective and economical community-based wraparound and behavioral health services as an alternative to youth incarceration, child welfare group homes, psychiatric treatment facilities and other out-of-home placements. The national nonprofit partners with youth justice, child welfare, education, behavioral health, and other systems in communities in 35 states and Washington, D.C. The evidence-based YAP youth and family wraparound services model has also been effective in helping cities curb neighborhood violence.
YAP Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs Tim Ragland coordinated the advocacy day with support from Jenny Collier and her team at Collier Collective.
“I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for your participation in YAP’s Hill Day and for the time, energy, and passion you dedicated to advocating on behalf of our mission,” Ragland said to the YAP Hill Day team. “Your efforts are instrumental in helping us build relationships with lawmakers and further our work to serve youth, families, and communities across the country.”
YAP Board Chair GA State Rep. Teddy Reese and fellow board members Thomas Foster, Husnah Khan, Stephen Ward and Heather Wenzel, joined YAP President and CEO Gary Ivory and fellow YAP leaders Fred Fogg, Chantal Jones, E’Ron Leveston, Diana Matteson, Linda Randby, David R. Williams, Kelly Williams and Justin Jarvis, a YAP IREX Community Solutions Program fellow from Trinidad & Tobago.
In addition to sharing success stories, the YAP Hill Day team had some specific policy requests, including that Congress reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA). The JJDPA provides federal-state partnership standards for justice-involved youth while also upholding the interest of community safety. The act established the National Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which provides training, technical assistance, model programs, and research and evaluation of programs.
YAP is also requesting that Members of Congress include YAP as a recipient of Congressionally Directed Spending in their states to create new programs that incorporate its services. The nonprofit’s Hill Day team also asked for continued support for Community Violence Intervention Programs which the nonprofit operates in cities across the U.S.
Learn more about YAP’s services at yapinc.org.