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NJ YAP DIRECTOR RECEIVES AWARD FOR WORK IN DMC
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YAP Director Lamont Fauntleroy received the "Courageous Leadership Award" from the W. Haywood Burns Institute in January 2014 for his work addressing disproportionate minority contact in Atlantic County, NJ.
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AECF Releases Publication:
Closing Massachusetts' Training Schools - Reflections 40 Years Later
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The recently issued Annie E. Casey Foundation publication, Closing Massachusetts' Training Schools: Reflections 40 Years Later, chronicles a December 2011 symposium hosted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Youth Advocate Programs, Inc.
The symposium, attended by more than 100 of the nation's leading juvenile justice experts, was convened to remember and reconsider a historic reform campaign - the closure of Massachusetts' entire network of juvenile reform schools in the early 1970s.
The hope is that this publication will continue to inform and inspire much needed reform to the nation's juvenile justice systems.
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"Safely Home" showcases the power of the YAP model across diverse geographies and demographics by sharing the stories of youth and staff in three different YAP locations: urban Chicago, Orange County, NY, and rural Louisiana.
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YAP serves over 10,000 families a year in more than 100 programs across 17 states in rural, suburban and urban areas. LEARN MORE |
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NEW FINDINGS SUPPORT INTENSITY AND FLEXIBILITY OF YAP SERVICES
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Young People Remain Engaged Over Time
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 YAP's intensive, flexible wraparound model accommodates a variety of individual circumstances in both urban and rural areas according to a newly released data analysis by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The May 2014 edition of YAPfacts is the second in a series of John Jay's issue briefs focused on juvenile justice youth served by YAP's community-based programs across the country. John Jay researchers examined 3,523 of YAP's juvenile justice referred cases. YAPfacts (May 2014) is a data analysis of these youth in terms of service intensity, dosage, duration and related factors. Analysis by gender, age and region is included in the report. The findings support the intensity and flexibility of YAP services to meet individual needs of juvenile justice involved and cross-over youth. YAP's successful outcomes for youth and families- including those with most complex needs -reflect the soundness of this approach. John Jay's first report (YAPfacts April 2014) revealed that 83% of these youth remained free of arrest during their participation in YAP. The vast majority- 93%-remained in the community at the time of their discharge from YAP. Read the full John Jay issue brief. |
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CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS DAY
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A New Look at Mental Health Services
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On May 8, 2014, national policymakers and over 1,000 communities and organizations, including Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP), observed National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day. Awareness Day was developed in 2005 by a partnership of mental health and substance abuse treatment agencies to promote awareness of the importance of recognizing children's mental health issues.
YAP is among those who believe that this is also a time to focus on in-home and community-based mental health services for children and adolescents in need. The data, some of which is outlined below, clearly identifies the existing needs and problems and a growing body of research supports the benefits of in-home, community-based care.
It is estimated that at least one in five children and adolescents is affected by a mental health disorder. Sadly, reports also show that as many as four out of five children do not receive the mental health services they need.
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YAP TRAINING IN "FAMILY FINDING"
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Creating Permanent, Lifelong Connections to Family
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Over 30 YAP leaders recently received training in "Family Finding" from Mike Mertz of the National Institute for Permanent Family Connectedness. Family Finding, a model developed by Kevin Campbell, offers methods and strategies to locate and engage relatives of children currently living in out-of-home care with the goal of creating permanent, lifelong connections to family.
The connection to family is as basic of a need to a young person as food and shelter, and arguably as important. Unfortunately, close to 400,000 children find themselves in the foster care system each year; of these youth, there are over 20,000 a year who exit the foster care system through "emancipation," meaning that they age out of the system without achieving permanency through reunification, adoption or guardianship. Research on homelessness and poverty found that 49% of youth who aged out of care in 2002 and 2003 were homeless at some point over the next three years. Additionally, 43% dropped out of high school. Despite these negative outcomes, long-term foster care continues to be the identified permanency goal for 5% of youth in out of home placement, propelling them into the category of youth who age out of the system without a permanent resource.
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