One of Philadelphia’s oldest organizations in the youth justice services sphere has received a boost for one of their programs. Boeing has offered Youth Advocate Programs Philadelphia a three-year, $300,000 grant to continue funding YAPWORX employment readiness training that reduces recidivism and provides new experiences for underserved teens.
The YAP programs provide programming for youth who have been arrested and entered the Family Courts in an effort to reduce recidivism and give them an opportunity to pursue job training while living at home and avoiding serving sentences at juvenile facilities. The grant, announced last month, extends what was a one-year, $100,000 award, and is part of Boeing’s ongoing efforts to reduce gun violence in Philadelphia.
YAP Supported Work, which pairs participants with local businesses, has been a major element of YAP’s work in Philadelphia since the 1970s. YAPWorx, which provides volunteer opportunity for professional to mentor students by and “create otherwise hard-to-come by social capital connections,” as YAP describes it, started seven years ago.
Students in the programs also get opportunities for field trips, like touring St. Joseph’s University and nature activities in Bartram’s Gardens.
The students in the YAP Supported Work program work up to 20 hours a week, with most taking weekend assignments with local businesses. Those going through the judicial process sometimes have restrictions on movement, which can prevent them from pursuing job opportunities. One student, Aniya, (whose last name has been withheld for privacy reasons) entered the program last year and is currently working at a funeral home.
“They all have something that they want to achieve in life,” Aniya said about her cohort in the program. “As for people in school, they know what they want to do and they’re not too sure about it. I think everybody here is more sure about what they want to do or accomplish.”
Aniya decided to pursue a career in funeral services after going through the grief of losing her grandparents, including the grandmother who raised her and was her “best friend,” before she graduated eighth grade. After discussing it with her mom and the YAP team, she was asked to do research on funeral costs. In a weekend, she prepared a full report that “floored” the funeral home director at the Jackson-Joynes Funeral Home on North 12th Street. In her work, she helps families confront and navigate the grief she’s felt, and wants to earn a mortuary license after she graduates from Martin Luther King Jr. High School.
According to YAP, a Baltimore YAPWORX impact analysis from 2019 found 88% of participants showed significant improvement in industry-specific skills and behaviors. The program also had a significant impact on the motivation of participants to complete high school or post-secondary education.
Students like Aniya who have been adjudicated get recommended for the program by their case workers who think they have the ambition to take advantage of this opportunity. Applicants go through two rounds of interviews that feel like conversations with staff members to determine a fit.
The current grant has allowed for four cohort groups to start with YAP Philly. Seven were selected from 200 applicants, aged 15 to 19, to create Aniya’s cohort, which meets on Monday and Friday evenings from 3 to 8 p.m. Other groups, like the Evening Reporting Center, usually have 15 per group that are on GPS Monitoring and meet every night after school.
YAP Supported Work provides structure in their programming. Cell phones are collected when participants arrive. Students are fed during the sessions. The programming also provides career and technical education students may not encounter if their high school is focused more on preparing for post-secondary studies.
“I can’t expect you to sit here and focus if your basic needs aren’t met,” said YAP Philadelphia Assistant Director Amelia Mullock. “It’s a no-judgement zone in here. You can say what you want, you can dress how you want. Just show up. I need you to show up and kind of buy in to what we’re laying down for you. I just need you here at the table and then we can take the next steps.”
When asked about her experience with YAP Supported Work, Aniya said, “I feel like I’m heard more,” compared to being in school.
With the new funds, Mullock hopes to connect with more local businesses for both programs. 20 companies in the city have partnered with YAP to hire and mentor students in these programs. YAP Philly covers the first few paychecks for the hired participants and the employers take over after that.
Michele Hengey, community investor for Boeing, said the grant money focuses on a company goal to remove barriers for people of color involved in the criminal justice system and help lower recidivism rates.
The investment will start in Philadelphia, with three YAPWORX cohort groups of 30, before expanding to New Jersey for year two and Delaware for year three. Hengey did state that Boeing is committing to keeping 90 participants in Philadelphia each year.
“By bringing a YAP program into these communities it provides judges, probation officers, caseworkers and others with an option that safely supports and preserves families,” Hengey’s statement emailed to the Tribune reads in part. “YAP’s model promotes individual and family wellbeing, community safety, decreased recidivism, and more effective and racially equitable systems. This program impacts the community and provides safe communities by reducing engagement in criminal and violent behavior along with providing support to heal the family as a whole.”
