Authentic Youth
Engagement with High and
Complex Need Youth
YAP is a nationally recognized, nonprofit organization
exclusively committed to the provision of communitybased alternatives to out-of-home care
through direct service, advocacy and policy change.
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Chicago YAP
Chicago
YAP Staff
The Safely Home Campaign
A web-based, nationwide YAP-lead campaign that
promotes the belief that community-based
alternatives for young people should be the norm and
out-of-home placements the exception, not the other
way around.
Collaborative Campaign: Partners
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The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth
The Campaign for Youth Justice
Children and Family Justice Center of Northwestern University School of Law
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice
Community Connections for Youth
First Focus
The Forum for Youth Investment
The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
Justice Policy Institute
The National Collaboration for Youth, representing 40 youth-serving organizations
National Juvenile Justice Network
Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers
Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association
SparkAction
Strive DC
The W. Haywood Burns Institute
Why this Campaign
 More than 500,000 youth and young people in out-ofhome placements, Detention centers, incarceration,
residential treatment centers, other institutions /
congregate care facilities
 More than 61,000 youth incarcerated on any given
night (detention, residential & state / federal
incarceration)
 More than 400,000 youth in child welfare system,
with more than 50,000 living in institutions
Locked Up & Left Out
Out of Home Placements:
•Put youth at additional risk (trauma,
abuse, etc.)
•Don’t meet underlying needs
•Separate youth from their families
and emotional supports
Many Community-Based Programs
•Exclusionary criteria often limits youth
with highest need
•Compliance requirements often eject
youth with highest need
•Interventions are based on the
program, not based on the youth’s need
The Solution
Focus on Meeting Underlying Needs not Services
• Individualize services
– Enables creativity in response
– Close gaps
– Allow for non-traditional
services
The Solution
• Engage families and youth to have voice and choice
in what happens to them
• Support & develop public policies that incentivize
keeping families together
• Redirect resources from out-of-home placements to
intensive community-based program
• Replace out-of-home placements with community
programs that can reach young people
• Help government and communities build their
capacities
Seven Goals of the Safely Home
Campaign
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Educate and inform
Reduce out-of-home placements
Redirection
Expand community-based alternatives
Reduce overrepresentation of youth of color
Improve community safety
Increase successful outcomes for youth
National Report:
Released June 24, 2014
• Target advocates and policymakers
• Describe elements of effective community-based
programs
• Highlight “bright spots”
• Support states and localities in reducing use of
incarceration for high-need youth
• Elevate youth voices
Genesis, Goals & Key Messages
• Create continuums for all kids; meet the kid, not the
file
• Recognize the value of community: Virtually anything
that can be done in an institution can be done better
in the community
• Systems have the money to pay for more effective
and less expensive community programs - redirection
• Communities can’t climb out of poverty,
neighborhood violence, etc. through
institutionalization, especially of their youth
• Effective programs up to serve more youth in the
community (especially high-need youth) should be
scaled up
How you can help: Partners
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Collaborative Campaign
Blog posts
Sharing via social media (hashtag #safelyhome)
Presentations / conferences where joint missions
Keep us informed and share stories
– Resources
– Youth & Family Stories, sharing space
– Let us know of good works happening that we can highlight
• Legislation
• Policy
• Direct Service
How you can help
• Keep us informed about what’s happening in your
community, county, state
• Share stories of success for us to highlight in our
newsletter
• Help us expand our reach
• Drive other ideas – how else can we work together to
help youth?
Social Media
w: www.safelyhomecampaign.org
e: safelyhome@yapinc.org
: Like us on Facebook
@kidssafelyhome
@yapinc
Thank you!
Dave Williams, drwilliams@yapinc.org
Regional Director, Chicago
Shaena Fazal, sfazal@yapinc.org
National Policy Director, Washington, DC
Steve Gates, sgates@yapinc.org
Program Director, Chicago