Just Us 4 Youth

CONNECT PROGRAM
Build Community & Grow Together

The Connect program’s ultimate goal is to provide long-term mentoring by passing on key life skills. This is carried out through four (4) stages of development: Come, Connect, Grow, and Lead. Students come and participate in fun community events and meet our volunteer and staff mentors. We then connect with students in smaller groups with our clusters (which are like clubs) and our Thursday Mentor Night events.
We have an intentional matching plan to connect mentors with students in order to help them grow and enter into a 6-week plan. Finally, students are given an opportunity to become next-generation leaders in their own communities by entering into our leadership development certification course.

Benefits | Connect improves character, keeps students busy and learning, teaches life skills such as cooking, finance, and job preparedness. Connect offers creative art and self-care activities for health and wellness. Connect creates a community for all teens who may be suffering from social-emotional trauma
or stress. Connect can also function as an after-school option.

Specifications | Our team communicates to all partners through individual and corporate communication on a weekly basis. The program has communication and data systems in place to ensure partners are kept in the loop and see the progress and impact of services provided.

We try to help teach the youth to develop the proper skills and productive interactions needed in the workplace. The internship program exists to creatively prepare the youth to work. We seek to identify their strengths and build their professional development. We connect and create relationships with local businesses to provide youth with career opportunities after internships .

RES’Q is a hybrid student recovery program. It focuses on aggressive outreach to reconnect students on their academic journey. We employ several outreach strategies to assist students to succeed in their academics and in life. Mentors outreach and build rapport with students to earn their trust and ensure their academic progress. With declining enrollment nationally and with distance learning models becoming more prevalent, we believe RES’Q is an essential program that would assist districts to provide quality education and services to their students and families.

Benefits | RES’Q increases graduation rates and decreases dropout. It increases attendance and decreases absenteeism and truancy. RES’Q increases ADA, student productivity, and supports distance
learning models. RES’Q provides academic mentoring and connective and navigation services.

Specifications | Our partners provide our staff with a list of identified students who are to benefit from the program. Partners complete referrals, provide us with contact sheets, and this initiates our services. Our staff then begin aggressive outreach to reconnect students. Our team communicates to all partner staff through individual and corporate communication on a weekly basis. They navigate the resources available to students and families and begin to “case manage” each student to ensure they are linked with resources that assist them to engage their education, complete academic work, and attend school. The program has communication and data systems in place to ensure partners are kept in the loop and see the progress and impact of services provided.

TAY PROGRAM

Transitional Age Youth (TAY) Emergency Housing

The JU4Y Transitional Age Youth is a transitional housing opportunity that is offered to homeless youth who are in need of a stable home so they can take the proper steps to get their lives back in order. Through case management, individualized service plans are developed with clients to determine the resources available to help them transition to more stable and self-sufficient lifestyles. Clients are required to work, go to
school, job search, and pay rent.

Benefits | Basic needs such as shelter, food, and clothing are provided. Homelessness is negated. Addiction is curbed. Mental health is improved. Stability is provided. Quality mentoring is offered. Vocational opportunities are made available. Structure and discipline is cultivated. Crime is positively impacted.

KEEP is a hybrid, restorative tutoring program that assists youth to succeed academically. Our hybrid program supports distance learning and traditional models. Tutors provide restorative services to students in need of academic support, mentoring, and tutoring. Tutors build relationships with students, create healthy and structured environments for students to attend and complete work, and they practice restorative rhythms to ensure a vibrant and healthy environment for study. KEEP increases GPA, increases course work completion, provides academic tutoring, academic mentoring, and conducive tutoring environments for students.

Benefits | KEEP increases GPA, increases course work completion, provides academic tutoring, academic mentoring, and conducive tutoring environments for students.

Specifications | Our tutoring programs can roll out in three (3) ways. Our traditional in-person model partners provide JU4Y with room for use. The program can be an open or focused program. Partners can make it a drop-in service or they can refer identified students to receive this intervention and support. Our hybrid model is by appointment. Students involved in distance learning can utilize our website and booking system to secure a private appointment with a tutor for support. A tutor can be performed on a virtual platform. Our staff leverage several online tools to enhance the tutoring experience for our students. The program has communication and data systems in place to ensure partners are kept in the loop and see the progress and impact of services provided.

Youth 2 Work

The Y2W program is a 6-week course that covers all areas of professional development. Youth will have the opportunity to sit in live interviews showcasing the skills they have developed. The program facilitator provides an in-depth breakdown of the program curriculum. Our local partners provide real-life work experiences as well as job opportunities conditional on successful program completion. Y2W helps enrich the local economy by encouraging youth to seek employment with local businesses.

Benefits | Successful completion of the program sets the foundation for youth to enter the workforce. Y2W helps enrich the local economy by encouraging youth to seek employment with local businesses. Our program also serves as an after-school program, connecting youth with professional role models that serve as an introductory resource to the professional world.

Purpose | Provide youth with job training and professional development.

PAC’D provides a hybrid intervention for students who are struggling with addictive behaviors. Our facilitators provide in-person and virtual drug and alcohol support groups that are restorative in nature. This occurs at least once a week and we utilize the SMART (Self-Management and Recovery Training) curriculum to guide identified students through an 8-week course. We are creative and leverage a non-traditional approach to rehabilitation. We are partnered with outside agencies to appropriately refer when a student needs more extensive support i.e residential rehabilitation.

Benefits | PAC’D decreases addictive behavior and promotes rehabilitation and sobriety. It improves the campus climate and culture. Improves student performance, attendance, and academic focus. Provides quality tier 2 and 3 interventions. Provides mentoring and sponsorship.

Specifications | Our partners provide our staff with a list of identified students who are to benefit from the program. Partners complete referrals, provide us with contact sheets, and this initiates our services. Our staff then begin to meet in person or virtually with students in groups or in a 1 on 1 setting depending on each case. Our team communicates to all partner staff through individual and corporate communication on a weekly basis. The program has communication and data systems in place to ensure partners are kept in the loop and see the progress and impact of services provided.

TREE is a hybrid support program for parents. It engages parents and provides them with mentoring, diverse learning opportunities through professional presentations and training, and it provides restorative circles to create healthy environments for parents to heal and find community amongst one another. TREE improves parenting skills, provides mentoring to parents, assists to create home environments that encourage learning, improves parent and child relationships, provides a community for parents, increases parent participation, and more.

Benefits | TREE improves parenting skills, provides mentoring to parents, assists to create home environments that encourage learning, improves parent and child relationships, provides a community for parents, increases parent participation, and more.

Specifications | Our program is hybrid and therefore can meet in-person or on a virtual platform. We work with partners to identify parents who would benefit from services. We have diverse, dynamic, and bilingual trainers who provide quality parent learning presentations, facilitate restorative circles, mentor, and coach. We work with partners and parents to select topics that are relevant and speak to the needs of each parent group. We have a series of identified presentations that we provide our partners to choose from, but we are flexible and craft presentations to speak to unique needs. The program has communications and data systems in place to ensure partners are kept in the loop and see the program and impact of services provided.

Building Community and Connectedness Between Students and Teachers

Foundations curriculum provides quality content developed to create intentional conversation and self-reflection around social-emotional topics. The easy-to-follow lessons are to be facilitated by teachers who will also participate in these healthy discussions. Through a variety of topics, students build connections with their peers and their teachers by getting a better understanding of others’ perspectives while also having a safe space to share their own thoughts.

Benefits | The Foundations program decreases the amount of conflict on campus and the amount of disruption in the classroom. It assists to improve student character and leadership, GPA, and campus culture and climate. It promotes restorative justice and restorative practices directly in students and school-wide.

Specifications | We provide a detailed curriculum and facilitator guide for your teachers. The program is designed with the flexibility of being implemented during a 15-20 minute advisory period. Our program includes guided discussions, community circles, video-guided meditations, and much more. Also built into the program are our vital check-ins to identify students who may be in need of further interventions and small goal setting to encourage growth and collectively celebrate small victories.

GROW
Provide a Restorative Training Program for Educators and Those Who Serve At-Promise Youth

Agencies that Benefit from GROW Trainings | Educators, Youth Organizations, Faith-based Partners, Parents, and Community members

Benefits | Trainees will receive holistic, restorative training with an urban emphasis. Our training provides participants with the core competencies for educating and mentoring youth. With a wide scope of offerings, partners can select a training track that will meet the particular needs of their agency.

Specifications |
- Our trainings are typically 1-hour sessions.
- Trainings can be expanded to provide 2-3 hour "Deep Dive".
- JU4Y can craft specific trainings to meet agency needs.
- JU4Y trainers are diverse and dynamic communicators.
- We train teams of all sizes. Our hourly training rate includes up to 30 participants.
- JU4Y provides surveys to partners to ensure accuracy and excellence.

Top 10 trainings:
- Creating a restorative (classroom) culture
- How to facilitate and implement restorative circles (in the classroom)
- A deep dive on restorative discipline
- The 3 C's | Staying compassionate, consistent, and creative
- The Urban Reality | trauma-informed mentoring (educating)
- Empowering leadership in at-promise students
- Cultivating transparency and vulnerability
- Building meaningful relationships with youth
- Mentoring (educating) during a crisis
- Mentoring (educating) gang-affiliated youth

Our team communicates to all partners through individual & corporate communication. The program has communication & data systems in place to ensure partners are kept in the loop and see the progress & impact of services provided.