Youth Justice Fund

Our wraparound program model recognizes that supports and resources will be unique to each participant. The Welcome Home phase starts by building trust and rapport with the client. Clients often need time to process prison trauma after release so this time serves as a "debrief," swapping prison stories with our executive director and volunteers, who are also formerly incarcerated, and creating a safe space to express their fears or concerns post-release. During this time, YJF staff assess the needs of the client and, together, they create an individualized success plan. The Getting Settled phase is focused on connecting clients to services identified in their individualized success plan, prioritizing basic needs, like housing, health, food, transportation, employment, education. The Building Community phase has two parts: developing a broad network of community supporters (i.e. employers, housing partners, mental health providers, etc.) and providing peer-to-peer mentoring with formerly incarcerated leaders to help empower our clients and help them become civically engaged.