Alternative Youth Development Programs Safe & Success Youth Initiative (SSYI)/ Lawrence Youth Team (LYT) LFDEF, Inc. took on a new youth development endeavor during FY’15. At the request of the City of Lawrence and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, LFDEF, Inc. assumed management of the Lawrence Safe and Successful Youth Initiative Program and the Lawrence Youth Team. Created to reach the most proven‐risk men in the City, this year the Lawrence Youth Team reached out to 107 young men ages 14‐24 and sixty‐four (64) of these young men engaged with the program. As part of a 7‐component intervention model, the Lawrence Youth Team places clients into subsidized and unsubsidized employment. During FY’15, 28 young men maintained subsidized employment through the program. Eight (8) of those young men moved through various components and obtained unsubsidized employment. Of the 107 young men referred to the Lawrence Youth Team during FY’15, only 7 were arrested or picked up for parole probation violations, setting a 7% recidivism rate. This is below the Massachusetts average of 16%. In the Spring of 2015, LFDEF, Inc. was awarded an additional SSYI grant to increase the number of subsidized positions available during the summer months, and through this funding employed 40 highrisk youth. I grew up in Chicago and moved to Lawrence at an early age. I got arrested for the first time when I was 13 for trespassing and drug distribution. I continued to run with the wrong crowds. Before I ended up with the Lawrence Youth Team, I had been arrested 2 times, but released on bail. When Edgar, of the Lawrence Youth Team tracked me down, I was initially hesitant about getting involved. However, since I have been working with the SSYI program, I received my Hi-SET, moved into my own apartment and have not been arrested for over a year. I was able to get out of a gang and am now planning to enroll in college. Without the Lawrence Youth Team and the SSYI program, I might be selling drugs, gang involved and not have a place to live today. Today, Angel is a proud member of the Lawrence Youth Team. LFDEF, INC FY’2014‐2015 ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 7
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