Youth intervention programs are community-based, effective solutions for Minnesota youth and their families. These programs intervene precisely at the time when youth are starting to experience difficulty or have committed their first crime. “Youth intervention work is the ability to connect with kids before they develop serious and chronic problems. We have a problem in our society in that we let so many of these kids fall through the cracks, and when they fall through the cracks, we end up dealing with them as adults,” said Paul Meunier, YIPA executive director. The Youth Intervention Programs Association is an advocate organization that supports hundreds of youth intervention programs across Minnesota. YIPA advocates for policy changes and youth intervention funding at the state capitol and is seeking an increase in funding to meet demand. RELATED LINKS: Over the last several months YIPA has held six summits around the state to connect decision makers and youth intervention professionals to start a dialogue about at-risk youth in our communities. “We have to change the minds of decision-makers at all levels, the business community, the local governments, the county governments. So, we held a series of six, from at risk to full potential, youth summits throughout the state of Minnesota, we had one in Brainerd, one in Marshall, one in Moorhead, one in Duluth, and one in Rochester, and this is our final one in the greater Twin Cities area. The purpose of this, is to start a dialogue,” said Meunier. From the perspective of youth intervention workers, if you do not invest up front you ending up paying more in the long run. “What we need to do is convince the hearts and minds and souls of people across the state of Minnesota, to take some of this money in the backend, when it’s too late, when we have failed the people that are going to be consumers, and put it up front and help these people become successful adults,” said Meunier. “The single most important thing we can do to reduce crime in our communities, is to invest time, energy, and resources in our children,” said James Backstrom, a Dakota County Attorney. “We commissioned a social return on investments study with the Wilder Foundation and the University of Minnesota, and they took all the different variables into play, those two different paths that I was talking about and they found for every $1 you invest in a youth intervention program, it returns $4.89. What’s beautiful about the YIPA grant at the state capitol, is in order to get some of that funding you have to have $1 of a local match. So, for state tax-payer dollars, the return on investment is almost $10 to 1,” said Meunier. Trenton Washington was a kid heading down the wrong path in life. He was expelled from his school, in trouble with the law and had a very dim future. After two years on a waiting list he was finally accepted into a youth intervention program and he life has been transformed. “Now, I am succeeding at school, I am in all accelerated classes and I have over a 3.7 GPA, and I am not getting into any more trouble. Instead of being known as a thief and a failing student, I am known as a young polite gentleman, as an excellent student,” said Trenton Washington a Youth Intervention Mentoree. Trenton is not the only example of success. Local non-profit Lee Carlson Center for Mental Health and Well Being has been a recipient of youth intervention grant dollars and has used it to partner with local school districts to provide mental health services to hundreds of students. “We’ve got groups, kids of all ages reading together on certain topics. They go through a course curriculum, multi-weeks. They start to really bond with each other and the peers in that group really help take care of one another and really help build that resiliency and strength in moving forward through the obstacles, the barriers, the challenges that they face. And they’re just real issues that just need time and attention,” said Rob Edwards Executive Director of the Lee Carlson Center. In the Centennial School District students as young as 3 or 4 years old have access to mental health professionals. “I believe that the earlier that you get to the students that has these needs, the better,” said Dave Thacker Special Education Director of Centennial Schools. Just in the Centennial School District there are nearly 200 students that are benefitting from a youth intervention program. At risk youth are in every community and YIPA is working to have more success stories like Trenton, a young man who used to steal food from the store who now has high expectations of himself and high aspirations for his future. “I want to go to college and I want to finish high school with a 3.5 GPA,” said Washington. To learn more about YIPA, the Lee Carlson Center or Bolder Options click on the Related Links.
Youth Intervention Creates Opportunities for Success
BLAINE, Minn. – (Dec. 10, 2015) – “Youth Intervention works and it is vital to the success of our collective future,” said James Stuart, Anoka County Sheriff.
