Services We Provide

New Jersey Youth Corps - Newark, Essex County

Services We Provide

Youth Leadership

One stop Community Services Center - Essex County

• Career Consulting
• Career Development
• Academics

Process For Joining I. Y. O.

1.        Walk in or be referred my individuals, school, or other agency.

2.        Initial interview to determine which programs will be most interesting and of the greatest benefit to the individual.

3.        To complete intake process, one must bring proof of age and social security number. If under 18, a parent or          
           guardian must come in with the individual. Meet staff, see facilities and sign agreements so staff can work with       
           local school for academic skills improvement.

Funding is received from governmental agencies as well as private foundations and concerned individuals such as you.

YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Youth Leadership Development teaches youth the value of volunteerism and civic awareness while providing leadership training and individual and group problem-solving skills.

• Fosters group and individual pride
• Introduces youth to career opportunities
• Teaches the importance of individual and community development
• Encourages youth to work as a team to identify problems and implement effective strategies to resolve them
• Provides an opportunity for youth to become involved in the IYO Youth Leadership Councils (both Junior and Senior) and to work with representatives from other agencies and groups. (This program also includes the IYO 'Latch Key' component.)

All of IYO's programs are enhanced by supportive activities including: computer literacy training; structured recreation and physical fitness; IYO-Victoria Training in Basic Skills (TIBS) tutorial and homework assistance; and civic, cultural, and educational field trips.

In addition, all IYO participants and their families have available to them the services of clinical psychologists who are regularly on premises and are on call 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

JEDI (Juvenile Enrichment and Development Institute) provides individual and family counseling and supportive services. JEDI serves youth with documented behavior problems who are prepared to enter a structured environment with on-site supervision and regularly scheduled activities.

• Provides intensive counseling to help youth solve problems and help strengthen family ties
• Encourages socialization and cultural and educational development through IYO on-site activities and field trips
• Encourages parental involvement in the lives of the participants and parental support for specific plans of action jointly developed with trained staff to address specific behavior problems.
• JEDI enrollees participate in much the same activities as Youth Leadership Development participants, but rarely attend any Youth Leadership Council meetings. Depending on circumstances, they receive more intensive counseling.
• Concentrated efforts are exerted to avoid any 'labeling' of youth and families.

CRISIS INTERVENTION/FAMILY
The family problem-solving component of crisis intervention is a neighborhood outreach program which provides extensive counseling to youth and their families to help them deal with serious emotional, economic, and social problems.
• Counsels youth in the home, in school, or on neighborhood streets
• Provides support services and counseling to family members
• Encourages family members to solve problems together and strengthen the family unit
• Addresses specific problems such as alcohol or drug abuse and acts as a referral unit to appropriate agencies
• Exposes youth to IYO programs and encourages participation and socialization

FAMILY CRISIS INTERVENTION (FCIU)
IYO's Family Crisis Intervention Unit, operating under the auspices of the Essex County Division of Youth Services, assists families experiencing problems with runaway children, child abuse, or youth in trouble or 'at risk'. IYO's specially-trained staff works with the family to defuse the immediate crisis until a more long-term solution is reached. IYO works closely with the NJ Division of Youth & Family Services (DYFS), the Youth Aid Bureau of the Newark Police Department, and other city and county agencies to relieve the stresses that can tear families apart and lead to anti-social behavior.

Alternatives

In the Alternatives component, IYO staff reach out to youth on the streets to provide support services and counseling, and encourage them to become involved in ongoing IYO activities.

Many of the youth most in need of IYO services do not at first feel comfortable or ready to enroll in programs in a structured environment with a relatively fixed schedule. These youth are most often found 'hanging-out' on street corners or in billiard parlors, video game emporiums, or the like. The very idleness of their lives, the lack of purpose, and the absence of sufficient motivating factors all feed a sense of low self-esteem which often creates a barrier to socialization and participation in positive activities.

IYO reaches out to such young people and gradually seeks to wean them from the life of the street, to motivate them towards more positive lifestyles, and possibly involve them in other IYO programs.

 

Home Detention

When it has been decided that a youth can remain at home rather than be placed in an institution while a court decision is pending. IYO goes into the home to counsel and supervise these individuals. IYO works in conjunction with the family courts in this program.

The future of Newark's children hinges on the quality of life in their homes and neighborhoods, and on positive community cohesion.

To this end, IYO has initiated many community service program and activities:

Public Information & Community Development

IYO Newsletter: Self-published on a regular basis and written and designed by IYO staff, this publication informs the community about important issues and has a circulation of 2,500 in the three Newark sectors that IYO serves.

Community Forums/Meetings:

Another means of sharing vital information with the community and obtaining community views directly from the residents, these opportunities for discussion of issues contribute to positive community cohesion.

Special Events: In recent years, these have included the IYO-sponsored, community-wide 'Attack on Crack' march and rally, the IYO Community Health Fair, IYO Thanksgiving dinners for senior citizens and Christmas parties for young families. These all involve the dissemination of important survival information to the community.

Community Service

Disaster Relief: Because James Wallace works full-time for the Fire Department (and receives not a penny for his work at IYO), the agency often receives first-hand information about Newark fire victims and others affected by disaster. IYO seeks to assist them by helping to find alternative shelter and by providing replacement food and clothing.

Commodity Distribution:

IYO assures that surplus food and the benefits of similar assistance programs go to those in need, and that isolated indigent seniors are included.

Intervention with Authorities:

Sometimes household members in the community have problems communicating with the proper authorities to address particular problems. IYO staff, upon request, will intervene to assist in joint problem-solving endeavors.

Information & Referrals:

If IYO is not equipped to cope with a specific situation, staff will contact another agency with experience in the field and will often escort the individual of family to ensure a reasonable response.

Community Organization

Community Rebuilding: IYO motivates community residents towards self-help endeavors and performs community surveys on an ongoing basis to stay abreast of changes and developments in such areas as specific service needs, age of population, housing stock, state of local businesses, etc.

Building Blocks: IYO plays a leading role in the development and maintenance of community building blocks such as tenant associations and neighborhood block clubs. Encouraging people to work together is essential to the re-building of Newark.

Building for the Future: IYO firmly believes that before the physical rehabilitation can have lasting effect, human renewal efforts must be firmly in place so that the two processes may proceed simultaneously.

To that end, IYO not only plans to continue direct services to youth and their families but also to develop additional community building blocks and then to develop an ever-expanding network of such organizations. In this way, community representatives may truly participate in planning for the community's future with IYO providing training and technical assistance.

Outreach Counseling: Youth Development
IYO is a leading participant in special Newark Board of Education programs designed to deter school drop-outs and encourage better school attendance.

Project Back 1
IYO staff visit both the schools and homes of youngsters identified to be 'at risk' of dropping out of school. They work to overcome the various problems that contribute to poor attendance or dropping out, e.g., apathy or other negative attitudes, absentee parents, alcohol or drug abuse, inadequate social service support, neglect and child abuse, among others.

Project Back 2
This program is for youngsters who have been absent from school for 20 days or more, have a record of truancy, and are in danger of being dropped from the school rolls. Some may be in danger of drifting towards street crime.

Project Back 3/Enrichment
IYO was selected by the City of Newark's Manpower & Training Unit to provide intensive remediation and tutoring by qualified professional educators for children (ages 14-15) who were two or more grades below their grade level (or had a record of suspensions, etc.) During this pilot program, tests showed some IYO youngsters improving as much as one or two grade levels, especially in reading comprehension. IYO is committed to continuing work with these youngsters throughout the school year, and to offer remediation and tutoring to other young people who need this help.

Parent Involvement: IYO takes a holistic approach to families and their growth and development by bringing parents together to share their problems, concerns, and ideas, as well as by encouraging parents to play stronger and more active roles with their children.
IYO escorts parents to school open house and PTA meetings.

Since IYO serves so many youth from single-parent households headed by young women, it is also important that IYO increase its efforts to involve parents in their own group socialization programs, teach them parenting skills, and enhance their exposure to broader cultural, career, and civic horizons.

Newark Branch – New Jersey Youth Corps

Vocational training and adult basic education are provided through a state-sponsored program which gives a 'second chance' to 16-25 year-olds who have not completed high school.

• Provides an educational program with supplemental tutoring to help participants obtain a General Educational Development (GED) in an alternative setting
• Introduces individuals to a wide range of career and job opportunities and provides personal counseling and support
• Builds self-esteem by encouraging participants to achieve a series of increasingly difficult accomplishments.
• Provides employability skills training to introduce individuals to the world of work
• Places individuals at non-profit organizations or public agencies to stimulate and revitalize community commitment while earning an income.
• Assists in job placement, advanced training, or college programs