beatlanta.com

TAKE ACTION! GIVE BACK WEEK: Youth Villages

David from beatlanta is a teacher for Youth Villages when he is not beatlanta’n it up. They are an organization that houses and helps ‘at risk’ youths.

from http://www.youthvillages.org/:

Many programs for at-risk youth are inadequate. While they provide help for troubled young people, the results are often temporary, and children eventually return to the system or are bounced from residential treatment centers to foster homes and back again.

Years ago, we discovered that while we could achieve some success with a child during a stay in one of our residential treatment programs, things would often fall apart once the child returned home.

Through a deliberate process of research, evaluation and education, we realized that we needed to consider the child’s home environment, work with families to draft a permanency plan, and start from day one to make sure each child and family were working towards long-term success.

We also pledged to do whatever it takes to help the children and families we serve live successfully, through program innovation, treatment adjustments and investing in research and evaluation.

The result of this strategy – newly adopted treatment philosophies, and a broader approach to child welfare – has been dramatic.

Success rates have doubled, the cost of treatment has fallen, and the number of children in the system has declined.

Donate to the cause here. Talk to David when at a beatlanta party if you have more questions or would like to help out more.

from http://www.youthvillages.org/