Strategies for Youth, Inc

From its inception, Strategies for Youth recognized two fundamental truths. The first is that law enforcement officers have little understanding and no training in the motivation, psychol- ogy and life circumstances of youth at greatest risk of encounters with law enforcement; instead, most policing tactics used with youth are appropriated from the adult justice system. The second is that most youth learn how to interact with law enforcement officers from television, their peers or their parents. Youth are often clueless about the best strategies and behaviors for interacting with police and peers. Bottom line, police and youth desperately need the tools to pull themselves out of this destructive downward spiral. Strategies for Youth is proud to have been recognized nationally as the cutting edge devel- oper and facilitator of these tools. When implemented, our Policing the Teen Brain training for law enforcement and our Juvenile Justice Jeopardy game for youth, have proven to be highly effective in improving understanding and interactions between law enforcement and youth. These interventions reduce the number of incidents of minority youth pushed into the juvenile justice system and incarcerated for either no offense or for non-violent offenses such as trespass, disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace. We are working hard to answer the increasing number of requests for our services from law enforcement agencies and youth advocates from across the country. We welcome you to join us to build Strategies for Youth for the future.