ABOUT US
We Surround Our Youth With Guidance & Support
Youth Alternatives to Incarceration (YATI), is a New York not-for-profit organization that offers conflict resolution training to reduce youth violence and incarceration of our young people. Driven to do our part in making the world a better place for our youth and the next generation, YATI is committed to make a positive change in the lives of our young people, help them avoid violent behavior, build productive relationships and to make a positive impact in their lives.
Our strength lies in the 45 years combined experience of our leaders working with young people. We understood that by working together we can contribute much more effectively to accomplish our goals, and that is why we ultimately decided to launch YATI.
Our Belief & Vision
YATI believes that prison is no place for our youth and that every young person can succeed when surrounded with loving care and support. We agree with research that shows most young people outgrow rebellious, destructive behavior if they stay in their families and communities and receive support from other caring adults. We believe that early Intervention with parental engagement and community support can reduce some behavioral issues from school-yard bullying, fights, even murder. This will eventually reduce the need for youth detention or incarceration.
​
Our vision is to empower youth leadership through training to resolve conflicts peacefully, thus avoiding incarceration, so that they can develop necessary life skills and develop a positive life plan. Accomplishing our vision will improve the lives of young people today and prepare them to become productive citizens.
​
Our Mission & Goals
Our mission is to empower, and provide high quality support, guidance and training to the young people we serve in the community. Our program steers young people towards the pursuit of a purposeful, productive and positive lifestyle by fostering emotional maturity, social responsibility, and conflict resolution skills.
The most important goal of our organization is improving the lives of young people through counseling, mentoring and teaching conflict resolution skills in their schools, community organizations and houses of worship.
Conduct Community-Wide Youth
Development Training
Youth Development training program focused on developing positive self-esteem, develop skills to resolve personal conflicts and a sense of purpose in life. Training, based on the strengths and needs of the individual youth and their caregiver. Sessions include training in:
-
Conflict Resolution
-
Trauma Resiliency
-
Positive Communication Skills
Advocate for Addition to School Curriculum
Offer Conflict Resolution training from Kindergarten through High School developing the ability to resolve personal conflicts peacefully to:
-
reduce youth disciplinary problems and violence from school-yard & social media bullying, fights and even homicide
-
reduce next generation adult violence including domestic violence, road rage, gang and street violence
​
​
​
​
​
Advocate for Change in Court Sentencing System
Family Court and Probation Department to provide the opportunity to prosecutors and judges to:
-
Avoid sending young people to institutional settings
-
Avoid taking young people away from their parents and community environment
-
Avoid the huge expense of incarceration
Our Strategy
The YATI strategy is to use a developmental approach to develop positive self esteem, promote emotional maturity, social responsibility, and anger management in order to produce healthy adult citizens in the next generation. Additionally, we seek to work with community groups, churches, schools and partners to accomplish our goals of improving the lives of the young people in our community. Young people armed with these traits, belief in self and hope for the future usually do not resort to violence to resolve conflicts.
​​Our strategy is reflected in the programs we offer, developed and informed by the many years of experience of our leaders and staff, including:
​
​
FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL NEEDS AND STRENGTHS OF THE YOUTH: By introducing and teaching the principles of conflict resolution to young people and their families, we will reduce bullying and avoid detention or incarceration.
WORK WITH FAMILIES & CAREGIVERS: Provide training to family members to help them understand the dynamics of conflict and to help them learn the skills for managing conflict in their household. Parent training program includes: Conflict Resolution, Communication Skills, Restorative Listening, Role Playing and other interactive games. We also introduce various support groups.
TRAIN GRADUATES OF THE PROGRAM AS FACILITATORS: By training program graduates as facilitators they are able to spread-the-word and share our strategy among their friends, family and communities. Additionally, they become credible and relatable trainers to youth in their age group who are new to the program.
​
​
PARTNER WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS: By working with other organizations in the local community we can reduce violence by connecting our youth to caring adults, improve the physical, social, legal and economic environment that fosters violence and helplessness in our young people.
​
Surrounding Our Youth With Experience And Love
Our Leaders
We empower young people to peacefully resolve conflicts, avoid confrontation and construct a clear and positive holistic life plan. Our dedicated team of experienced, caring professionals are at the heart of what we do, utilizing their unique skills and passion to help shape the direction and mission of our organization.
Coming together from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, our skilled team brings 45 years combined experience in working with young people in various capacities including: Alternatives to Violence Conflict Resolution, Kairos Youth Mentoring, and NYC Department of Education School Counseling.