YAP traces its roots to a 1975 ruling that prohibited young people from being incarcerated with adult inmates at the State Correctional Institution in Camp Hill, PA. Since that time, YAP programs have expanded into 16 other states as well as Washington, D.C. YAP also has affiliate programs in Ireland and provides assistance to like-minded agencies in Guatemala and Sierra Leone.

During the 1990s, YAP's services became available to young people who were dealing with clinical disorders as well as to young people who faced delinquency charges or dependency issues.

Since 2003, YAP has been led by CEO Jeff Fleischer, who joined the agency almost 25 years ago. Jeff reports to a distinguished Board of Directors led by Chairperson Lynette Brown-Sow. Currently, YAP employs more than 2,000 dedicated workers and serves approximately 10,000 families per year. We invite you to read and learn more about our program.

Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP) is one of the largest non-profit Youth and Family Support agencies working with high-risk youth and their families in the United States. The Bridgespan Group recently cited YAP as one of the fastest growing non-profits in the past 30 years.

We currently have programs in 25 major US cities including Baltimore, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Newark, Camden, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Toledo, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, New Orleans, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Tampa, Jacksonville, Columbia, and Charleston, as well as dozens of other urban, suburban and rural communities. We have also developed and supported programs in Ireland, England, Scotland, Hawaii, Guatemala and Sierra Leone to work with their most vulnerable young people and families.

Our mission is to engage human service systems so that they rely less on institutional care and to invest more in supporting families and neighborhoods. We currently work with child welfare, juvenile justice, behavioral health, disability and education systems to develop and offer community-based alternatives for the highest risk children, young people, young adults and families. Our staff seeks to capitalize on the strength and resources of families and communities, including identifying and engaging the informal natural helpers that are found in every community to support the highest risk youth and families.

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