IDAAY Institute for the Development of African American Youth

IDAAY Institute for the Development of African American Youth

What Is Institute For The Development Of African-American Youth, Inc. (IDAAY)?

IDAAY is recognized nationally as a frontrunner in At-Risk Youth Development. It offers social service, intervention/prevention, and training/education programs in order to:

• Empower the youth to become part of the community’s solution through self awareness, skills development, and knowledge
• Engage the youth in communication and positive thinking activities to aid them in seeing challenges as opportunities
• Encourage the youth to see their well being as crucial in their development, and as a motivation for community change and family unity
• Equip the youth with strategies which are important in combating social ills which are deeply rooted to the urban experience

The Institute For The Development Of African-American Youth, Inc. Programs

IDAAY is focused in three core areas:

• Education and Training
• Prevention and Intervention
• Social Service

Education and Training

• Job START (Sustainability Through Apprenticeship and Readiness Training is a training program for out-of-school youth, ages 17 to 21. The occupational skills training is conceptualized to lead the youth in earning their GED or high school diploma, enrollment into post-secondary education, and certification and employment in a high growth industry. The program is aimed at recruiting, enrolling, and serving the youth and their families who belong to the lower income group, and having problems such as those youth who are adjudicated offenders, court mandated, with high truancy rates, expelled/dropouts from high school, enrolled in persistently dangerous schools, with proven challenges in substance abuse, and those who have not worked for greater than 3 months. The problematic youth, once part of the program, can choose from 5 areas of concentration after 20 weeks of classroom learning: Transportation and Warehousing, Information Technology, Hospitality, Healthcare, and Entrepreneurship.  The Office of Job Start is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• MAIN College Bound Program is a cultural enrichment program which includes 5 principle workshops: College Preparatory, Financial Literacy, Leadership Training, Trends, and Roots. It targets the youth who are 10 to 18 years old and gives them the chance to engage in activities like College Preparation, Personal and Financial Management, and Leadership Development. The program also lets them examine current urban community trends, explore Multicultural American history, and participate in monthly cultural/educational field trips. The workshops are held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and runs for 29 weeks in October to May.
• Out-of-School Time (OST) Program is offered to those youths and their families who are living in the West Oak Lane and Ogontz areas of Philadelphia. The programs provides opportunities for them to escape crime and violence, hangout and make friends, have caring mentors, boost their technology, leadership, social, and educational skills, connect with school and family better, and acquire employment training and placement through a high-quality family preservation and academic services and workshops. The program is aimed at youths who are at least eight years old.
• Truancy Reduction Initiative Program offers case management services which include referral linkages, court representation, and school and home visits for all children and young people referred by the US Department of Human Services.
• Four Brothers is an entrepreneurship training program which was established to deal with the challenges of youth unemployment. The graduates of the IDAAY programs are given meaningful job opportunities, experience and hands-on-training in culinary arts, and cultivation of entrepreneurial skills.

Crime And Violence Reduction

• Don’t Fall Down In The Hood Program is a multicultural and intensive treatment program that is community based in order to reduce juvenile crime in the areas of narcotics, theft, frequency of assault, and use and possession of firearms. It services youths who are aged 14 to 18 years. Participants are provided with opportunities to improve their research, writing, and reading comprehension skills. They are also taught how to enhance their public speaking skills. The youths are also provided with Life Skills workshops in order to help the youth with goal setting, time management, decision making, and money management. They are also provided with psycho-educational field trips so that they can reflect on their decisions. They are also encouraged to develop skills towards conflict resolution.
• Intensive In-home Supervision Program checks young people who are waiting for final court dispositions or adjudicatory hearing. It emphasizes accountability, vocation or employment, education, and frequent surveillance. The program provides the opportunities and tools necessary for the youths and their families to make the required changes to their lives so that the risk of reoffending is reduced.

Parenting Support

• Young Fathers United Program is for young fathers who are 14 to 25 years old in Philadelphia. It is designed to deal with practical parenting, educational, and emotional needs of these young fathers so that they will be empowered to deal with parenthood challenges. The program aims to provide adult/peer support network in the community, improve school performance, increase the young father’s understanding of child discipline and rearing, and improve child/father interaction and communication. Participants undergo workshops in childcare, basic health, family trends, and family history. Group and individual counseling is also offered.

All of these programs aim to cultivate 5 important life skills such as leadership development, entrepreneurship and job readiness, effective decision making, self esteem building, and nurturing the necessary family supports.