Indiana High-Risk Youth Offender Reentry Project

The overall goal of the Indiana High-Risk Youth Offender Reentry Project (IN-YRP) is to reduce the likelihood that youth are re-incarcerated once they have successfully completed the reentry project. This project seeks to expand an existing reentry program, Aftercare for Indiana through Mentoring (AIM), to provide services in less urban environments within the state of Indiana. AIM is a juvenile reentry program that has served youth at as many as nine state-run juvenile correctional facilities and three contract-bed providers in Indiana. he prerelease phase includes three elements: a needs assessment on each offender, a series of life skills groups, and the development of a reentry plan that address needs in education, employment, health, money management, living arrangements, transportation, structuring leisure time, social skills, family relationships, and emotional well-being. In the postrelease phase, AIM staff and mentors serve as brokers for services by making referrals to appropriate community organizations. This project will add two sites to the primary site that is currently operating and will facilitate the successful reintegration of the youth back to their families and cmmunities. The project will also develop a system of long-term community supports that will continue after the youth complete the formal components of the program. CA/NCF