Program
The Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning Center (YALC) provides academic and workforce development to older youth/young adults, ages 17-24, who do not have a high school credential, and particularly those transitioning from incarceration.
The YALC offers:
Academic programs for students to make progress towards their GED.
OSHA 10 Certification and career internships that provide employment and skills training through Home Builders Institute.
Seeds For Success work-learn program through a partnership with the Department of Public Works and Department of Employment Services, offering paid internships with potential full-time employment
Cabling Communications course, offering a C-tech certification, one of the top credentials in the cabling field.
Counseling and youth development support services that young people need to get back on the right track.
History
When the See Forever Foundation assumed management of the educational program at New Beginnings Youth Development Center (formerly Oak Hill Detention Center) in 2007, we also opened an extended day educational program, The Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning Center (formerly the Maya Angelou Transition Center), to support the young men from New Beginnings to transition back into the community — one of the most vital steps in juvenile rehabilitation and in reducing recidivism.
Upon opening the Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning Center, we quickly realized that existing services and programs for juvenile ex-offenders, court-involved youth, and disconnected and/or disengaged youth throughout the city were fragmented, and in many cases, inadequate. This is of particular note with respect to the needs of older, under-credited youth, most of whom face significant academic and socio-emotional deficiencies. While this problem directly affects the youth we work with, it is a systemic problem in Washington, D.C., and nationally for young people who have disconnected from school and work.
Through our work at the YALC, we are directly tackling a cycle where poverty, poor education, and bad decision making leads to juvenile delinquency and incarceration as a youth, and then an adult life of intermittent work and incarceration. Our goal is that the Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning Center serves as a gateway to life success for disengaged, disconnected and disenfranchised students throughout the District of Columbia.
5600 East Capitol Street, NE, Washington DC 20019 (202) 289-8898 | Fax: (202) 289-8897