The Youth Leadership Division creates and implements programs that provide opportunities for at risk youth to build leadership skills, while empowering them to become powerful agents of change in their communities.  All of the youth leadership programs have clearly defined outcome objectives specifically measuring program attendance, school attendance, academic performance, and program-related skill-building and behavior change.  In addition, all youth are required to receive annual physical assessments and to have current immunizations including Hepatitis B, on file.  Youth Leadership Division programs and services include:

• Career Exploration Program – The Career Exploration Program introduces youth in 5th through 12th grades to a wide variety of professions and career options through a series of trips
  and tours of local businesses.

• Career Mentoring Program – The Career Mentoring Program is an opportunity for community youth to get a taste of the adult work world before entering into it.  This program matches youth ages 14- 18 with adult mentors in their career field of interest to meet twice a week at the mentor’s workplace.
• The Adolescent Violence Reduction Partnership (AVRP) Program – The AVRP Program consists of two main components, Center-Base (CB) and Youth Worker (YW), which provide services to youth between the ages of 10-15 years who are at risk for violence perpetration or victimization.  The Center Base program delivers a set of core, evidence-based intervention programs aimed at decreasing aggressive behavior, increasing pro-social behaviors, and improving peer and community norms to not support violence.  Services are provided through two main components:  Case Planning and After-School Programming, at three Philadelphia locations:  Den I, located at 1422 W. Venango Street (Males), Den II located at 3439 N. 17^th Street (Females), and Den III located at 6400 Haverford Avenue (Co-ed).  The Youth Worker component assigns trained adults (Youth Workers) to provide direct one-on-one services to at-risk youth in their own homes, out in the community and at center based sites.
• Experiential College and Career Exposure (ECCE) - The ECCE program is a ten hour weekly program that affords youth ages 14 to 18 the opportunity to work throughout the school year. The youth’s time is divided between academic enrichment and hands-on experience at a work site.  Youth focus on reading, math, workforce development training, and standardized testing skills, such as SAT prep. The youth are paid through funding granted by the Philadelphia Youth Network. We currently offer this program to 50 youth in from the Haddington community in West Philadelphia and Nicetown-Tioga community in North Philadelphia.
• Lamberton Beacon – A school-based, community-run safe haven, the Lamberton Beacon serves families and youth in grades K-12, Monday-Friday from 3:00-8:30 PM during the school year, 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM during the summer months and year-round Saturday programming. The Lamberton Beacon Program provides traditional after school programming, specialized activities during the week known as Family Preservation and a truancy intervention program, called Project REACH.  All youth receive a nutritious snack and well-balanced dinner daily.
• Safe Haven – Located at 5301 Spruce Street, Safe Haven is a comprehensive, year-round youth development program promoting good health and academic excellence in youth ages 8-14.  Youth receive a creative health and personal growth curriculum, abstinence education, technology instruction, youth development and youth asset building, academic enrichment with a strong focus on Math and Language Arts, and clubs such as Music Appreciation and Cultural Arts, as well as a variety of recreational activities. All youth receive a nutritious snack and well-balanced dinner daily.
• Summer Career Exploration Program (SCEP) - This program provides workforce development training and connects students with summer job opportunities in a variety of fields.  Funding from the Philadelphia Youth Network enables us to offer this opportunity to 85 youth in and around the West Philadelphia region.
• Youth Engagement for Accessing the Road to Success (YEARS) – The YEARS intern project is an innovative program for youth ages 16-18, whereby they are fully engaged in all aspects of programming with TOCFWH directors, for five hours a week.