Talladega, Ala. Mayor Timothy L. Ragland has joined Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. as National Director of Policy and Governmental Affairs. The remote position will enable Mayor Ragland to be Talladega-based as he continues his mayoral duties.

Founded in 1975, YAP is a national nonprofit with offices in Alabama and 34 other states and the District of Columbia. The organization partners with youth justice, child welfare, behavioral health, public safety, and other systems to provide community-based services that provide more effective, economical, and equitable alternatives to youth incarceration and residential care and keep neighborhoods safer.

As National Director of Policy and Governmental Affairs, Mayor Ragland will help strengthen YAP’s position as an informed resource for bipartisan efforts to bring communities innovative, evidence-informed family-centered youth justice, child welfare, adult re-entry, behavioral health, and neighborhood safety services. YAP’s unique wraparound services model relies on neighborhood-based staff who work with youth and families in their homes, schools, and neighborhood sites. Community-based YAP staff empower program participants by connecting them to accessible tools to improve their economic, educational, and emotional wellbeing.

John Jay College of Criminal Justice research found 86 % of YAP’s youth justice participants remain arrest free, and six – 12 months after completing the program, nearly 90 % of the youth still lived in their communities with less than 5 % of participants in secure placement.

Mayor Ragland became Talladega’s first African American mayor and youngest in the last century in a history-making runoff election on November 4, 2019. A native of Talladega, he is a graduate of Faulkner University’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, Auburn University at Montgomery, and Marion Military Institute. Mayor Ragland received an honorable discharge from the United States Army Reserve after eight years of service. Representing the city during and post-pandemic, Mayor Ragland has advanced a community-centered plan that prioritizes social services that support education and workforce development. He serves as a member of the African American Mayors Association, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Cities United, the Mayors’ Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, and NewDEAL Leaders. Mayor Ragland is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He and his wife, Chelsea, are the proud parents of one daughter.

Learn more about YAP at www.yapinc.org.