Oklahoma City, Okla. – National nonprofit Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. has come to the Sooner State, bringing its evidence-based wraparound services to support Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA)-involved youth and their families.
"OJA is excited for this new opportunity to bring supports and pathways to youth and their families in the community,” said Timothy N. Tardibono, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs. “YAP has demonstrated the effect positive advocates can have within the community across the nation and we are looking forward to seeing the impact they can have on Oklahoma’s greatest natural resource, our youth.”
Celebrating its 50th year in 2025, YAP® partners with public systems in 32 states and Washington, D.C. to provide community-based services as a safer, more effective and less costly alternative to youth incarceration and residential care. OJA-involved youth and families will receive services through YAP® Pursuing Excellence®, which combines evidence-based YAPWrap® individual and family "wraparound" services with trauma-informed cognitive behavioral health therapy.
The nonprofit will serve OJA-referred youth ages 13-19 with a history of exposure to violence or other traumatic events, mental health and/or substance use challenges, school suspensions, truancies, gang affiliation, illegal or violent behavior, or other serious risk factors for a lifetime of systems involvement.
“We are ecstatic to start serving young people in Oklahoma through YAP® Pursuing Excellence®,” said YAP CEO/President Gary Ivory. “We thank the state of Oklahoma for partnering with us to help provide safe and effective wraparound assistance to youth and their families who need it most.”
Oklahoma YAP® Pursuing Excellence® program participants and their parents/guardians will be matched with a neighborhood-based YAP® Advocate who will help the youth see and nurture their strengths and connect them and their parents/guardians with individualized economic, educational and emotional tools to firm their family foundation. Participants will also participate in weekly specialized trauma-informed cognitive behavioral health sessions. Through its YAPWORX® and Supported Work tools, YAP® will also provide program participants with paid workforce development training and jobs. Participants will also take part in group activities that address accountability, repairing harm, and community healing.
As the program launches in Oklahoma, approximately 15 youth and their families will be enrolled at any given time.
YAP®’s decades of service include working with many young people whose histories include serious offenses, multiple arrests, and lengthy out-of-home placements. 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 youth served still lived in their communities with less than 5% of participants in secure placement.
YAP® Pursuing Excellence® is informed by Choose to Change® (C2C®), YAP®s partnership with behavioral health services provider Brightpoint in Chicago. University of Chicago Crime and Education Labs large-scale randomized controlled trial data found that for young people identified as being at the greatest risk, C2C® reduces violence engagement and the likelihood of violent crime arrests by 39 %.
For more information on YAP®, visit yapinc.org.