Policy and Advocacy
Jobs Pay

The mission of the YAP Policy & Advocacy Center is to promote policies and influence change that create or invest greater resources in families and communities as an alternative to out-of-home placement. We advocate for systems to reduce spending on incarceration and other out-of-home placements. Our goal is to promote policies that create an investment in a robust continuum of care that supports all youth and families.

At the heart of our mission and our public policy work are the needs and strengths of the youth and families we serve. We believe that public policy should be informed directly by those needs and strengths. The YAP Policy and Advocacy Center relies on the experiences of our program participants and direct service staff to inform how we advocate for changing policies and systems that affect the most vulnerable among us. The link between our practice and efforts to change policies that impact the people we serve adds a unique and important component to advocacy movements.

 
 

YAP VOICE: Vocalize, Inform, Collaborate, Empower

Integrated within the work of the Policy and Advocacy Center is YAP VOICE, an agency-wide initiative with a goal to empower and support our young people, families, and staff to leverage their experiences in human service to influence policy and systems change. YAP's programmatic approach is effective when youth and families have voice and ownership of the service delivery plan, discovering that their input matters and enabling them to take constructive control of their lives, becoming self-advocates. YAP VOICE helps our program participants and their parents/guardians and families transfer that self-advocacy to advocacy for others, making an even greater impact.

Youth and families that participate in YAP VOICE have the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities such as providing legislative testimony, speaking before school boards, meeting with legislators at the local and federal level, presenting at conferences, and organizing letter-writing campaigns. With over 20,000 families served each year, YAP's current and former program participants and their families are a persuasive, informed (with their firsthand experiences)force advocating for change.

YAP works to influence public policy to increase support for families and communities and reduce reliance on institutions. Our activities inform policymakers and advocates about what families, government leaders, and communities need to make alternatives to institutionalization both a reality and a preferred approach to helping people facing complex challenges achieve success while keeping communities safe and families intact. We also continue to work with other advocates and groups who share our goals of deinstitutionalizing youth and strengthening families and communities.

 

safelyhomecampaignlogo

YAP is proud to be the founding organization of the Safely Home Campaign, a national movement to safely care for all youth and young adults in their home communities and with their families by reducing and preventing unnecessary out-of-home placements and creating safer, more supportive communities for at-risk young people.