Baltimore, MD – Violence interrupters from cities across the U.S. will gather in Baltimore with their national program leadership for unique hands-on training (HOT) classes. The 40 trainees, many of whom are formerly incarcerated adults committed to giving back to their communities and demonstrating that change is possible, are employees of Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc.
The Hands-on Training (HOT) sessions will be led by international trainer, practitioner, and violence interdiction expert, professor Aquil Basheer of the Professional Community Intervention Training Institute (PCITI) in Los Angeles. Upon completing the four-day training, attendees will receive PCITI’s Violence Interdiction Professional Certification and be included in the national collaboration of Professional Peacebuilders-CVI specialists.
YAP is a national nonprofit in 32 states and the District of Columbia with a 46-year history of reducing recidivism and keeping communities safer by delivering effective, more racially equitable community-based services as an alternative to youth incarceration and congregate child welfare and behavioral health placements. With a recently announced program in Charleston, S.C. and violence interruption and prevention services in Baltimore, Chicago, Charlotte (a partnership with the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and Cure Violence Global), Dallas and Washington, DC, YAP is also growing its partnerships with U.S. cities looking to transform their public safety systems. YAP combines evidence-based violence interruption models with its own evidence-based wraparound services model of hiring and training neighborhood-based Advocates and behavioral health professionals to deliver youth and family services that empower program participants with tools to see their strengths and achieve positive goals.
Continue reading (via Youth Advocate Programs, Inc.)
