UTEC
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Mission Statement
UTEC’s mission and promise is to ignite and nurture the ambition of our most disconnected young people to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success. Today we serve Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill, MA and are nationally recognized as a model agency serving justice-involved young adults.
About This Cause
UTEC’s mission is to ignite and nurture the ambition of our most disconnected young people to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success. UTEC was founded in 1999 by young people who were driven to develop their own teen center in response to gang violence. Today, our target population is young people (ages 17-25) in the Merrimack Valley (Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill) who are out of school and seriously gang or criminally involved, specifically the 10% who are involved in over 80% of the criminal activity in our communities. Our nationally recognized model begins with our Streetworker program, “meeting youth where they are,” through intensive street outreach, gang peacemaking, and “in-reach” within the correctional facilities. UTEC provides real-world employment experience through our multiple social enterprises: mattress recycling, food services, and woodworking (where we sell a line of cutting boards in Whole Foods Market stores throughout New England). Project-based educational programming is provided through onsite high school equivalency preparation classes. Social justice workshops and youth-led policymaking are embedded throughout the model—with UTEC young adults recently leading the charge to successfully advocate for the passage of a new juvenile expungement law. Through our 2Gen program centered on a whole-family approach, all young adults are provided free on-site childcare and early childhood education, plus integrated parenting and family engagement services. On average, young adults receive 18-24 months of intensive transitional coaching/counseling services while enrolled and two years of post-program follow-up. UTEC also continues to innovate in young adult justice. Thanks to our well-established partnerships with state correction and supervision agencies, UTEC is working with partners on two young adult justice pilot programs that have national significance for the field: a specialized young adult probation program that UTEC was selected by the state to pilot as the sole partner, and a specialized young adult unit at Middlesex County’s Jail where UTEC provides a range of core services. The first is aimed at reimagining probation, while the other is focused on best utilizing the confinement stage for comprehensive, age-appropriate programming that can advance better recidivism outcomes post-release. Finally, as part of UTEC’s scaling plan to provide a national teaching and learning center, we are pleased to have been awarded funding to become the state’s first and only Center for Excellence around gun and youth violence prevention. UTEC’s primary outcomes are: reduced recidivism, increased employability, and increased educational attainment. Driven by evidence-based data, the long-term recidivism rate of UTEC-enrolled young adults averages less than 15%, compared with a statewide average of about 50%. 200(ish) words UTEC’s mission is to ignite and nurture the ambition of our most disconnected young people to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success. UTEC was founded in 1999 by youth who were driven to develop their own teen center in response to gang violence. Today, our target population is young people (ages 17-25) in the Merrimack Valley (Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill) who are out of school and seriously gang- or criminally involved. Our nationally recognized model begins with our Streetworker program, “meeting youth where they are,” through intensive street outreach, gang peacemaking, and “in-reach” within the correctional facilities. UTEC provides real-world employment experience through our multiple social enterprises: mattress recycling, food services, and woodworking. Project-based educational programming is provided through onsite high school equivalency preparation classes. Social justice workshops and youth-led policymaking are embedded throughout the model. Through our 2Gen program centered on a whole-family approach, all young adults are provided free on-site child care plus integrated parenting and family engagement services. Finally, as part of UTEC’s scaling plan to provide a national teaching and learning center, we are pleased to have been awarded funding to become the state’s first and only Center for Excellence around gun and youth violence prevention. Ultimately, UTEC’s unique model can provide a pathway from the street to a rewarding life in the community for older youth most often overlooked. UTEC’s primary outcomes are: reduced recidivism, increased employability, and increased educational attainment. Driven by evidence-based data, the long-term recidivism rate of UTEC-enrolled young adults averages less than 15%, compared with a statewide average of about 50%.