REAL TALK YOUTH IMPACT PROGRAM INC
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Mission Statement
The Program’s mission is to assist our next generation with achieving their hopes and dreams, to build character, and to assist in helping them to reach their full potential as responsible citizens and future leaders of tomorrow.
About This Cause
Nationally, there continues to be a cry to help today’s youth and provide them with tools to become successful, productive citizens. Although the United States continues to lead the world in the area of incarcerating youth and adults, there has been a steady decline over the years in regards to incarceration rates for youth. As the juvenile crime and delinquency rates continue to decrease nationally and locally, numerous programs are being developed in an attempt to preclude youth from becoming involved with our criminal justice system and to reduce the recidivism rate. Most youth involve themselves in delinquent behavior for numerous reasons. Unfortunately, the typical trend with youth is that they initially begin committing minor illegal acts that eventually become more serious as they progress through the juvenile system. This behavior is typically fostered over the years by the youth and in turn they eventually enter the adult state and federal systems. Research has proven that confining youth and exposing them to programs such as “Scared Straight” is ineffective in reducing recidivism. Therefore, the Real Talk Youth Impact Program (“the Program”) was created as a result of the Program’s desire to save one youth at a time. Our monthly speakers consist of present and past federal/state offenders who have elected to voluntarily participate in the Program in an effort to make a difference. Having the speakers participate in the Program and express their passion in making a difference is extremely rewarding. All speakers have either completed their incarceration period or currently being monitored in the community by a parole/probation officer and now volunteer their time “to give back to society what they so selfishly took away. This is an opportunity for the speakers to provide their community with something positive and to assist them, as well as the youth, with their own positive behavior changes. Additionally, it is believed that a program such as this will assist in reducing the recidivism rate for juvenile and federal/state offenders in Nevada and eventually nationally. Further, the Program has a proactive measure in place as well, wherein youth who are not a part of the system are offered an opportunity to change their behavior before possibly entering the system. The core of our Program is the preventative and reactive measures we take to divert at-risk youth ages 8-18 from participating in destructive behaviors. Our goal is to prevent youth from entering the criminal justice system by having members speak to our participating youth and their parents at our monthly “Change One” meetings about the dangers of street life and poor choices. Additionally, we utilize therapists to observe and monitor discussions between speakers and parents in a separate meeting room. Further, we provide different closing guest motivational speakers who address the at-risk youth and their parents following our monthly speakers sharing their real life “stories” to offer them hope and encourage them to become productive citizens. The Program meets once month for three months. The participants graduate upon the third month and received a program t-shirt, a certificate from Real Talk, city officials, and Nevada’s congressional delegations. The attendees are also persuaded to participate in extra-curricular activities that are available at no cost to them following the monthly meetings. The idea is for each participant to engage in a positive activity following their initial meeting. Payment for their selected activity is just one tool provided to them in order to keep them focused on positive activities. However, Real Talk is a firm believer in not rewarding negative behavior. Therefore, the stipulation in place for a requested activity is that a participant must be in school and maintain a minimum of a “C” (2.0) average with passing grades. Additionally, it is required that that the participant remain in compliance at their residence or the juvenile court system (should the participant be under a court order to attend). The ultimate goal of the Program and the voluntary monthly speakers is to initiate behavior change in the youth. In doing so, the monthly speakers also create behavior change within themselves. We consider all youth as “diamonds in the rough.” Our goal is to refine the participants and give them hope for a positive future. The key components of the Program’s goals which the members strive to convey to the participants of the Program are: Keep It Real, Change Lives, Empower, Encourage, Influence, Inspire, Guide, Motivate, and Reduce Recidivism. The Program recognizes that one of the primary indicators that lead to teenage delinquency is a lack of exposure and participation in positive, character building activities after school and on weekends. We currently provide funding for youth who come from a variety of different incomes which include some disadvantaged families and neighborhoods so that they may participate in a wide variety of activities for which they ordinarily could not afford. Examples of the activities which we currently fund are: dance classes, gymnastics, football/basketball leagues, and music lessons. Additionally, we wish to pay for tutoring and up to three college entry exams as well as three college applications per each participant. Thus far, we have provide over $102,000 to our youth participants that have elected to participate in an extra-curricular activity. Studies have proven that children who are involved in extra-curricular activities learn discipline, social and leadership skills, and team work. Additionally, they gain confidence and self-esteem, are more likely to attend college, have better grades, are more likely to vote as adults, learn to build solid relationship skills, and learn commitment, all of which are essential in becoming future leaders of tomorrow. As the Founder and Executive Director of the Program, I have more than 20 years of experience in the criminal justice field. Of that time I spent 5.5 years as a Juvenile Parole Officer and 15 years as a U.S. Probation Officer (recently retired). In addition, I was an a professor with the University of Phoenix for over 11 years teaching courses in Behavioral Science in the Human Services Department and the Criminal Justice Department. Additionally, I taught courses in Juvenile Delinquency, Criminology, Corrections, Criminal Law, and a variety of other subjects in the Criminal Justice field. My belief is without opportunity there is no change. The Program’s overall expected outcome is to “Change One” youth at a time. Ultimately, we aspire to keep the youth out of the correctional system versus reacting to another added statistic to the system as a result of poor choices. We opened our doors to the public June 2013 and is now nationally as we opened up a new chapter in El Paso, TX. There is a great need to create positive behavior in our youth. Many youth today do not have the opportunity to achieve their full potential for various reasons. Real Talk hopes to change that as we are dedicated and committed to creating positive change.