NCJ Number
195469
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 64 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2002 Pages: 98-101
Date Published
June 2002
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article focuses on the Avon Park Youth Academy, a neighborhood in which adjudicated male juvenile offenders live in order to learn job and life skills for their return to mainstream society.
Abstract
Located on an old United States Air Force base in south central Florida, the Avon Park Youth Academy is occupied by 212 adjudicated male juvenile offenders. In a program designed by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), these males live at Avon Park for an average of 9 months, learning job and life skills that will aid them upon their release. Emphasizing vocational, academic, and employability training, this program, now combined with an aftercare program called STREET Smart (Success, Transition, assistance, Reduced recidivism, Employment, Education, and Teamwork), allows juvenile offenders to earn their high school diplomas or GEDs, while also learning how to be contributing members of a community. Juvenile offenders who meet the criteria for acceptance into the Avon Park Youth Academy and STREET Smart programs will be better able to settle down, earn a paycheck, and stay away from crime and violence.