This funding will advance the mission of Friends of Island Academy (Friends), which works to anchor, support and develop capacity among young people newly released from jail in New York City. Friends forges relationships with youth while they are in custody or on probation and engages them upon their release home through an array of neighborhood-based services and opportunities. Through Friends, young people are paired with a Youth Advocate who serve as part-mentor, part-coach and part-case manager. Youth Advocates help their mentees navigate challenges by providing guidance, goal planning assistance and on-going, consistent support. In addition to the Youth Advocate program, Friends also operates two school-based programs, two fatherhood programs, a probation-based mentoring intervention and a family support program for the parents of children facing delinquency proceedings in the Manhattan Family Court.
