EMPOWERING YOUTH TODAY TO ENSURE THEIR SUCCESS TOMORROW.
Youth Empowerment Project
Pacific Northwest
YEP's services are designed to provide positive relationship development and support
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YEP supports student learning intended to mitigate or eliminate systemic barriers for families of color
The Challenges that Today's Young People Face
Oregon has one of the lowest graduation rates in the country at 78.7 percent for the class of 2018. Although that number is an improvement over years' past, it's still six percentage points below the national average (Associated Press, 2019). A high school diploma is a standard requirement for most jobs—and for higher education opportunities. Dropping out of high school is linked to a variety of negative impacts, including limited employment prospects, low wages, and poverty (ODPHP, 2019). A student’s ability to graduate from high school may be affected by factors related to the individual student as well as by broader institutional factors such as family, school, and community (ODPHP, 2019). Disparities in high school completion rates exist among racial and ethnic groups in the United States. According to data for the 2013–2014 school year,
students attending public high schools graduated within 4 years of beginning the 9th grade (ODPHP, 2019).
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Asian/Pacific Islander 89%
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White 87%
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Hispanic 76%
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Black 73%
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American Indian/ Native Alaskan 70%
The Solutions:
Culturally Responsive Programming
The need for culturally responsive and inclusive school-based mental health programming has never been more apparent. When we invest in this programming, we are making a commitment to equitable life outcomes for some of our community’s most vulnerable people: our youth.
Evidence- based Programming
Our program is grounded in Social Emotional Learning (SEL), an evidence-based framework for helping children and young adults develop the fundamental skills for life effectiveness through teaching 5 Core Competencies