YAP – 40TH CELEBRATION
 THANK YOU ALL FOR INVITING ME, THANKS
ESPECIALLY TO JEFF. MANY OF YOU MAY KNOW THAT
I FIRST INTRODUCED JEFF TO TOM AND TO YAP.
 I WILL TRY TO BE BRIEF; AND I WILL TRY TO MAKE MY
REMARKS RELEVANT TO YOU AND ALL THE GREAT
AND IMPORTANT WORK YOU DO WITH OUR YOUTH,
THEIR FAMILIES AND THEIR COMMUNTIES. [GREAT TO
SEE SO MANY YOUNG FOLKS HERE!]
 I WANT TO ADDRESS THREE SOMEWHAT SEPARATE
TOPICS THAT I SEE AS BEING RELATED TO YAP’S
MISSION AND WORK.
 THE FIRST, SOME HISTORY (FILLING IN SOME DETAILS
FROM WHAT MINNETE HAS SAID); THE SECOND, SOME
PHILOSPHY; AND THE THIRD, SOME POETRY. HISTORY,
PHILOSOPHY AND POETRY – SOUNDS ALMOST LIKE A
CRASH COURSE IN LIBERAL ARTS AT A COMMUNITY
COLLEGE.
I.
FIRST: SOME HISTORY. MINNETE HAS REMINDED US OF
THE HISTORY REGARDING THE START OF YAP – HOW TOM
STARTED YAP TO HELP MOVE JUVENILE JUSTICE YOUTH
OUT OF THE CAMP HILL PRISON IN THE MID 1970’S. BUT I
WANT TO GO BACK A LITTLE FURTHER IN HISTORY, TO
THE ROOTS OF YAP. TO THE STORY OF JOHN AUGUSTUS –
A SHOEMAKER IN BOSTON IN 1840’S. HE BEGAN TO
SPONSOR TROUBLED CHILDREN AND OTHER FOLKS WHO
HAD BEEN ARRESTED AND WERE LOCKED UP. HIS
APPROACH WAS PRETTY SIMPLE AND DIRECT, LIKE
YAP’S, HE TREATED FOLKS AS IF THEY WERE HIS FAMILY.
HE FOUND THEM SAFE PLACES TO LIVE AND ALSO
HELPED FIND WORK FOR YOUNG ADULTS. HE
EFFECTIVELY DIVERTED MANY PEOPLE FROM THE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. AND HE IS OFTEN CREDITED
AS THE BEING THE FATHER OF PROBATION. I WONDER
WHAT HE WOULD THINK OF MANY OF TODAY’S
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PROBATION AND PAROLE AGENCIES (NOT IS PA.!) WHO
OFTEN SEEM MORE FOCUSED ON FINDING THEIR
CHARGES DOING SOMETHING WRONG, RATHER THAN
HELPING THEM DO GOOD?: (“TRAIL THEM; NAIL THEM
AND JAIL THEM”). AS I SAID BY TRADE, HE WAS A SHOE
MAKER. HE WAS NOT A PROFESSIONAL; HE WAS AN
INDEPENDENT, CONCERNED AND CARING CITIZEN.
FROM THE MID19 TH CENTURY, FAST FORWARD A
CENTURY OF SO. YOU PROBABLY HAVE NOT HEARD OF A
JUVENILE COURT JUDGE NAMED JUDGE KEITH
LEENHOUTS FROM ROYAL OAKS, MICHIGAN. IN THE
EARLY 1960’S HE STARTED THE VOLUNTEERS IN
PROBATION PROGRAM, RECRUITING CITIZENS FROM HIS
COMMUNITY AS ONE- ON- ONE SPONSERS FOR YOUTH ON
PROBATION. AFTER BEING TRAINED, EACH SPONSER
SPENT 12-15 HRS/MONTH ONE-ON-ONE WITH YOUTH WHO
HAD BEEN CHARGED WITH CRIMES. EACH COMMUNITY
SPONSER TUTORED, COUNSELLED AND SPENT “QUALITY
TIME” WITH EACH YOUTH. AN EARLY EXAMPLE OF
CITIZENS CHANGING BIOGRAPHIES. OF COURSE,
LEENHOUTS PROGRAM WAS SUCCESSFUL – FAR MORE
SUCCSESSFUL THAN TRADITIONAL PROBATION IN
REDUCING RECIDIVISM AND DIVERTING YOUTH FROM
LOCK-UPS.
IN MASSACHUSETTS IN THE EARLY 1970’S, WE ACTUALLY
TRIED TO START A VOLUNTEER IN PAROLE PROGRAM,
MODELED ON THE MICHIGAN JUDGE’S APPROACH. A
YOUNG DYS STAFF (NOW MY WIFE OF 42 YEARS, ANNE)
AND OTHER DYS STAFF, RECRUITED TRAINED AND
SUPPORTED CITIZEN SPONSERS TO WORK WITH DYS
YOUTH ON PAROLE. THESE FOLKS CAME FROM
UNIVERSITIES, CIVIC CLUBS, CHURCHES, YMCA’S AND
OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION. BUT THE OLD-LINE,
TRADITIONAL PAROLE AGENTS IN MASS FAILED TO
EMBRACE THE APPROACH – BUT THE EXPERIENCE
TAUGHT US AN IMPORTANT LESSON. WE DISCOVERED
THAT THERE WERE A VARIETY OF EFFECTIVE, CITIZEN
LED SUPPORTS IN THE COMMUNITY FOR DYS YOUTH. AS
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WE WERE CLOSING THE TRAINING SCHOOLS (AND IN A
PARADOXICAL WAY --THANKFULLY -- HAD INSUFFICIENT
AVAILABLE FUNDS FOR GROUP CARE! WE NEEDED
COMMUNITY RESOURCES FOR YOUTH), WE BUILT ON THE
VOLUNTEERS IN PROBATION APPROACH AND STARTED
EFFECTIVE NON- RES PROGRAMS, USING CITIZEN
SPONSORS FROM YMCA’S, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS,
LOCAL COLLEGES. THE MOST FAMOUS ONE, OF COURSE,
WAS THE PROGRAM DEVELOPED AT HARVARD (PHILIP
BROOK’S HOUSE), BY THE WOLFE BROTHERS. AT FIRST
THESE GROUPS WORKED WITH YOUTH WHO WERE
DISCHARGED FROM THE TRAINING SCHOOLS. LATER
THEY OFTEN WERE USED AT THE FRONT END OF THE
SYSTEM AS WE WORKED TO CLOSE ALL OF THE REFORM
SCHOOLS IN MASS.
LATER in CHICAGO WHEN WE WERE FACED WITH THE
PROBLEM OF HOW TO RETURN OVER 700 CHILD WELFARE
YOUTH FROM DISTANT OUT OF STATE RESIDENTIAL
PLACEMET, WE USED THE PHILPS BROOKES APPROACH
TO DEVELOP A CHICAGO PROGRAM THAT MINETTE
KNOWS WELL. CAP EMPLOYED COMMUNITY ADVOCATES
TO HELP SUPPORT YOUTH WHO WERE RETURNING FROM
PLACEMENT. CAP HELPED TOM RETURN OVER 700 DCFS
KIDS FROM OUT OF STATE RESIDENTIAL PLACEMENTS
WITHOUT RELYING ON GROUP CARE.
IN CHICAGO, WE ALSO ADAPTED THE MODEL FOR
JUVENILE JUSTICE YOUTH TO DIVERT THEM FROM
BRUTAL REFORM SCHOOLS. (A SUCCESSFUL
DELINQUENCY DIVERSION SYSTEM CALLED UDIS,
DEVELOPED A VARIETY OF COMMUNITY SUPPORTS THAT
KEPT KIDS OUT OF REFORM SCHOOLS). [YAP’S RECENT
AWARD IS NAMNE FOR GLORIA (& ERNIE) JENKINS WHO
RAN ONE OF UDIS’S BEST COMMUNITY AGENCIES.THE
BOOK BEYOND PROBATION BY A VERY CONSERVATIVE
ACADEMIC, CHARLES MURRAY, EVEN PRAISED THE
APPROACH.
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IN THE MID 1970’S, THE SAME PATTERN REPEATED ITSELF
– WHEN WE HAD DIFFICULTY FINDING PLACEMENTS FOR
MANY OF THE CAMP HILL YOUTH, MANY OF US WERE
SURE THAT THE COMMUNITY, STRENGTH BASED,
ADVOCACY APPROACH COULD BE AN EFFECTIVE
ALTERNATIVE. AND SO YAP WAS BORN IN PA. THE REST
AS THEY SAY IS HISTORY.
DURING THE PAST 40 YEARS YOU ALL HAVE REFINED AND
EXPANDED THIS APPROACH TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS IN
HOW MANY STATES NOW …?
HERE ARE TWO RELEVANT TAKE-AWAYS FROM THIS
BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW:
1. YOU AND YOUR WORK ARE PART OF A GREAT AND
SUCCESSFUL, LONG STANDING TRADITION THAT HAS
PROVEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN THAT THE TRADITIONAL
FORMAL “PROFESSIOAL” RESIDENTIAL INTERVENTIONS
DO NOT WORK. CREATIVE FOLKS, (JOHN AUGUSTUS,
JUDGE LEENHOUTS, THE WOOLFE BROTHERS, HERB
GORDON, TOM AND JEFF -- AND ALL OF YOU – HAVE
PROVEN THAT BELIEVING IN OUR YOUTH AND FAMILIES,
BUILDING ON THEIR STRENGTHS AND NOT DE-MEANIZING
THEM, INCLUDING THEM AND THEIR COMMUNITIES INTO
THE PROCESS AND BEING FLEXIBLE -- HANGING ON
UNCONDITIONALLY AND SUPPORTING THEM -- WORKS.
AGAIN AND AGAIN YOUR GOOD WORK HAS PROVEN TO BE
SUCCESSFUL. YOU ALL HAVE CREATED AN OPPORTUNITY
TO RE-LEARN, REPEAT AND REFINE AND EXTEND THE
LESSONS OF JOHN AUGUSTUS; OF JUDGE LEENHOUTS, OF
ILLINOIS; OF MASS AND OF PA. YOU ALL RETEACH THESE
LESSONS EVERY DAY. AS I SAID YOU ARE PART OF A VERY
SUCCESSFUL AND WELL-TESTED TRADITION. FEEL THE
PRIDE IN YOUR WORK AND IN YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS!
2. TODAY, MORE THAN AT ANY OTHER TIME IN MY 45
YEAR CAREER IN OUR FIELD, IT IS VERY MUCH YOURS
AND YAP’S TIME (JEFF MIGHT SPEAK TO THIS LATER).
THANKS IN PART TO THE CASEY FOUNDATION AND
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OTHERS (SOME OF WHOM ARE HERE TONIGHT – or will be
joining us soon. e.g.: LIZ RYAN & YOUR OWN SHAENA), WE
ARE REACHING A NATIONAL CONCENSUS THAT REFORM
SCHOOLS SHOULD BE CLOSED AND JJ YOUTH SHOULD BE
SERVED AND SUPERVISED IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITY;
THAT YOUTH DO NOT BELONG IN TRAINING SCHOOLS,
ADULT JAILS & PRISONS. SIMILARLY, IN CHILD WELFARE,
MANY LEADERS ARE RECOGNIZING THAT CONGREGATE
CARE DOES NOT WORK. (GRETECHEN TEST WHO IS HERE
FROM THE CASEY FOUNDATION IS HELPING TO LEAD THE
CHILD WELFARE WORK). YOUR COLLECTIVEAND
INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS HAVE HELPED FORGE THIS emerging
CONSENSUS. NOW IS THE TIME FOR YAP & ALL OF US TO
MOVE AGGRESIVELY FORWARD TO CLOSE REFORM
SCHOOLS, TO GET YOUTH OUT OF ADULT JAILS AND
PRISONS AND TO MAKE SURE CHILD WELFARE CHILDREN
AND FAMILIES HAVE THE NECESSARY RESOURCES AND
SUPPORT TO STAY IN THEIR COMMUNITIES WITH AND/OR
CLOSE TO THEIR OWN FAMILIES AND EXTENDED
FAMILIES. THERE IS MUCH GOOD WORK TO BE DONE AND
THE TIME IS RIPE.
II.
NOW AS PROMISED SOME PHILOSOPHY. WHAT DOES
IT MEAN TO DO GOOD WORK? WHAT EXACTLY ARE
THE INTRINSIC VALUES OF OUR WORK?
1. SURE WE ALL NEED TO EARN A LIVING
2. BUT MUCH MORE THAN THAT. THINK ABOUT
WHAT FREUD HAS SAID: THAT TO LOVE AND BE
LOVED, AND TO BE ENGAGED IN MEANINGFUL
WORK ARE THE TWO CORNER STONES, THE
PILLARS, OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN.
PEOPLE WHO ARE HAPPY AT WORK AND WITH
THEIR WORK – e.g., ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, DANCERS
…BOTH LOSE AND FIND THEMSELVES IN THEIR
WORK. THEY SELF- ACTUALIZE. THINK ABOUT
JOHN COLETRANE AND HIS saxaphone; LEBRON
JAMES AND BASKETALL; PICASSO AND HIS
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PAINTING -- ONE CAN’T IMAGINE THESE GIANTS
SEPARATE FROM THEIR WORK. IN YAP, A
COMMITMENT TO DOING GOOD WORK LENDS
PASSION AND MEANING TO YOUR LIVES. YOUR
WORK AT YAP GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO
BE PASSIONATE ABOUT A CAUSE; TO DEFINE
YOURSELVES BY YOUR ACTIONS; TO THROW
YOURSELVES INTO YOUR WORK. LITERALLY TO
ACTIVELY BECOME MORE LIKE YOUR TRUE SELF,
EVERYDAY.
COULD YOU IMAGINE JEFF DOING ANYTHING ELSE
BUT LEADING YAP? YOUR WORK IS A VOCATION, A
CALLING TO A HIGHER PURPOSE, SO DIFFERENT
FROM FOLKS WHO WORK AT MEANINGLESS JOBS:
WHERE WORK OFTEN BECOMES A DRUDGERY,
ALMOST A SLOW DEATH. OUR WORK BOTH
ENRICHES US AND HELPS TO DEFINE US. YOUR
WORK GIVES YOU A CHANCE TO DO GOOD…. AS WE
PERCEIVE THE GOOD. TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION
TO THE PUBLIC GOOD. IN YAP’S CASE HELING KIDS,
FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES. YOU SHOULD
CELEBRATE THIS FACT – THIS VALUE OF YOUR
WORK.
3. BUT I ASK YOU TO CONSIDER A DIFFERENT VALUE
OF OUR WORK. THE TRUTH IS THAT I BELIEVE WE
LEARN, ARE SUSTAINED AND GROW, IF YOU WILL,
BECAUSE OF OUR WORK. THAT IN A REAL SENSE,
OUR KIDS AND FAMILIES GIVE US MUCH MORE
THAN WE GIVE THEM -- IF WE ARE OPENED TO
LISTENING TO AND UNDERSTANDING THE
FUNDAMENTAL LESSONS THAT THEY TEACH US
DAILY. LISTEN, THESE ARE AMAZING LESSONS:
(A.) HUMILITY; (B.) PERSEVERANCE/RESILENCE –
AGAINST ALL ODDS THE ABILITY TO CONTINUE
TO STRIVE TO OVERCOME ADVERSITY; AGAIN
AND AGAIN TO PICK OURSELVES UP AFTER BEING
KNOCKED TO THE GROUND; AND (C.) THE POWER
OF COMMUNITY– OF BEING PART OF A FAMILY
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AND A COMMUNITY, EXPERIENCING THE POWER
OF A SUPPORTIVE FAMILY AND A COMMUNITY OF
PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER; THE POWER OF A
SOCIAL MOVEMENT. IF YOU WILL, THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF WORKING WITH A
COMMUNITY OF YOUR PEERS, WITH OUR YOUTH
AND FAMILIES TO OVER COMING UNFAIR ODDS.
OUR YOUTH AND FAMILIES MAY BE POOR
ECONOMICALLY, BUT NOT IN SPIRIT. OUR
COMMUNITIES MAY BE LOCKED OUT OF
MATERIAL OPPORTUNITY, BUT THEY ARE RICH IN
SOCIAL CAPITAL. OUR FAMILIES AND YOUTH ARE
THE REAL HEROES – NOT US. THEY ENRICH AND
NOURISH OUR LIVES IN SO MANY WAYS. WE, I
THINK, GET FAR MORE FROM THEM THAN WE
GIVE….
III.
AND NOW TO CLOSE WITH SOME POETRY. THE
TRUTH IS THAT FEW FOLKS TEACH US WHAT IT
MEANS TO TRY TO CONTINUE TO DO GOOD WORK AS
WE GROW OLDER (EXCEPT, PERHAPS, JIMMY &
ROSLYN CARTER); TO CONTINUE TO GROW AND TO
STRIVE, DESPITE THE LIMITS OF OUR OWN
INTELLIGENCE AND MORTALITY.
LATELY WITH THE PASSING OF TOM AND JERRY, I HAVE
RETURNED TO SOME POETRY TO HELP ME PERSONALLY
STAY FOCUSED, TO STAY THE COURSE. ALLOW ME TO
END BY SHARING SOME POETIC EXCERPTS THAT I OFTEN
LEAN ON, AND TAKE NURISHMENT FROM:
A. TENNYSON’S ULYSSES: TENNYSON’S ULYSSES: 1843
SOME CONTEXT: THE SPEAKER OF THE POEM IS ULYSSES
THE GREEK HERO OF THE TROJAN WAR, NOW AS AN OLDER
MAN. TENNYSON IMAGINES HIM GETTING READY TO FACE
HIS LAST TEST. GETTING READY TO SET SAIL ONE LAST
TIME TO FACE HIS LAST BATTLE. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO
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READ THE ENTIRE POEM. BUT HERE ARE ITS LAST SEVERAL
LINES (SLIGHTLY EDITED):
There lies the port: the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with
me
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, …
Free hearts, free foreheads -- you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men [AND WOMEN!] that strove with
Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
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Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will-To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
POWERFUL STUFF! AND NOT TO YIELD! DESPITE ALL
ODDS…SOMETHING WE AND OUR YOUTH AND FAMILES DO
EVERY DAY.
AND NOW A VERY SHORT EXCERPT THAT REMINDS ME
AGAIN AND AGAIN THAT ALL LIVES MATTER, THAT BLACK
LIVES MATTER, THAT THE PAIN OF THOSE LOCKED UP IS
ALL OF OUR PAIN; THAT INJUSTICE TO ANY HUMAN BEING IS
INJUSTICE TO US ALL….
CONSIDER THESE LINES FROM JOHN DONNE’S NO MAN IS AN
ISLAND, 1624….[AGAIN, SLIGHTLY EDITED]
“NO MAN IS AN ISLAND ENTIRE OF ITSELF; EVERY MAN
IS A PIECE OF THE CONTINENT, A PART OF THE MAIN;
IF A STONE BE WASHED AWAY BY THE SEA, EUROPE IS THE
LESS,…ANY MAN’S DEATH DININISHES ME,
BECAUSE I AM INVOLVED [IN ALL] MANKIND.
AND, THEREFORE, NEVER SEEK TO KNOW FOR WHOM
THE BELL TOLLS; IT TOLLS FOR THEE.
THREE CENTURIES LATER EUGENE DEBS WHO WAS A
CANDIDIATE FOR THE U.S. PRESIDENCY FIVE TIMES
FAMOUSLY SEEMED TO CHANNEL JOHN DONNE WHEN HE
SAID: “WHILE THERE IS A LOWER CLASS, I AM IN IT. WHILE
THERE IS A CRIMINAL ELEMENT, I AM OF IT. WHILE THERE
IS A SOUL IN PRISON, I AM NOT FREE.”
SO MY YAP FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES & YOUTH: CONTINUE TO DO
GOOD WORK. RELISH YOUR TRADITION. LET’S ABOLISH/CLOSE ALL
THE REFORM SCHOOLS; LET’S WORK TO GIVE FAMILIES AND
COMMUNITIES THE RESOURCES AND SUPPORTS THEY NEED TO TAKE
CARE OF THEIR OWN CHILDREN. AND LET’S BE HUMBLE ENOUGH TO
LISTEN TO AND LEARN THE IMPORTANT LESSONS THAT OUR YOUTH
AND FAMILIES TEACH US EVERY DAY. THANK YOU.
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