Achievement Centers Promote Positive Youth Development

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

In response to a need for services for justice-involved youth who were at-risk of detention, the County of San Diego opened Achievement Centers in 2019. Achievement Centers promote long-term success for youth and maintain community safety. The centers offer youth on probation ages 14-19 with after-school programming that supports positive youth development in areas that are essential to their overall success. The program also serves the youth’s family and friends and others in the community who are referred by community organizations. The program includes Youth Advisory Councils where participants help shape the program design and develop a diverse schedule of activities. Services include academic tutoring, educational assistance, career exploration, work readiness training, sports, recreation, group and individual counseling, case management, mentoring, etc. The program is designed for youth to attend daily for a duration of 20 and 45 days with transportation and meals provided. The program is restorative and helps youth successfully exit the juvenile justice system while not disrupting their educational and prosocial community connections. The Achievement Centers demonstrated successful outcomes through low recidivism rates, with none of the participants who completed the program during FY 2019/20 having new sustained law violations within twelve months of intake.