Program areas at YDI
Early childhood education and family Development division (ece) provides food services, transportation services, home visitation, subsidized extended daycare services and monitoring expectant mothers in various programs. Head start service centers are certified by the national association for the education of young children (naeyc) and have five-star ratings. All head start center programs meet the performance standards with emphasis on school readiness through the utilization of a research-based curriculum, Development of social/emotional skills, family engagement, health, nutrition, mental health and transition services. Head start programs are located in bernalillo, rio arriba and taos counties. In fiscal year 2022, the early childhood division served over 1,000 families in the head start program.
The prevention, intervention and behavioral health division (pibh) provides programs designed to address short-term and emergency housing for homeless and runaway Youth, replacement housing, individual and family counseling, family reunification, crisis intervention, case management, life and social skills training, and works with at risk Youth to help prevent teenage pregnancy. Pibh provides program services in bernalillo, sandoval, valencia, cibola, torrance, eddy and santa fe counties. In the fiscal year 2022, the twenty-nine pibh programs served 3573 clients.
The employment, education and training division (ee&t) division provides programs designed to help at-risk Youth gain employment in both the private and public sector, case management of those Youth, assistance with obtaining a ged for those Youth without a high school diploma, best (basic employment skills training), direct work experience with employers, assisting with further educational support, as well as community corrections, gang intervention, victim/offender mediation activities and services. Ee&t provides services in bernalillo, dona ana, grant, hidalgo, luna, sierra, socorro and torrance counties. In the fiscal 2022, the nineteen ee&t programs served 1,964 clients.
Health, safety and nutrition: ydi programs in this category range from sponsoring a health fair with bicycle giveaways and other items encouraging health lifestyles for families; using court-sponsored donations for extracurricular activities for children such as yafl, cheerleading, driving school, dance groups, boxing and karate training; providing counseling services through medicaid for eligible Youth and families; an "urban garden" program that encouraged Youth and supervisors in learning how to grow fruits and vegetables - some of the bounty from this program was distributed during the health fair; a teen pregnancy prevention program providing tutors, education and life-skills training and activities for targeted Youth after winter ball and prom nights; a teen court program designed to educate teens about alcohol use and mis-use that results in dwi offenses and running the participants through mock trials, a food/nutrition program that assists home daycare providers to plan usda approved meals using menus and shopping lists and then reimbursing the day care providers for the foods purchased for the children in their home daycare sites - over 6,000 meals in this fiscal year. Residential and shelter care: ydi provides short-term shelter to teenaged children (ages 12 - 17) who are homeless and/or runaways due to problems in their family of origin homes and provides counseling for the child and the family in order to encourage family reunification. For children ages 16 - 21 ydi provides a residential program providing transitional support to teach life skills, jobs skills and locate and establish permanent living situations for individuals moving from homelessness to stable housing.