Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Juvenile Justice Commission (JJC) today announced successful outcomes for a recently launched program to provide meaningful employment experience for youth released from JJC custody.
Established in October 2021, the Youth Worker Apprentice Program hires youth released from JJC custody as part-time, youth worker trainees at JJC residential community homes.
This program was made possible through $250,000 in State Fiscal Year 2021 budget from the Murphy Administration as part of ongoing efforts to ensure that youthful offenders have opportunities for success when they are released from juvenile facilities.
Since the program’s implementation, four young people have been selected to participate in the apprentice program; one apprentice has already transitioned into full-time employment as a youth worker at a JJC residential community home.
“We are committed to ending cycles of incarceration for New Jersey’s youth, and the Juvenile Justice Commission’s apprentice program helps do exactly that,” Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.
“Thanks to the support of the Murphy Administration, we are able to provide essential work experience to youth who have been involved in the justice system so that they can pursue full-time, successful employment with the JJC or in the private sector.”
Youth Worker Apprentices can be placed at any of the JJC’s 10 residential community homes located throughout the state. Participants receive an hourly wage of approximately $18.75 for up to 20 hours a week.
Apprentices can be employed for a 12 to 18-month period allowing them to obtain critical training, develop job skills, and enhance their eligibility to apply for full-time employment, including with the JJC.
One Youth Worker Apprentice, Elizabeth Santiago, has since become a full-time JJC Youth Worker at the agency’s residential community home for females.
“The JJC’s Youth Worker Apprentice Program has allowed me, and will allow many others, to inspire young people involved with the justice system who may think that they don’t have a shot at life anymore,” said Santiago.
“By witnessing our success as Youth Worker Apprentices, other JJC residents will know that we are all capable of anything. They will see that as Apprentices, we were once in their shoes, but that we have not allowed our pasts to limit the potential of our futures.
I hope to inspire JJC residents with my story and to show them that they are not only capable of being like me, but to be even better than me. Today, I am not just a former JJC resident, I am Youth Worker Ellie Santiago, role model, teacher, inspiration, mentor, and more to come.”
“I was in the same exact position as the residents I now work to support, and I see a little of me in each of them. I know that they feel that I can relate to them, and this gives me an advantage in my work," Jacques Barr, Another Apprentice, said.
"In addition, my supervisor and staff mentors are always willing to offer their advice and support. After participating in the program, I can see myself continuing to work with youth.”
The Youth Worker Apprentice Program has been well received by participants and staff members who state that the Apprentices not only act as mentors to current JJC residents but also inspire them to reach for opportunities and personal long-term goals.
The JJC expects the number of Youth Worker Apprentices to grow as residents interact with current Apprentices.