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OUR MISSION
Friends of Island Academy was founded in 1990 to anchor, support and realize the positive potential of young people newly released from custody in New York City. Our overall mission is to reduce future criminal justice involvement by engaging and sustaining youth involvement with Friends for the long term in productive and pro-social ways and in a nurturing, safe environment that provides the concomitant benefit of caring adults and peer leaders. We begin our work with youth by developing connections and relationships while they are still incarcerated. Upon release, young people become community members of Friends and are guided by a set of individualized milestone goals in education, employment, health and well-being, and opportunities for youth leadership and community participation.
Youth leadership is a cornerstone of our work. Youth involved in the criminal justice system are overlooked as a source of peer and community leadership, yet rarely is anyone a more compelling role model for demonstrating the value of learning to make positive choices. We strive to embrace the power of peer leadership for at-risk adolescents.
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