Youth Co-Op

Refugee programsrefugees are individuals and families who have fled their countries of origin and have met the united nations' criteria of having a "well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group of political opinion". The refugee services in south Florida, covering palm beach, broward and miami dade counties, offer an array of programs to assist refugees, asylums, and public interest parolees in achieving self-sufficiency to ease the transition in their new country. The agency has offered refugee employment services since 1982. In 1997, Youth Co-Op joined the network of the u.s. committee for refugees and immigrants to provide reception and placement and matching grant program services to refugees from varied countries. All services are free and available in the languages spoken by the participants. The resettlement program assists refugees in translating their strengths, skills and past experiences into assets; the match grant program assists in achieving early self-sufficiency without accessing public assistance; employment and training programs provide assistance for employment as a key to successful integration into american society and immigration assistance is also provided in preparation for achieving citizenship.

Workforce programsyci operates three career centers in partnership with the local region's workforce board. Centers are located in miami dade county. A broad range of specialized services and resources are available and accessible to job seekers and employers throughout Youth Co-Op's centers. Services are funded by various federal grants that target specific populations and needs. These include unemployment and reemployment assistance to the general public, economically disadvantaged adults and dislocated workers, or families in need of temporary assistance. Training and support services are offered depending on the eligibility and on the specific goals set for each client.

Charter schoolsyci's board is committed to grow in the education sector. Yci created an educational division to operate its network of schools, which designs, develops and implements successful policies and procedures to support the growth of the network. There are currently two schools, which have charters sponsored by the miami-dade county public school board Youth Co-Op charter school ("yccs") and Youth Co-Op preparatory high school ("ycphs"). For the year ended june 30, 2023, an average of 776 students were enrolled in grades kindergarten through eighth at yccs and an average of 244 students were enrolled in grades ninth through twelfth at ycphs.

Youthfunded by federal and local grants, these programs serve children and Youth ages 5 through 24. The participants are from diverse backgrounds reflective of the community. The out-of-school program addresses the needs of Youth who have dropped out of school, the in-school program helps dropout prevention, and teach positive decision-making skills to promising Youth with risk factors.