Executive Summary

Access Youth is on the frontlines at six of DC’s most underfunded schools and plays a critical role in the lives of Black students at risk of dropping out. Our education system is failing, and students of color are consistently pushed out of school and into the criminal justice system, a path that typically begins with truancy and/or suspension. Access Youth disrupts this racist cycle with a four-prong restorative model of support: relationship-building, opportunities and incentives, planning, goal setting, and accountability. Through an equity-focused and trauma-informed lens, our evidence-based programs––Truancy Prevention and Restorative Justice in Schools––replace punitive exclusionary discipline with proactive development of community caring, coping mechanisms, and conflict-resolution skills that help students develop empathy and an understanding of their behavior. Our programs result in fewer/less racially disparate suspensions, and improved school climate, teacher–student relationships, and academic achievement for 1000+ students yearly.

Access Youth plays an integral role in our schools, creating a community of resilience by building trust between students, families, and our full-time on-site Program Managers who share the lived experience of their students. At our six partner schools––Anacostia, Ballou, Eastern, and H.D. Woodson high schools and Johnson and Kramer middle schools––students receive daily support and learn skills not taught in classrooms: socio-emotional skills, peer mediation, leadership training, and life skills.

One student at a time, Access Youth increases equity in schools by empowering students with skills to break cycles of conflict, poverty, and trauma and become the role models they desperately need.

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