Streetworker Outreach
Streetworkers build relationships with proven-risk young adults, conduct gang peacemaking, visit young people in correctional facilities to provide supports and build relationships, and recruit individuals to engage in UTEC’s programs upon their return to the community. Streetworkers also facilitate gang peacemaking and respond to incidents of community violence. With more than 25 active gang sets in our communities, crisis response and conflict resolution are essential to breaking barriers for young people.
Transitional Coaches are both mentors and wraparound service coordinators who meet 1:1 to help young adults overcome barriers, and connect them with essential supports, including our onsite mental health and substance abuse counseling. A young person’s Transitional Coach stays with them throughout their UTEC enrollment, which averages 18-24 months as young people build on their own Core Competencies in four key areas: Universal, Personal, Vocational, and Educational.
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Most of our young adults do not have a high school credential when they join UTEC. Onsite education helps young people prepare to take the multi-part HiSET/GED test to earn a high-school equivalency credential. Our small classes, tailored instruction, and extra support make a big difference for young people who often been out of the classroom for several years before coming to UTEC. In 2018, we piloted a dual-enrollment program so that young people can earn college credits for work completed with us.
Young adults are the experts in their own experiences, and returning that knowledge to the community is essential for our shared progress. Starting with Fresh Inspirations morning circles facilitated by young adults, and our SoJust workshops, young people build their understanding of issues in the local community through social justice and community organizing activities. Statewide, UTEC coordinates a youth-led policymaking coalition that focuses on young adult justice. 
More than a third of UTEC’s young adults are also young parents. In 2017, we opened an onsite, UTEC-operated early childhood education center to help our young families break the cycle of poverty. With a child-centered, social-emotional based curriculum, our 2Gen Center is inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy that encourages children to lead their own learning. With experienced, educated teachers supporting independence and self-regulation, children at the 2Gen Center are building on the same Core Competencies that their parents are working on next door.
UTEC is a family, and families need to play and celebrate together, too. Enrolled young adults can spend extra time with us in the drop-in center, through cultural arts programs ranging from breakdancing to visual arts to sports and fitness training. We have a sound recording studio, gym space, and hold holiday parties, dances, and family events for young people throughout the year.