What is YAR?
Youth at Risk (YAR) is a collaborative project with support from organizations and individuals in Essex County, Massachusetts under the leadership of Pathways for Children. Our mission is to support communities of professionals serving children, youth and families, and to provide them with affordable continuing education, collaborative networking, and self-care opportunities.
Youth at Risk (YAR) Conference
The Youth at Risk (YAR) conference is the region’s only annual all-day conference for professionals who work with at-risk youth. The event features 40 breakout sessions, as well as keynote speakers, program exhibitions and networking opportunities.
The YAR conference is geared toward individuals working with and caring for youth in a variety of settings—family, community, school, religious, healthcare, human service, recreational and legal. Attendees include social workers, psychologists, youth counselors, family therapists, educators, school adjustment counselors, guidance counselors, community and public health workers, program managers, agency and organization CEOs, police officers, juvenile court personnel, lawyers, volunteers, and more. For additional information, please contact yar@pw4c.org.
History of the YAR Resource Manual
In an effort to keep families and professionals connected to local resources year round, the first YAR resource manual was created in 2014 in collaboration with the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts (CLCM) with funding from The John W. Alden Trust. CLCM made the original manual in 2013 for the cities of Salem and Lynn. The collaboration with YAR allowed the manual to increase geographically to Cape Ann and the Merrimack Valley. To increase the manual’s accessibility, YAR has converted the manual into an online searchable resource database with funding from The Tower Foundation and in collaboration with Children’s Friend and Family, a division of JRI, Pathways for Children, and The Regional Youth Prevention Network.
This manual is intended to be used as a guide to the many organizations that serve youth and families in the Cape Ann, North Shore, and Merrimack Valley regions of Massachusetts.
We apologize for any omissions or mistakes relative to the names of and/or information about organizations. Included in this guide are services and programs to which families may self-refer. Feel free to email yar@pw4c.org with any changes or additions.
Contact
For additional information on the Guide or Conference, please contact yar@pw4c.org.
Special Thanks
The Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts’ previous work on the YAR resource manual made this project possible. Special thanks to the YAR Committee and the Regional Youth Prevention Network comprised of Be Healthy Beverly, Danvers Cares, the Gloucester Prevention Center and its partner agencies, for making the formerly printed manual into a searchable database.
