YOUTH PROGRAMS
Services and Activities for Participants
| Youth Programs |
| g Court Employment Project |
CASES’ Leadership Camp (Camp CASES) is the centerpiece of our youth development summer program in the Court Employment Project (CEP), our alternative-to-incarceration program for young offenders referred to us by the New York City Supreme and Family Courts. Camp CASES integrates arts, literacy, and outdoor education into a fun summer experience for its campers while also providing its participants with the experiential learning opportunities they need to expand their horizons, develop positive relationships with each other and with staff, and build their self-confidence.
Participants in CASES’ Leadership Camp come from low-income neighborhoods in New York City. Despite their need for educational support and youth development activities, they often do not have access to quality after-school and summer programs that would promote their literacy and social skills development. Most youth enrolled in CASES perform below their grade level in reading and math, have histories of poor school performance and chronic truancy, and are disengaged from learning. Furthermore, our young people often have little experience outside of their immediate neighborhoods. Often their limited experience makes them reluctant to try new activities and explore new neighborhoods in the City. For many of our participants, CASES offers a first opportunity to succeed in the classroom and a first exposure to the arts and outdoor adventures. The experiential learning that takes place at camp translates into real successes for our young people—socially and academically—at CASES and at school.
Camp CASES serves New York City’s most disadvantaged youth. For seven weeks, beginning the week following the Fourth of July and running through the third week in August, participants engage in outdoor education, arts and literacy programming. Participants are also given the opportunity to attend a three-day overnight camping trip to the Princeton-Blairstown Center in Northern New Jersey near the Delaware Water Gap. Camp CASES is designed to help young people build basic skills, expand their sense of citizenship, and increase their self-confidence and teamwork skills. Furthermore, our summer program encourages campers to take on challenges and feel the exhilaration of physical exercise and the outdoors. Outdoor education activities are an especially important part of our summer curriculum. For many of our youth, Camp CASES is their first exposure to nature and the outdoors, and a first chance to try new activities such as canoeing, biking and rock-climbing.
Community Service Programs