Straight Ahead Ministries jobs and careers

About Straight Ahead Ministries

Straight Ahead is a leader in the field of incarcerated youth, reducing recidivism and profoundly impacting the lives of young people. Our broad scope of programming includes the following: • Group education and support in detention facilities: Ready4Life, an innovative, strength-based curriculum, is presented as a three-day event and prepares youth for transition into healthy adulthood. This seminar is offered in the community in addition to lock-up facilities. • Youth Reentry Centers: Our centers work to eliminate barriers that may prevent justice-involved youth from succeeding after lockup and provide a vast array of programs and services to facilitate successful transition back to their communities. • Education and employment advancement in the community: Job Readiness and Workforce Development are a significant piece to reentry work. Many of the additional facets to reentry services such as identification recovery, housing assistance, and educational support are critical to sustained employment and ultimately financial independence and freedom. Youth develop the hard and soft work skills necessary for maintaining jobs and advancing in their positions. We also assist our participants in making educational progress that align with their case management plan. • Training: We train professional youth workers and social workers, teachers, clergy, lay groups, and other volunteers in best practices of intervention with high-risk youth. • Technical assistance and networking: We help churches and other groups establish and sustain services for youth. We also support the work of domestic and international affiliates. • Publications: We offer publications for youth, parents, professionals, and volunteers. Straight Ahead's trainings, curriculum, and materials have been translated into seven different languages and distributed in 40 states and 35 countries. The Straight Ahead model has been cited as a national demonstration of best practices in juvenile reentry.