Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning Center

Campus Profile

Location: 450 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Phone: (202) 289-8898 | Fax: (202) 289-8897
Director: Jose de Olivares

Nearly 50 percent of the students who have graduated from the model units at the See Forever Foundation’s Maya Angelou Academy are either not in school, are or only marginally in school.

Fact: Without intervention, only 1 in 10 students who have been adjudicated delinquent will go on to get a high school diploma.

When the See Forever Foundation assumed management of the educational program at New Beginnings Youth Development Center (formerly Oak Hill Detention Center) in 2007, we also opened an extended day educational program, The Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning Center (formerly the Maya Angelou Transition Center), to support the young men from New Beginnings with transitioning back into the community—one of the most vital steps in juvenile rehabilitation and in reducing recidivism.

Upon opening the Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning Center, the See Forever/Maya Angelou learning community quickly realized that existing services and programs for juvenile ex-offenders, court-involved youth, and disconnected and/or disengaged youth throughout the city were fragmented, and in many cases, inadequate. This is of particular note with respect to the needs of older, under credited, youth, most of whom face significant academic and socio-emotional deficiencies. While this problem directly affects the youth we work with, it is a systemic problem in Washington, D.C., and nationally for young people who have disconnected from school and work.

In support of this population, the Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning Center provides academic and workforce development to youth and young adults who transition from New Beginnings Youth Development Center and other young people under the supervision of the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services. The academic program at the learning center makes it possible for students to make progress towards their high school diploma or GED and the workforce program offers career internships that provide employment and skills training. The Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning Center also provides the counseling and youth development supports that young people need to get back on the right track.

Through our work at the learning center, we are directly tackling a cycle where poverty, poor education, and bad decision making leads to juvenile delinquency and incarceration as a youth, and then an adult life of intermittent work and incarceration. Our goal is that the Maya Angelou Young Adult Learning Center serves as a gateway to life success for disengaged, disconnected and disenfranchised students throughout the District of Columbia.

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