San Quentin’s Youth Offender Program guides youngsters under the age of 26 to better choices and outcomes in the often-volatile setting of prison.
Eighteen of the 20 mentees at the program’s launch last July were first-time offenders serving life sentences. Only three of them had attended self-help groups or training programs after entering prison.
When it comes to rehabilitating youth and encouraging them to make positive choices, Youth Offender Program Changing Lives Through Understanding Beliefs — otherwise known as YOP C.L.U.B. — is a big deal.
San Quentin is one of nine state prisons with a YOP that deploys rehabilitative and educational resources designed to meet the specific needs of incarcerated people in their early 20s.
The YOP approach echoes the old prison ethos “each one, teach one.”
“I needed a little push from my peers to get going,” said Roberto Rivera, 24. “Now I’m learning a lot of positive things in C.L.U.B. from the mentors.”
YOP is a pilot program that offers youngsters a different set of life skills that have nothing at all to do with prison politics and warfare. The program replaces those teachings with education in denial management, strengthening self-esteem, the origins of beliefs, domestic violence awareness, anger management and the cycle of addiction.
The intent of the YOP is to increase a young offender’s chances of rehabilitation during a critical developmental stage in their lives.
Mentees in clubs of 20 attend classes twice a week for 90 minutes. Their C.L.U.B cohorts have cool names, including the Lions, Tigers and Pumas. The 52-session cycle is broken up with regular breaks that correspond with spring break and summer vacation.
Every February — halfway through the 52-session cycle — mentors raise money from outside donors and sponsors for YOP Game Night. For four magical hours, people play Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, Switch, tabletop games and more in a huge chapel here at San Quentin. Plenty of Costco hot dogs, pizzas, deli sandwiches and sodas are supplied.
The session culminates with a big graduation ceremony. Mentees are allowed to invite two family members. For some, it is the first time they cross the stage in the traditional graduation cap and gown, but with a millennial twist: in the background plays hip-hop star Kendrick Lamar’s hugely popular song, “Not Like Us” (the instrumental version).
“My family gets to see me graduate,” Jose Maya, 24, said before graduation this year. “This is the first time I’ve put on a cap and gown for anything since I’ve been locked up.”
Thanks to YOP, some of today’s incarcerated youth have a shot at skipping “real prison” and coming straight to San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. They are supported by OGs who give a damn about them. San Quentin has more than 40 mentors for a population of about 130 mentees, with each mentor assigned up to three mentees.
If this pilot program is successful, it may spark the interest of key prison leadership in the state and help make youth mentorship a top priority.