YTribe served 26 Decatur County youths this school year; summer activities and school partnerships planned

YTribe served 26 youths in Decatur County during the most recent school year, county staff reported, and the program is planning expanded summer and school‑based activities to reach more young people as new attendance laws take effect.

A program presenter said the 26 youth were ages 12 to 17, of whom six cases were informal adjustments, two were adjudicated and 18 were referral cases from schools or law enforcement. The presenter added: “We do expect though with new attendance laws coming into place that the number of youth served for YTribe will be rising,” and said staff were discussing a classroom model at schools to increase capacity.

Staff described current summer programming: 10 youths are participating in a summer “live craft” program that included a finance class and a yoga session, and planned field trips to a Honda facility, a volunteer fire department and a dock mechanic shop to expose participants to careers and workplaces. The program is also scheduled to present at Rotary on Monday, June 30, county staff said.

Program staff emphasized prevention and connection with school staff; a colleague, Jeremy, said the program team has been building the effort for two years and that “things are going great.” The presenter said YTribe serves students in the county public schools and at Saint Mary’s and solicited questions from the committee; none were raised during the meeting.

Staff did not provide an exact projection for expected enrollment under the new attendance laws, and the transcript records that future numbers are expected to rise but did not specify a target. Committee members did not take formal action on YTribe funding during this session.