The Summer Youth Reintegration Academy

The Prison Education Project, the Reintegration Academy, and the Summer Youth Reintegration Academy are California-based programs that were designed to create a prison-to-school pipeline. This paper examines the Summer Youth Reintegration Academy for system-involved Black male youth in South Los Angeles. This program immersed participants in academic, life skills, and career development modules for 5 weeks. The overarching philosophy of the program was to immerse the participants into a pastoral, college campus environment, away from the cluttered distractions of the inner city, and expose them to an array of educational and career opportunities. This paper will discuss the genesis of the program, its content, and outcomes.