Why URBAN Youth?

• Urban Youth crime rates have tripled in the last 20 years, with teen suicide skyrocketing proportionately (U.S. fig. ages 13-18).
• High School drop out rates among minorities have shown slight improvement through the years, but they remain high at a staggering rate of over 68%.
• The U.S. sociological landscape has gone predominantly urban within the last 100 years. Over 75% of the U.S. population lives in an urban setting, with the average resident age being 25 years old.
• Today’s urban society is comprised of mostly 80% minorities; these are the same individuals who are committing 90% of the crimes.
• The divorce rate among Urban Families is 30-40% higher than that of suburban families. Reasons attributed to this include higher levels of exposure to poverty, violence/crime, hopelessness.
• The case for the single family home in the inner-city has proven detrimental to the children of these same families.