AMIkids - Making a Difference in the Lives of Young People

AMIkids is a non-profit organization that operates over 50 programs for juvenile offenders in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia ― dedicated to turning troubled young people’s lives around. Tailoring educational programs to the geographical strengths of each community (e.g., ocean, wilderness, rivers, and lakes), AMIkids seeks to develop positive attitudes in 14-18 year-old boys and girls by providing them exciting and challenging opportunities to help them meet their responsibilities, develop employable skills, and increase their self-confidence.

AMIkids provides principally residential and day treatment programs for adjudicated youth. AMI tailors each program to the geographical strengths of each community, using the ocean, wilderness, rivers, and lakes to develop exciting curriculums that challenge and motivate youth to attend. Oceanography, earth sciences, diving, seamanship, aquatics, and physical, academic, and vocational education are some of the classes found in a weekly schedule.

Since 1969, AMIkids has partnered with local communities to help our 100,000 misguided kids who have been adjudicated or have failed in conventional school settings develop into responsible and productive citizens. Students in AMIkids programs learn accountability, consequences and how to redirect their lives in order to give back to the surrounding community through service projects. The success rate of AMIkids across all of its programs averages 73 percent, which means more than 73 percent of the kids develop into crime-free, responsible, productive citizens. Upon graduation from AMIkids, the goal is to have every student either re-enroll in school, gain employment, or begin higher education course-work.

The majority of funding for AMIkids is provided by the local and/or State juvenile justice agency and the local department of education in those States where AMIkids exists. Most programs are also enhanced by private sector donations, including support from The Hartwell Foundation.

• AMIkids Graduate School

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