About Teen After-School Centers
The hours between the end of the school day and when parents return from work is a risky time for young people, and research has demonstrated that serious and violent crime committed by youth increases between these times. Teen After-School Centers (TASC)are daily after-school programs based in local churches, community centers, and other public buildings across the state, and are staffed by employees and volunteers with a heart for youth. Often supplementing the normal supervision that DJJ provides, TASC are also designed to reduce the likelihood that program participants will be incarcerated.
TASC provide supervision, structured daily activities, service coordination, and resource development for youth and their families. Individual educational enhancements are also developed for youth that have had academic or social difficulties in mainstream educational settings. They help enhance coping skills, increasing academic, vocational & employability skills, and building on competencies of youth & their families.
Among the most important outcomes of youth involvement in TASC, is that the program has been shown to reduce recidivism (i.e. not receiving additional criminal charges), lessen absences and out of school suspensions, increase school attendance, performance, and grade point averages.
Youth Participation in TASC
Serving a record 8846 students in 2017-18, forty-five TASC sites are currently in operation across the state of South Carolina. The TASC program is designed to serve non-violent male and female youth ages12-17, who are at-risk of incarceration. Youth can be referred to a TASC program by different sources including the Family Court, law enforcement, local school resource officers and school staff, DJJ staff or their parents. Local DJJ offices help each TASC program screen applicants to verify that they meet the criteria for admission to the program, and special emphasis is placed on youth currently involved with DJJ.
The hours between the end of the school day and when parents return from work is a risky time for young people, and research has demonstrated that serious and violent crime committed by youth increases between these times.
DJJ partners with local churches, community centers, and other youth serving organizations across the state to provide Teen After-School Centers (TASCs). These centers offer structured time, activities, and supervision between the end of the school day and when parents return from work, which is a risky time for young people, and when serious and violent crime committed by youth increases. This nationally recognized program is specifically designed to reduce the likelihood that participants could be incarcerated and is geared toward those youth in need of additional structure and assistance, often supplementing the normal supervision that DJJ provides to youth on probation, parole, or on contract.
TASC provide youth with many opportunities including:
- Attending sporting events and visiting state parks, libraries, and colleges;
- Educational support and after-school tutoring;
- Development of employability skills and job placement;
- Contact between youth and positive adult role models;
- Spiritual development and recreation;
- Community service and victim restoration;
- Parenting groups and youth life skills development;
- Conflict resolution and anger management;
- Gang prevention and intervention;
Computer Labs and instruction
Youth can be referred to a TASC program by different sources including the Family Court, law enforcement, local school resource officers and school staff, DJJ staff or their parents. Local DJJ offices help each TASC program screen applicants to verify that they meet the criteria for admission to the program, and special emphasis is placed on youth currently involved with DJJ.
Funding & Support
Each TASC site is awarded $15,000 to provide services to approximately 10-40 youth per year. It costs about a dollar a day to serve a TASC youth, compared to $426 a day to incarcerate him/her. Additionally, DJJ’s Office of Community Justice provides to each TASC at no cost guidance, training, and other resources, and volunteers and paid staff are screened by SLED, the SC Department of Social Services and the National Crime Information Center.
Awards
The 2012 South Carolina Rural Summit Partnership Award was presented to City of Laurens, City of Walterboro, and South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, in recognition of the combined efforts to enrich the lives of teens through the successful implementation of the Teen After-School Centers.