A promise someone cares
Mission
The Friends of Long Creek Youth Development Center supports programs directed toward returning youth in the Maine criminal justice system to their communities as productive citizens.
Youth
Nationally, 90% of youth involved in the criminal justice system report exposure to traumatic events. They are significantly more likely to be homeless; have or be expecting children; and be diagnosed with a learning disability than other teens.
HOPE
Yet, like all youth, they aspire to more. Two thirds want to pursue higher education. They want to be better parents. They want to live productive lives. Knowing someone cares and having access to education, vocational training, and positive social supports makes a proven difference.
WHY
That is why we work collaboratively with the state department of corrections, other non-profit agencies, and volunteers to ensure that some of Maine’s most vulnerable youth have the education, resources, and support they need to successfully transition into adult life.
News
Annual Report 2020
The year 2020 found the Friends of Long Creek dealing with some new challenges and seeking new ways to fulfill our mission to assist youth in the criminal justice system. The Friends was founded more than two decades ago when the facility’s population was over 200. That number continues to decrease, a welcome development resulting
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Maine Constitution Essay Contest Winner
Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap has announced the names of the winners of the 2019 Maine Constitution Essay and Poster Contest. The annual contest allows Maine students from grades K through 12 to participate, with older students submitting essays regarding the Maine Constitution, voting and democracy; and younger students creating posters reflecting Maine history or
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Annual Report – June, 2019
The last twelve months have brought the prospect of change to the Long Creek Youth Development Facility. Despite this atmosphere of change, the Friends of Long Creek continue steadfast in our work to raise funds to support programs for youth in Maine’s criminal justice system. But we have widened our scope of support for programs
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Friends of Long Creek Update
LACROSSE The A.R. Gould lacrosse season has been under way with games against Bonny Eagle, Hyde, and Waynflete. The BEARS are currently 3 and 2 but have had many cancellations due to wet weather and unplayable field conditions. They will finish their season at the end of May with games against Cheverus, Scarborough, and Traip.
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Student Success Spring Semester
Spring semester we held five different college classes for credit through Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) as well as four supported study hall periods each week, where one student was able to take an online math class (Quantitative Reasoning) and other students could get academic support and use the laptop computers to write papers and
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American Correctional Association (ACA) Audit
The Friends of Long Creek received the following note from Stephanie Netto, Chief of Volunteer Services at Long Creek Youth Development Center: “We completed our 3-day American Correctional Association Audit in May. The unofficial results were like a breath of fresh air! The report becomes official in August during the ACA Annual Conference, but what
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Creek to College Newsletter
We’re excited to share our first issue of the Creek to College and Career (C2CC) newsletter. We’ve got a lot of great programming happening this fall in our college and vocational programs, and we thought you’d be interested to take a look: FALL 2018 C2CC newsletter. THANK YOU! Thank you to everyone who has contributed
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Impact of Fishing Trips
A recent update from a Long Creek Juvenile Community Corrections Officer (caseworker): I wanted to pass along what happened on the fishing trip on Monday as I think it’s important to let the powers that be know the profound effect that this is having on youth. I have a youth in transition on my caseloads
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Friends of Long Creek Report June 2017-June 2018
Friends of Long Creek (FOLC) is a non-profit organization that continues to help young people at the facility, as well as those who are transitioning out. We also support programs for juveniles who have been involved in the criminal justice system, but are not at Long Creek Youth Development Center. Some of the programs that
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A.R. Gould returns to the 2018 Class D South final
Congratulations to A.R. Gould’s boys basketball team on making it to the regionals. See the Portland Press article here.