About Us
CAPPA started as a community advisory board in June 2002. The organization initially provided a Summer Youth Basketball League and Youth Empowerment Workshop Series to over 100 youth. Since its inception CAPPA has increased enrollment by 35% yearly through increased program offerings.
Get Involved!
There are many ways to get involved with the exciting things that CAPPA is doing. We are always looking for volunteers to assist with programming.
Volunteers for CAPPA serve a variety of functions, including tutoring, mentoring, performing arts coaching, basketball coaching, general supervision of activities, and positive role modeling. If you are interested in volunteering...
We Need Your Support!
CAPPA has been a leader in the community as a catalyst for progressive social change, helping children and their families. But we can't do it without your support. Donate to CAPPA, and help us to change lives. Your heartfelt donation will be greatly appreciated and put to good use. Thank you in advance!
Find out more about us.
Contact or call: 570-326-7700
CAPPA News
Review of local, state, and national statistics:
In Lycoming County during 2006/2007, 51% of substantiated juvenile offenses were against property; 14% were against persons; 16% involved drugs, and 18% fell under the "other" category. Of the 570 initial charges in Lycoming County for youth between the ages of 10 and 18, 249 (or 43.7%) were 15 years of age or younger. 43.5% of youth with initial charges in Lycoming County had less than a 9th grade education.
Recent research concludes that nearly one in three high school students will not graduate from high school. The drop out rate for the state of Pennsylvania for 2006-2007 was 1.6%. The dropout rate in Lycoming County for 2006-2007 was 2.5%. 5.2% of Lycoming County residents have less than a 9th grade education and 19.4% do not have a high school diploma or GED. Research also shows that when students drop out of school they are three times more likely than graduates to go to jail.
Research conducted by University of California at Berkeley economist Enrico Moretti and Canadian economist Lance Lochner on the relationship over time between changes in graduation rates and crime indicates increasing Pennsylvania's graduation rates from an estimated 80% to 90% would yield more than 15,000 additional graduates annually, and prevent 150 murders and 5,900 aggravated assaults each year.
A proven deterrent to participation in violent and criminal behavior is after school (or out of school time) programs, such as CAPPA. Michael J. Carroll, Chief of Police for West Goshen Township in Chester County, and member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids explains that nation wide research consistently shows children are most likely to commit or become victims of crime, be in an automobile accident, smoke, drink alcohol, or use drugs between the hours of 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM on school days. An evaluation of an anti-gang evidence-based program approach showed that high-risk children and teens participating in these programs displayed decreases in several gang and delinquent behaviors. Participating youth also exhibited positive changes in their engagement and achievement in school. This evaluation data mirrors data collected on youth participating in CAPPA's programming.
According to Dr. Ruby Payne, author of "A Framework for Understanding Poverty", children living in poverty are not often afforded the luxury of moving through the stages of development at a healthy rate. Many of these children are rocket launched into adult roles, assisting with the upkeep of their residence, rearing their siblings, and often times taking care of their parents who are also living with a lack of emotional resources. This acceleration into adulthood may result in children learning to live in survival mode, to function only in dysfunction, and that placing a value on the abstract (such as education) is not an immediate solution needed for concrete problems. There is a need for communities and schools to effectively work together to change this trend into more positive outcomes for many disenfranchised youth. CAPPA has been successful in bringing together a diverse group of staff and volunteers that form the basis of meaningful and effective mentor/mentee relationships that have been sustained over time.
The National Youth Gang Center's most recent survey estimates that there are 21,500 gangs with 731,500 gang members. The survey also found that every city with at least 250,000 or more reported a youth gang problem. In addition, 87 percent of cities with populations between 100,000 and 249,999 reported youth gang problems. The pervasiveness of gangs throughout society undeniably incites fear and violence within our communities. Gangs threaten our schools, our children and our homes. Gangs today are more sophisticated and flagrant in their use of violence and intimidation tactics. As gangs expand across the country, they bring with them drugs, weapons, violence and other criminal activity. Our best defense is collaborative community organizations partnered with schools as well as law enforcement to provide realistic approaches to reach many disenfranchised youth before they succumb to gang influence.
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Our Mission
CAPPA's mission is to help participants build on their capabilities, increase their feelings of self worth, decrease self-destructive behavior and assist them in making proper life changing decisions.
Media Gallery
Our media gallery is full of videos, pictures and other information that highlights CAPPA's successes, capabilities, and the community of people that we serve.