Education

Assisting Youth and Families in Exploring Education

Taylor Diversion Programs offers youth the best in education through our Pennsylvania Department of Education private licensed academic school, Lighthouse Island Academy. At our academy, we utilize a blend of curricular strategy of placed-based education and competency development, while following the PA standards of education. Place-based education immerses youth in local heritage, environment, cultures and opportunities, then uses these as a foundation for the study of all major subjects across the curriculum. Strategies include:

  • Nature based experiences related to the real world
  • PA certified teachers and mentors
  • Cyber school supervision and tutoring
  • 3 to 6 students per class
  • Individual home-school curriculum support
  • Individual Education Plan (IEP) support
  • Successful reintegration of youth into their communities
  • Skill development in the areas of pro-social, moral reasoning, vocation, and life skills

Taylor Diversion Programs Also Offers These Extended Opportunities:

  • Credit Recovery
  • GED Preparation
  • Tutoring
  • Environmental Stewardship
  • Dropout and Truancy prevention/intervention
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Leadership
  • Career Readiness Skills

Youth, while attending TDP, may remain enrolled in their home school. This process enables them to continue on track with their home school schedule, making the transition back to their school as seamless as possible.

Diversion, A Preventative Approach

TDP embraces a national movement to keep youth in school and out of the juvenile justice system. To this end, TDP has created a pre-adjudication diversion program for enrolled youth. Aligned with the national models of juvenile justice reform, this approach is designed to accelerate progress toward a more effective, fair, and developmentally sound justice system experience that does the following:

  • Holds youth accountable for their actions
  • Provides for their rehabilitation
  • Protects them from harm
  • Increases their life chances for success
  • Assists them to better manage their risks
  • Accelerate progress

TDP will incorporate prevention, intervention, and community reintegration assistance to all youth and families served. Diversion services focused upon are: education aimed at preventing offenses, restitution, community service, and the avoidance of situations that can be problematic and lead to the commitment of offenses in the future.

“Our commitment in this project is restoring the children’s trails. Let’s dare to try. We’ll reintroduce them. We’ll catch and rear children, and then we’ll release them.”Jon Young
Education
Family Support
Vocation
Health
Through our diversion programs, TDP provides experiences that give youth the opportunities they need to increase their chances for success and the necessary skills to better manage their risks through strength enhancement.

What others are saying…

  • Taylor Diversion Program not only addresses the development of competencies necessary for a successful transition to living independently in the community, but also includes a family component which assists in the rebuilding of relationships between family, caregivers, schools and communities, an area in which most of these youth have ‘broken many bridges’. Mentoring is a critical component of this program which will be an ongoing process throughout the stay.Children and Youth Services Representative
  • “After visiting the site and hearing the plans you have for TDP, I believe the types of programs and services that you propose to offer will fulfill an important need in the region. The intent of this mentoring program is to help at risk children develop the competencies needed to develop a successful lifestyle and assist in rebuilding relationships between family, caregivers, schools and communities.”Congressman
  • “I am firmly convinced that having this leadership and mentoring program in our area will have a very positive impact on our students, our schools, and our communities. It is discouraging to witness deteriorating behavior and performance in young people who we know have ample potential, but are not served adequately by the confines of public education. I know that the motivation behind Taylor Diversion Programs is to reach students before they head too far down the wrong path. Even at our small, rural high school, we encounter numerous students that become involved with juvenile probation, placement facilities, and/or incarceration during and after high school. Taylor Diversion Programs will create a scenario where caring adults can have a positive impact in preventing the patterns of negative behavior, rather than reacting to it after the fact.”-Guidance Counselor

Our Mission

TDP provides supportive prevention services for troubled youth and their families by using proven strategies in education, vocation, nature and wellness in order to create stronger, healthier communities.

Our Promise

As TDP grows, we will continue our commitment to exceed the expectations of the populations served; moreover, we will remain committed to treating every youth as family.

Multi-faceted Approach

TDP has created a unique,  four-dimensional Prevention/Intervention program for youth: 

Taylor Diversion Programs, Inc.© does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age or disability in the employment or in the provision of services.

TDP is a 501(c)(3) organization, fully licensed by PA 3800 regulations to operate a residential independent living program. We also have a private licensed school, through the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Lighthouse Island Academy.