Yap's Psychosocial Model

Another model that YAP focuses on is “the client first model”, which is that they want all of their clients and families of clients to play an active role in the program they are involved with. This model is seen in the first initial meeting with Aryanna which was at J&S Pizzeria. During this this meeting my Aryanna was willing to tell me about her past. She described herself as 17 year-old with autism who also has a 2 year-old son. Having a child is very difficult for her because it forced her to stop attending school in person and begin taking online classes. Recently, her house burned down so she is now between households which causes even more problems due to lack of stability. YAP has worked with Aryanna and her family creating a for education and childcare. While, Aryanna comes from a
household where both parents did not even graduate high school. YAP has continued to encourage education by helping Aryanna utilize cyber school so she is not marked as truant. After talking with this client she described how she truly wants to go to school but there is no emphasis on the importance of school in her household. Another model, the pathways from poverty model looks at how the quality of life in the home environment which can be seen because she has less nurturing parents. It also explains how her parents are less involved in her education because of they put less of an emphasis on the importance of education. This is because they feel it is unimportant because they are doing well for not having a “straight job”. YAP looks at both their client first model and the causes of poverty so they can work with the clients to fit their individual needs. Aryanna also explained how she wants to go to school but because of how close she lives to school this would require her to walk and she does not want to walk because feels unsafe in her neighborhood.
Also, her family does not own a car for her to get to school which is difficult in the colder months. Additionally, she feels unsafe walking to school and home because it gets dark out earlier and it is cold. Fortunately, YAP using the social capital theory by creating bonds for the children in the community like, Aryanna. This means that they offer capital by providing links in the community that they can use to further themselves. These social bonds such as the advocates may fill in, in areas that lack at home, neighborhoods, or schools for these children. Aryanna especially struggled with social capital because not going to school meant she lacked connections with peers, lacked educational growth, and a lack of capital in the community because she was considered truant, which resulted in fines that needed to pay in the community. This eventually caused a strain in her own family because they could not pay the truancy fees resulting in her parents beginning to resent
her. The YAP program has taken her need for personal growth and helped this client become a part of the cyber school program. Aryanna is one of the many clients that they have helped by recognizing the diverse backgrounds their clients come from, which includes hardships that need to be handled delicately. Using the client first model encourages the clients to take what they learned from the program home.