Four Montgomery County communities are in need of adult volunteers to join area Youth Aid Panels (YAP). Joe Zlomek explained the details in The Sanatoga Post.

Willing participants will aid the district attorney’s office in giving a second chance to youths between ages 10–18.

There are 30 YAPs operating at present, involving 160 adult volunteers. All need willing extra hands.

But the immediate need is for volunteers in:

• Pottstown
• Cheltenham
• North Penn
• Upper Merion

The diversionary program — launched in 2003 — uses adult volunteers to help juveniles benefit from a judiciary second chance. The YAP pairings seek to provide low-level offenders with relationships that will steer them away from recidivist crimes like vandalism and shoplifting.

YAP volunteers are fully trained before serving and donate an average of five hours per month.

“The only requirement is a desire to help juveniles make a positive change in their lives,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said.

A YAP application is online.

The complete story on Youth Aid Panels and its vacancies is at The Sanatoga Post.

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Although shoplifting is no laughing matter, some criminals’ activities border on the absurd.