The Queens Defenders Young Adult Leader Program employs dedicated youth who are passionate about improving their community. Under the supervision of our adult staff, the Young Adult Leaders plan, organize, and facilitate programs for youth in the community. Their role includes responsibilities such as tutoring youth in our center, coaching local basketball teams, and attending community meetings to advocate for young people. Leaders serve as role models for their peers, as well as mentors for younger youth in our center.

In response to our nation’s reckoning with the reality and history of systemic racism, Queens Defenders created the BLANK Project. The Project focuses on ‘Building Leaders and Activists in a New Kulture.’ Members of the BLANK Project learn about the law, organize rallies and marches, and fight for social justice. Our team is committed to standing with and fighting for marginalized groups in our country.

Queens Defenders offers free tutoring services out of our Rockaway Outreach Center. Our Young Adult Leaders are trained to serve as homework helpers for youth of all ages. They specialize in Elementary and Middle School Level Math and English Language Arts, as well as High School Math and SAT Prep.

We partner with Rockaway Park’s St. John’s Residence for Boys to help young men residing in this Close to Home placement develop skills and confidence, learn about the justice system and how it impacts them and their community, and learn about crucial college and career readiness skills that will help them set goals and realize their full potential.

Members of the Queens Defenders staff are available for resumé and job search consultations. Experts from our team meet with clients and community members to lead them through the job application process. We start by highlighting each person’s strengths and experience on a professional resumé. Then, we guide participants through their job search. This includes having an updated job board with local employment opportunities, as well as prepping individuals for their interviews. Queens Defenders provides participants with professional business attire for interviews, and continued support over the course of their search for employment.

The Queens Defenders Adult Career Training program launched in March 2021 in response to the critical need for training and services for Queens residents during the pandemic. Our team aims to train, support, and coach our participants in a meaningful way that will lead to gainful employment. The program begins with a series of educational workshops and seminars focused on topics such as workplace etiquette, conflict resolution, and computer skills. Then, participants are placed in an internship program with local businesses. Here, they gain work experience under the supervision of Queens Defenders staff. Finally, each participant graduates the program with stable employment in the community.

Providing our young legal clients with opportunities to work, gain new skills, interact with caring adult mentors, and feel a sense of pride in accomplishment is the best restorative justice. Participants in our mentoring program receive academic support, on-the-job work experience, and opportunities for cultural excursions and recreational activities. Throughout the program, which lasts anywhere between six months to two years depending on the client, the young people have access to social workers, attorneys, education specialists, and credible messengers – someone who has been through the criminal justice system and has successfully turned their life around. The goal of the program is to give our young clients the opportunity to turn their own lives around and to reduce any chance of being re-arrested.