Legit: Youth Entrepreneurship Program

Legit was established in 1993 in Brooklyn, New York, to address the rising tide of adolescents swept into the juvenile justice system due primarily to their involvement in the lucrative drug trade. These young people - nearly all African-American and Latino and nearly all male - sell drugs not to support an addiction, but to support themselves. Legit was created to provide a legitimate support for legitimate choices by our youth.

Legit offers an alternative to crime and delinquency for nearly 50 young people each year, young men and women (14-16) who are facing incarceration or placement at a New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS, formerly Division for Youth) facility, or who are returning to the community following placement.

Legit's strategy is to validate the desire of young people to be successful. Legit guides them in applying their entrepreneurial skills and their desire for a profitable job into the development of legal and lucrative enterprises that address a real need in their communities. We combine educational support, counseling, and micro-enterprise training - with the support of caring adults and mentors - to create opportunities for teenagers in conflict with the law. By focusing on these areas of development, Legit gives young people the power to fashion different futures for themselves.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes Legit an entrepreneurship program?
Legit links all aspects of the program to micro-enterprise and income to help participants relate what they learn in school or with their tutor to what they do in the pursuit of success in business. Legit works together with business leaders, community sponsors, and mentors to develop teams of "companies" that set up micro-enterprises based on client-conducted community needs assessments.

What micro-enterprises are Legit kids involved in?
There are currently three business ventures available to Legit participants. "Legit Contractors" provides painting, tiling, sheet rocking and other small home repair jobs. "Legit WebMasters" provides website design to small non-profit organizations and home-based businesses. "Legit Express Care Packages" is a purchasing and distribution business through which family members of prison inmates can purchase goods at a discount and have them sent to the institutions.

What does Legit offer besides business training and operation?
Legit's core curriculum includes group and individual counseling focused on building competence and resilience; preventing violence, chemical dependency, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, and recidivism; and postponing parenthood. Families are included, mentors provided whenever possible, and a parent support group is offered.

What are the requirements for Legit participants?
Participants in Legit are expected to attend school regularly and to maintain at least passing grades in all major subjects. Legit provides on-site educational and vocational assessment, including assistance in securing more appropriate school placement, as well as computer-assisted tutoring.

To be successful at Legit, participants are required to:

• remain in the program for 9-12 months

• attend school regularly

• attend at least 80% of business and counseling sessions

• participate in the development and/or operation of a business initiative

• comply with all conditions imposed by the court or supervising agency (Family or Supreme Court, Department of Probation or Office of Children and Famil: Services).

Aren't you excusing these young people's criminal behavior because of their circumstances?
Legit has found that people don't commit crimes because of their circumstances, they do so because of the future they see for themselves. Simply put, people make choices and live their lives according to the future they see for themselves. Teenagers living in poor, minority communities where unemployment is rampant, poverty overwhelming, and opportunities scarce, may be unable to see a future that offers anything better. They need money and jobs, but may not have the skills or confidence to pursue legitimate opportunities, and they may be resigned to a future of jail, violence, and early death. For them, the dangers of involvement in illicit activity are not an effective deterrent. The only deterrent is to truly envision another possible future.

What is the "success rate" of Legit?
More than half of the young people enrolled at Legit successfully complete the program, and Legit Participants have a recidivism rate that is one-seventh that of similar New York City youth who have not been diverted from placement. Several Legit "graduates" are going to college, and others have found part-time jobs while they continue their secondary school education. In a program where 75% of participants know someone who has been murdered in the last 12 months, it is a significant achievement that no young person enrolled in Legit has been lost to violence or arrested for a violent act since the program's inception.

Who is eligible and how can I refer an eligible teen?
Young people, age 14-17, who are interested in youth entrepreneurship may be referred to Legit if they have a felony charge pending in Brooklyn Family Court or Supreme Court or are returning to reside in Brooklyn following placement with the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (formerly Division for Youth) and have no history of serious mental illness or chemical dependency. (Younger or older teens may be accepted in special cases.) Preference is given to adolescents who would otherwise be placed or sentenced to a term of incarceration. Those wishing to refer a client, or interested in becoming a mentor, should contact the Program Director.

Do you need volunteers?
Yes! Legit seeks volunteers who will act as mentors to individual young people, or as coaches for their business ventures. All young people, and especially OUR young people, need caring adults to provide time, interest and commitment. If you've got that, you've got a future with Legit. Please call or email the Program Director.

Legit
Sharon Content
Program Director
Youth Entrepreneurship Program
The Osborne Association
175 Remsen Street, 8th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201

(718) 637-6560
Fax: (718) 624-7700