System-Involved Youth Residencies

System-Involved Youth Residencies

Phonetic Spit System-Involved Youth Residencies provide sustained, trauma-informed creative writing and spoken-word programming for young people navigating foster care, juvenile detention, group homes, and shelter environments. These programs are designed to offer consistency, dignity, and creative agency within systems where youth voices are often limited or overlooked.

Residencies typically occur over six- to eight-week periods, with professional teaching artists visiting facilities once or twice per week. Workshops emphasize relationship-building, emotional expression, literacy development, and youth voice. Teaching artists adapt programming to each setting’s structure while centering safety, choice, and respect.

Opportunities for sharing original work are incorporated when appropriate, through in-group readings, written reflections, or recorded performances, reinforcing validation and self-worth.

Annual Scope

• Offered year-round

• Programming delivered across multiple facilities annually

Key Outcomes & Metrics

• 70–85% report writing helps manage stress or emotions

• 60–70% share original work verbally or in writing

• Facility partners report improved engagement in 75% of programs