Over the past ten years it has become clear that a significant number of Yeshiva students (between 5% and 30%) are seriously at-risk for failing or falling out of the Yeshiva system. Once removed from the Yeshiva setting, the potential for their behaviors to spiral out of control increases exponentially.

Many are drawn to alcohol, drugs and other deviant and destructive behaviors. Thousands of such students are identifiable in the New York area alone.

An adequately and appropriately prepared Yeshiva system is our best communal defense against the proliferation of at-risk behavior.

The Community Training Initiative is a systematic series of courses, workshops, and continued education for parents and educators on forming and sustaining productive relationships with children and students to prevent challenges from spiraling out of control.

The Initiative has three tracks:

• Priority Parenting Institute: Gives parents the skills to identify youth challenges that may lead to “at-risk” behavior and teaching proactive methods to prevent behaviors from spiraling out of control.
• Ner Yehoshua Priority Teaching Institute: Trains educators to circumvent, detect, and effectively intervene when youth are faced with challenges that lead to alienation and estrangement from their heritage and community.
• Five-Towns Youth Community Kollel: This new program partners young Torah scholars to mentor Torah Academy students each morning, and to learn with individual community teens, those in yeshiva and those who are not, during afternoons and evenings. Mentors also help fathers develop Torah learning skills, so they themselves can learn with their teenage sons.