We build programs for justice-involved youth.

Our programs enable youth to reach their full potential with the holistic support of their community.

Momentum Advisory Collective™ is a capacity-building organization that was formed from over eight successful years of experience at Café Momentum, serving justice-involved teens with skill building, wraparound care, education and employment. M.A.C. leadership, led by Chad Houser, founder of Café Momentum, shares a deep commitment to placing the restaurant and program in more cities, not only to create opportunities for young people in these specific locations but to stimulate systemic change through employer education opportunities and changing the public perception of these youth and their capabilities.

Throughout our experience, we have successfully developed structures and relationships to provide our young people with meaningful workforce development, no-cost medical care, mental health services and education support to attain their high school diplomas and go on to college. Through this, we have learned from challenges and honed best practices; we are now committed to expanding this uniquely transformative restaurant and program to other cities.

“WE BUILD PROGRAMS THAT EXPAND OPPORTUNITY & ENABLE JUSTICE-INVOLVED YOUTH TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL WITH THE HOLISTIC SUPPORT OF THEIR COMMUNITY.”

In the United States, youth incarceration is a national crisis. In fact, we have the highest rate of youth confinement in any developed country, with nearly 60,000 youth under age 18 incarcerated in juvenile jails and prisons on any given day. Out of that number, more than 500 are under the age of 12, and nearly 1 in 10 are held in adult prisons.

When our children are held in jail or put in prison, they are placed into a gripping cycle of incarceration in which their social and emotional growth is negatively impacted. They lose access to many opportunities to contribute to society and sustain themselves. Society doesn’t make it easy for people to succeed when they re-enter their communities, especially when they are children. In order to make ends meet, they may need to rely on government support whether or not they’d like to; or worse, they may be forced to take part in illegal activities to meet their basic needs.

This is devastating for the youths themselves but also takes a toll on our communities, who lose contributions, talents and resources that these young people might have otherwise brought to the table. What’s more, youth of color are incarcerated at much higher rates than those who are white. The majority of Black incarcerated young men (72%) and women (52%) and Hispanic incarcerated young men (83%) and women (67%) aged 18-24 do not have a high school diploma (The Center for Law and Social Policy, 2016). And available evidence shows that high school dropouts are about three to four times more likely to be imprisoned than high school graduates (Pettit and Western, 2004) and children and youth detained and committed to juvenile corrections in the United States typically perform three to four years below their peers on standardized measures of academic performance (Foley, 2001; Krezmien et al., 2008).

This doesn’t only impact the youth and their families; it’s costly for taxpayers too. Beyond the impact on the individual and community, there are also economic implications of youth incarceration. The costs of detention and incarceration are exorbitant and utilize funding that could be used on a plethora of social support programs that might decrease or prevent youth incarceration in the first place. According to the Justice Policy Institute’s 2020 report, the average cost of locking up a young person is $558 a day ($203,670 per year, per youth).

The Crisis of Youth Incarceration

Racial disparities keep the crisis out of the view of too many groups not impacted by systems of oppression. This hinders the ability to build broad movements for meaningful reform.

We envision a country where the basic and socioemotional needs of our youth are met; a country that understands that justice-involved youth often lack resources, have experienced trauma and require holistic support; a country whose communities come together to support this vision.

We believe that this can be a reality for young people nationwide. We are building clear pathways out of incarceration so today’s justice-involved youth have access to resources, opportunity and trauma-informed support such that they and their future generations can thrive, not just survive.

Our Vision

Through the Momentum model, workforce development and employment are provided to justice-involved youth at Café Momentum with a year-long paid internship, at which time they are trained in every aspect of operating a fine dining restaurant. Simultaneously, they are supported by a robust ecosystem of support and job placement assistance upon the completion of the program.