Youth Leadership Development Institute
The purpose of the Youth Leadership Development Institute is to provide a constant and stable environment for youth in foster care. The Institute offers a nurturing curriculum that includes an employment and career-shadowing component, youth-focused workshop series, year-round mentoring and involvement in other Urban League youth initiatives. For more than 10 years, the Youth Leadership Development Institute (YLDI) has been funded by the South Carolina Department of Social Services. The YLDI program is geared towards students ages 14-19 who are in foster care and/or considered at risk. YLDI serves 200-250 students across several counties in South Carolina. These counties include Aiken, Florence, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Richland, Sumter, and York. YLDI utilizes an evidence based best practice strategy for working with youth in foster care that focuses on several critical needs areas of its participants. .