ScholarCHIPS, Inc.
Yasmine “YazzieSpeaks” Arrington was born and raised in Washington, DC. She is a 2015 graduate from Elon University with a Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communications and History. Yasmine earned her Master of Divinity degree from the Howard University School of Divinity in May 2018. Yasmine is the author of Daily Reflections for Social Entrepreneurs Journal.
In 2010, while a junior in high school, Yasmine founded the non-profit ScholarCHIPS (www.scholarchipsfund.org), an organization that provides college scholarships, mentoring and a peer support network to children of incarcerated parents, inspiring them to complete their college education. To date, ScholarCHIPS has awarded over $250,000 in college scholarships to 61 scholars, with 22 graduates to date. Yasmine is dedicated to scaling ScholarCHIPS.
Yasmine has been featured in TeenVogue, Essence, Black Enterprise, Forbes Magazine, The Washington Post, and the Baltimore Times, and on ABC7 News WJLA and NBC4 for her community work with ScholarCHIPS.
As a junior in high school, I was challenged with researching and applying for scholarships to help me afford the cost of attendance for my college education. In my research, I did not find any college scholarship mentorship programs specifically for children with incarcerated parents. However, the United States incarcerates more people than any other nation in the world! Today, over 2 million youth in the US have an incarcerated parent. I knew I had to do something, so I decided to start my own scholarship for youth like me, who want to attend college but lack the financial support, mentorship and support network to do so. Thus, ScholarCHIPS was born! I am committed to solving this need. I am proposing to scale ScholarCHIPS' impact. My project will elevate humanity by empowering an often forgotten population to succeed in college and beyond, to break barriers of incarceration and poverty!
Washington, DC has one of the highest incarceration rates in the United States. Parental Incarceration is not only a national issue, but a global issue. In some countries, children serve a portion of their parents' sentence with them or become foster children (International Report on the Conditions of Children with Incarcerated Parents).
As mass incarceration rates rise, children of incarcerated parents are overlooked victims. Parental incarceration creates hardships for children, including traumatic parental separations. They are more likely to grow up in poverty, face housing instability as they are uprooted and raised by caregivers such as grandparents, perform poorly in school, and be imprisoned. They experience stigma and oftentimes, shame due to their parent’s incarceration—resulting in psychological issues.
Even if they graduate high school, college is unaffordable. Those who attend college face social-emotional and financial struggles. Low-income students of incarcerated parents are four times more likely to drop out of college than advantaged students (The New York Times).
To address this need, ScholarCHIPS provides scholarships, mentorship, college completion supports, professional development and a peer support network to college bound youth with incarcerated parents from the Washington, DC Metropolitan area.
ScholarCHIPS targets graduating high school seniors who have the drive to attend and graduate from college, but are at risk of falling short because of limited financial resources or support networks. Many are the first in their family to attend or complete college. Our scholars also demonstrate a commitment to their community.
ScholarCHIPS serves our scholars through three main programs.
Scholarship Program: ScholarCHIPS provides renewable $2,500 scholarships and $500 book awards to children of incarcerated parents from the DC region. Awards are renewable for up to four years (eight semesters), provided the scholar remains enrolled in college and maintains at least a 2.5 GPA per semester.
Mentorship and College Completion Program: ScholarCHIPS offers one-on-one mentoring, college life skills/professional development workshops, and exposure to arts and culture. We provide ongoing support so that award recipients matriculate and graduate from college.
Advocacy Program: ScholarCHIPS aims to transform inaccurate societal assumptions about youth with incarcerated parents. Scholars and I participate in community and national advocacy work on policies related to children of incarcerated parents and returning citizens on a regular basis. We have spoken at hearings in front of the DC City Council, written in an Amicus Brief and written letters requesting pardons.
ScholarCHIPS currently targets scholars who live in the Greater Washington, DC region (including Baltimore) due to high rates of mass incarceration and a concerning level of financial instability for our target population. DC has one of the highest living expenses in the country. Gentrification in the District is exacerbating these expenses. However, the median family income is rapidly decreasing in Wards 5, 7, and 8—neighborhoods with the highest incarceration rates and share of young children in the District (Washington Post).
ScholarCHIPS has served 61 scholars since our inception; 48% are from DC, 46% from Maryland, and 6% from Virginia. We will serve approximately 40 active scholars in FY2020-2021. We welcome students from all ethnic backgrounds to apply; the majority are African Americans, followed by Latinos. The average FAFSA Estimated Family Contribution per scholar is $5,181.16. Many of our scholars' Estimated Family Contribution is $0.
To understand our scholars' needs, the organization hosts town halls as open forums for scholars to discuss their struggles and needs. After workshops and at the conclusion of every school year, we ask our scholars to take surveys, and tell us what we do that is helping them and what they would like to see implemented.
- Elevating opportunities for all people, especially those who are traditionally left behind
My project, ScholarCHIPS, definitely overlaps with each of The Elevate Prize's dimensions. However, the dimension that best describes my project is, "Elevating opportunities for all people, especially those who are traditionally left behind." Children of Incarcerated Parents (CHIPS) are often a forgotten population, yet we are the collateral damage of a punitive corrections system and Prison Industrial Complex that incarcerates our parents often for ridiculously long stints of time. I elevate CHIPS through my organization, through my leadership, and cultivation of a robust support network. I encourage and teach scholars how to embrace their personal stories and to lead change.
As a junior in high school in 2010, I enrolled in LearnServe International. In this program, I learned critical problem-solving skills and discovered that I had the agency to be a catalyst for positive, social change even as a teenager.
When I was searching for scholarships I could apply for to afford the cost of attendance at a collegiate institution, I noticed that there were no scholarship mentorship programs for CHIPS going to college. At LearnServe, I had to come up with a "venture," which is a creative solution to a social problem. I thought to myself, "I'd like to start a scholarship program for youth, like me." When I began to conduct research on mass incarceration, I was truly appalled by the statistics! I discovered that there are literally millions of children in the United States (and globally) with incarcerated parents. I was determined to do something!
I pitched my idea in front of a panel of judges. The panel unanimously gave me the green light to launch my venture, and I received a $1,000 seed grant from Ashoka's Youth Venture. I asked three adults, in my life at the time, to be ScholarCHIPS' founding board members.
I am passionate about my project, ScholarCHIPS, because I am the child of an incarcerated parent. My father has been in and out of jails and federal prisons my entire life. I am 27 now and my father is currently incarcerated. I know too well the challenges that CHIPS face - from emotional to financial struggles. I truly believe that if our corrections institutions were rehabilitative, then my father would have received the mental health support and counseling he truly needs to address past traumas and to learn how to positively channel emotions like anger, frustration, feelings of abandonment, etc. I am the second in my family to graduate from college. I am on a mission to help entire generations break cycles of intergenerational incarceration and the harsh realities and struggles of living in poverty. I am on a mission to empower youth to love and forgive their parents, to practice restorative justice in their advocacy work, own their stories and pay it forward for the people in their families and communities. I know for certain that this very much my life's purpose and calling. I will constantly develop innovative solutions to issues around incarceration and education access.
I have been the Executive Director of ScholarCHIPS, since I founded the organization in 2010. I have developed and continue to develop skills in management, storytelling, communications, donor cultivation, resource alignment, board development, etc. I have a degree in Strategic Communications and a Master's degree in Divinity, so I am trained professionally to communicate with various stakeholders, and to be a listening ear and prophetic voice for those who need it. I also have passion for my work and compassion for the youth I serve, who I work for and alongside. I am also the child of an incarcerated parent.
ScholarCHIPS is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of our scholars. We implement a three-pronged approach specifically designed to benefit youth with incarcerated parents: (1) a comprehensive Scholarship Program to address the financial needs of college-bound youth with limited familial and monetary resources; (2) a Mentorship and College Completion Program that provides a support network, which increases scholars’ chances of persisting through graduation and establishing successful careers; and (3) the Advocacy and Outreach Program, which aims to influence policy and change the negative stigma faced by children with incarcerated parents.
ScholarCHIPS is the only organization in the DC region that works to achieve the following mission: provide college scholarships, mentorship, and a support network for youth with incarcerated parents, inspiring them to complete their college education. ScholarCHIPS empowers youth to break barriers and build successful futures, guided by our belief that "the tassel is worth the hassle!”
In 2017, a ScholarCHIPS scholar wrote a letter informing me that her laptop had crashed and asking if the organization could assist her with this. This young lady was a straight "A" student and a film major. Having been a communications major, I knew that as a film major, she would have digital projects she would need to edit on her own laptop. I went to the Board of Directors with this request and my recommendation for the organization to purchase this young scholar a new laptop. To my surprise, I received a lot of push back from the board, as their fear was setting a precedent for support that we might not be able to provide for all scholars. I wrestled internally to figure out a workable solution, because I knew that this young lady needed a laptop and did not have the means to get one herself. I came up with an idea for a separate fund -a Scholar Emergency Fund, where scholars can submit a short application to request support from the organization when they have emergencies. The board loved this idea and unanimously voted it into praxis. To date, many scholars benefit from this fund.
In 2016, I was asked to testify before the DC City Council on my experience as the child of an incarcerated parent and why it is critically important for Washington, DC to begin keeping record of how many children in our public schools have incarcerated parents. I accepted the invitation. After sharing my testimony alongside other local advocates and activists in the community, the DC City Council passed legislation to require DC public schools to begin accounting for their children who have incarcerated parents. Now, when parents enroll their children into a DC public school, as a part of the enrollment packet, they have to fill out a form entitled "Adverse Childhood Experiences." This form has an option you can select if the child has had or has an incarcerated parent. Having this data will give us a better understanding how many children are experiencing parental incarceration in our school system and will allow for us to continue advocating for funds of programs to support these children and youth.
- Nonprofit
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Founder & Executive Director