Over time, we have found that many of our youth are not prepared to find or keep a job. They don't have the basic skills (punctuality, appropriate dress, conflict resolution) that they need. While we can help them find jobs, too often the jobs don't last long and simply helping them find one job after another does not help them develop the skills they will need to maintain employment and be self-sufficient as adults.

Developing those skills takes an employer willing to give our youth as many chances as we do in our foster care programs. Recognizing that outside employers are limited in their ability to continue to work with employees who seem unwilling to meet basic expectations, we have developed businesses to employ those youth who were not ready to maintain outside employment. These businesses are in areas for which our youth can easily develop the requisite skills.

The NAFFCCA businesses are set up as apprenticeship programs but also provide market services. All participants are paid a stipend and any profits after expenses are put back into NAFFCCA programs. There is career training for all participants through classroom, group, one-on-one and on-the-job learning.