Regional Director
240-405-9904 | email ↓
Deb Yates has over 25 years of experience working with “at-risk and underserved” youth in the delinquency and child welfare systems of Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Arkansas, and Florida. Her proven knowledge of the needs of youth, families and the community resulted in numerous national and local commendations, awards, and recognition for North American Family Institute (NAFI), including named “1 of 100 Best” by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
As the former Director of Operations for NAFI’s Mid-Atlantic Region, in 2003, Ms. Yates helped to secure funding for NAFI’s first Youth Police Initiative (YPI), a program that trains Baltimore City Police Academy cadets and community youth together. Since then, the program has become a national model with research-based success, collaborating with Police Departments and teenagers from public schools, neighborhood organizations, and probation departments in over 45 cities nationwide. She currently serves as the Marketing and Development Director of YPI.
Ms. Yates has extensive experience in operations, licensing, and standards compliance, and has been a critical member of the NAFI management start-up team for eight NAFI programs nationwide.
As the Regional Director of NAFI Florida’s contracts and programming, she supervises contracts and operations with the Department of Juvenile Justice, Department of Children and Families, and subcontracts with Heartland for Children, providing evidenced based services to youth and families in six counties in Florida.