Reclaiming Youth Seminars
Mark your calendars for the 2025 Reclaiming Youth Seminars to be held on the campus of Augustana University, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, July 14-19, 2025.
Don't React to Problems, Rather Respond to Needs
We, at Reclaiming Youth at Risk, offer research, training, and consultation to build strengths in children, families, schools, and communities. For thousands of years, American Indian cultures nourished respectful and courageous children without employing punitive discipline. Drawing from these little-understood resources, we provide a holistic approach to reclaiming youth at risk. Courage for the discouraged — for youth and for professionals as well!
We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit research, training, and consulting organization, focused on respectful approaches that empower resilience in youth. We support and guide youth practitioners as they bring positive change to their areas of youth work and inspire others by their leadership.
Our Impact at a Glance
The book that started it all...
Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Futures of Promise
This completely updated third edition of Reclaiming Youth at Risk expands the impact of the Circle of Courage resilience model which has been embraced world-wide.
Without the right kind of training, adults get sucked into conflict cycles with kids and then react to the problems instead of responding to the needs.
Dr. Larry K. Brendtro — Founder
Curriculum Overview
Reclaiming Youth at Risk offers a broad and balanced curriculum for all areas of youth work. Rooted in the latest research and decades of practical experience, our courses have become the gold standard for resilience-based organizations worldwide.
Planning Restorative Outcomes
Also known as "PRO Assessment," this course reframes problems as opportunities for learning with children and youth at risk.
Moccasin Paths and Other Trails
This course draws together Indigenous knowledge and contemporary research to build strengths in Native American and First Nations youth, families, schools, and communities.
The Art of Kid Whispering
Problem behaviors are often the focus of intervention instead of recognizing that these are expressions of inner pain and distress. This training discovers the private logic and goals of the inside kid.
The Three Pillars of Transforming Care
Not another trauma training for therapists, this training addresses those working directly with traumatized youngsters in foster care, residential care, schools, youth justice workers, and the family.
Reclaiming Youth at Risk
Training grounded in Circle of Courage principles researched and refined across three editions of Reclaiming Youth at Risk. This book launched a global movement, sparking scores of other publications that built on this reclaiming tradition.
Respectful Alliances: RAP and PPC
This Circle of Courage course consists of two separate two-day trainings. Response Ability Pathways (RAP) is for all who work with youth. Positive Peer Culture (PPC) offers another level of training for clinicians, group leaders, supervisors, senior youth workers, and educators.
Training and Beyond
Instructor-Led and Self-Paced
Our training can be structured to meet your organization's specific needs, and offerings include instructor-led courses and self-paced online training. Select courses and certifications are available for university credit though Augustana University.
In-house Publications
Over the years, our experienced staff have together authored scores of groundbreaking books and thousands of timely articles.
Conferences and Workshops
From the Reclaiming Youth Seminars, to speaking engagements around the world, our network of trained professionals delivers. Our courses and certifications can be customized for any size of organization.
Consulting, Advocacy, and Policy
We have provided expert testimony and advocacy for youth at risk at all levels, both in the United States and around the world. Members of our team have served on state and national committees to shape policy.