AC Milan Partner To Support Youth In Penal Systems
May 12, 2023
In collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Justice, football club Fondazione Milan (AC Milan) and Fondazione CDP (CDP Foundation) have launched a project dedicated to rehabilitating young people in the criminal justice system. The ‘Play for the Future’ initiative will use sports education activities and vocational workshops to enhance the probation paths of youth in the penal system and ease the transition into working environments.
In 2020, the number of youth in detention centers in Italy averaged 320 per day. According to a study conducted by the Department of Juvenile and Community Justice, over 97% of the 14,198 young people undertake "alternative rehabilitative pathways" rather than prison, such as probation under the care of social services.
The Play for the Future project will be one of these alternate routes. The Offices of Social Services for Minors will select 60 young people aged between 16 and 22 each in the cities: Bari, Catania, Naples and Palermo in Italy who are serving two-year sentences. They will be offered a chance to participate in the social rehabilitation project in a dual course lasting until June 2024.
The sports education course will give the young people a chance to interact with their peers, play together and learn values of respect, sharing, altruism and teamwork. All the activities will be run by a team of sports specialist coaches to ensure that the youths engage in sport and the social aspect of the programming.
The project will also include courses on employment with the intention to help the participants on the road to entering the workplace. This will include a skills assessment, career guidance activities and assistant coaching classes. In 2024, two youths per city will be placed on an internship course at local businesses and with sports clubs to gain work experience, supported by employment grants.
“Sport and work, together with culture, are the main ways to open up a new chance in life for young people in juvenile institutions. With this project, we choose to play a crucial role in the interest of the community; offering young people a training course and a concrete professional opportunity, so that they do not return to crime, allowing the entire community to invest in its future,” said Carlo Nordio, the Minister of Justice.
Play for the Future is part of AC Milan’s Sport for Change program, which uses sport as a tool for education and valuing the talents of young people at-risk of social exclusion. The objective is to implement sporting activities to counteract poor education and economic poverty, promoting integration and social inclusion in suburban areas and neighborhoods of large cities in the process. It also seeks to create a sense of identity and belonging in communities. Youth inclusion is a strategic priority for CDP Foundation alongside investing in Southern Italy.