Centro Educativo Ana vda. Leroux
Integración Juvenil is a registered non-profit organization within the Dominican Republic, and has subsisted over the years through government funds and international assistance.
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It is managed by a volunteer joint directive, and survives with the help of its dedicated staff, volunteers and international friends of the program.
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Integración Juvenil kids generally range from 7 – 16, though sometimes exceptions are made for slightly younger or older participants. The institution has two locales; its administrative office in downtown Puerto Plata, and the educational center in the neighboring village of Muñoz, five minutes outside of the
city. At the center in Muñoz, there are three buildings with classrooms and vocational and educational workshops, including wood-working, art and handicraft workshops, a sewing room, and a beauty salon classroom – all of which have been the center of the vocational and practical studies at Integración Juvenil since its inception. A staff of six to ten teachers (varying each year) oversees these workshops as well as intensive classes on literacy and other basic concepts of formal education, designed to re-insert youth into the educational system.
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All classes are given at Integración Juvenil in the afternoons only, to allow for kids to continue their formal educations in the mornings. The school year is free for all of Integración Juvenil’s students, which includes transportation to and from Muñoz and educational materials like notebooks and pens. A walk-in
clinic, maintained by CEPRO SH of Puerto Plata, shares the compound with Integración Juvenil and offers free consultations for Integración Juvenil’s youth, including on site dental and medical exams.