Youth Entertainment Studios, Inc. (YES) and Tidewater Detention Home (TDH) entered into a unique partnership to launch a music recording studio inside the Chesapeake, VA juvenile detention facility to assist in reducing the recidivism rate. The initiative was funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and The City of Chesapeake. The project was the brainchild of Chesapeake City Manager, Mr. Clarence Cuffee and was enthusiastically embraced by Ms. Cookie Roberts, City of Chesapeake Director of Human Services, and TDH Director, Mr. Sam Taylor.

The recording studio project engages residents at the detention facility in a three-week module designed to use music creation as a therapeutic exercise that enables participants to express a range of emotion in a positive, creative environment and introduce participants to music production technology.

After the participants are released back into the community they are encouraged to continue their experience at YES sites in several neighborhoods in the South Hampton Roads area. Approximately 30 youth participated in the project during the first year. Van Jones and Tamisha Henry of TDH manage the project. Christopher Varlack and Marcell Haggie of YES trained the TDH staff during the first year of the project.