Community Programs

Vermont Manchester Public & Neighborhood Safety Collaborative (VMPNSC)
VMPNSC was formed by community stakeholders, led by co-chair Father David O’Connell and Commander Pat Gannon, to specifically address public safety concerns plaguing the local community. Uniquely, the Vermont-Manchester community is bordered by both the county and the city of Los Angeles and is served by the Southeast and 77th LAPD Precincts, as well as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. It is home to the schools and community-based organizations that serve large numbers of youth on probation, in foster care, and not in traditional high school. The VMPNSC seeks to promote a healthier school community by reducing gang violence and crime. VMPNSC includes more than 15 partners, including faith-based, public and private stakeholders which have established 77th street police dept. foot patrol; coordinated school release schedules of (y.o.u., a.h.s., s.e.a., Charter and ouches). The 2008 Action Plan includes, but is not limited to the following:

Project accountability Inc., (P.A.) is a community-based organization formed through the organizing efforts of Crenshaw Christian Center Task Force, and now incorporated with funding from Vermont Village Community Development Corporation.

 

This two year program for creating extracurricular activities for low-income youth through the Children’s Collective Incorporated organization, Rita Waters Recreation Center is in Service Planning Area 6, the 0 – 17 population consists of 398,856 individuals. Based on ethnicity the breakdown is as follows: 71.8% – Hispanic/Latino, 26.1% – Black, 1.3% – White, 0.7% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 0.1% – American Indian/Alaskan Native. Within in this population we are targeting children between the ages of 13 and 17. Our goal is to enroll 35 youth, which are at least in the 9th grade, with at least 8 youth coming from our target high schools.

July 2014 to September 2014 – Outreach and recruitment
November 2014 – Program Orientation
January 2015 to June 2016 – Program in Operation

Since 2007, we have worked with Soledad Enrichment Academy (SEA) and Youth Opportunities Unlimited Alternative High School (YOU); and since 2011 we have worked with Augustus Hawkins High School. At these schools we serve on safety advisory committees, utilize classroom space to mentor, and provide extracurricular activities. Some of our partners in this effort are a part of the California Endowments Building Healthy Communities; include the Los Angeles Unified School District Local 7 and the Los Angeles Child Guidance Center, Probation, and LAPD.

VVCDC and the CCI would aim to spur civic engagement among youth in order to revitalize the entire community. In Service Planning Area (SPA) 6, there are opportunities to reduce the temptation for young people to make improper decisions. However, this will take the participation of our community leaders in activities such as gang prevention, job creation, job preparedness, and soft skill development. With the California Community Foundation’s assistance we are certain that we will improve the plight of SPA 6 youth.

We have served on average 314 young adults each year. Youth participate in activities such as camping excursions, life skills development camps, basketball teams, bowling, amusement parks, and visiting professional sporting events. Our participants have realized improvement in school performance, reduction in recidivism, and enrollment in college, vocational schools, and the armed forces. We measure our outcomes by using GAIN assessment methodology to assess youth at enrollment, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. This includes the collection of grade report cards and progress reports. This information is inputted into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
With the Preparing Achievers for Tomorrow Grant, our first capacity-building objective will be to enroll 35 youth unduplicated youth in CCI’s after school sports and leisure activities. Activities that we will target include basketball, soccer, volleyball, aerobics, dance, and yoga. We will ensure that at least 80% of the youth that we enroll stay enrolled in their class until its completion. Our second capacity building objective will be to develop a new joint data collection and tracking system to perform a pre-assessment and post-assessment analysis of the clients.

Families Learning to Interact Positively Youth Substance Abuse Program

The Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) to alcohol and substance use treatment is a behavioral intervention that seeks to increase the family, social, and educational/vocational rein forcers of an adolescent to support recovery; conversely, if an adolescent uses alcohol or other drugs, then a time-out from these rein forcers occurs. The outpatient program targets youth 12 to 17 years old with DSM-IV cannabis, alcohol, and/or other substance use disorders.

According to the adolescent’s needs and self-assessment of happiness in multiple areas of functioning, therapists choose from among 17 A-CRA procedures that address, for example, problem-solving skills to cope with day-to-day stressors, communication skills, and active participation in positive social and recreational activities with the goal of improving life satisfaction and eliminating alcohol and substance use problems.
Role-playing/behavioral rehearsal is a critical component of the skills training used in

A-CRA (e.g., drug refusal, problem solving, and communication skills).
Every session ends with a mutually agreed upon homework assignment to practice skills learned during sessions. Often these homework assignments include participation in pro-social activities. Likewise, each session begins with a review of the homework assignment from the previous session. A-CRA procedures have been evaluated with street-living, homeless youth in a drop-in center to reduce substance use, increase social stability, and improve physical and mental health.