HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FIELD
Feature Articles
- Keeping Youth Away from Gangs: New Jersey’s Team Jump Off
- "Beat the Streets:" Youth Net System of Care’s Annual Anti-Gang Conference
- Sustaining the Chicago Youth Organization, Beyond Measure
- San Francisco’s Children’s System of Care’s Family-Driven, Youth-Guided Care Mini Grants
Keeping Youth Away from Gangs: New Jersey’s Team Jump Off
Tonya Badillo, a parent of 4 children, one of whom has special needs, has taken a big step to divert youth from gang involvement in Long Branch, New Jersey by helping to create Team Jump Off. It all began when Tonya, in trying to meet the needs of her teenage son, decided to personally engage his friends rather than exclude them. Her thought was that her son would want to be with his friends regardless of what she said, so why not try and get to know them. Possibly, if his friends enjoyed being with her and her family, she could keep a closer watch on her son.
It worked. Soon after involving herself more in the lives of her son and his friends, her house became a "safe haven" for teens in her community. She began to cook for them and they would spend weekends in her backyard playing basketball. As months passed, teens who had previously been involved with gangs came to her home seeking guidance and the support of non-gang member peers. Tonya decided that in addition to the recreation of backyard hoops, she would work to empower the youth and encourage them to get involved in the community.
One of the first things Tonya and the youth did was to travel around their community identifying where teens could go to connect with their peers. From these trips they observed that basketball courts were a predominant meeting grounds for the community's youth. Unfortunately, what they also observed is that most of the basketball courts were in ruins. To solve this problem and to help improve the community around more than just basketball, Tonya and the youth formed Team Jump Off.
Team Jump Off is now an independent, non-profit organization and has been engaged in community development and anti-stigma work. They have met with several political leaders and are now working to secure an uninhabited school to create a community recreational center. Last year, they received an infrastructure grant from the system of care in Monmouth County, NJ to help achieve their goals. Tonya and Team Jump Off have been featured in Family Circle and New York Times.
"Beat the Streets:" Youth Net System of Care’s Annual Anti-Gang Conference
South Carolina’s Youth Net System of Care (funded in 2003) hosted a free, two day tri-county gang awareness conference. The focus of the conference was to provide strategies, interventions and supports for families, youth and service providers to save community children from gangs, prevent youth violence and maintain safe schools and neighborhoods. Community Principle Investigator, Louise Johnson, Project Director, Chana Sanders, and Family Lead, Betsey O’Brien gathered partners to plan and organize this event that brought speakers from across the southeast and over two hundred participants to learn, share, network and plan during a Friday/Saturday format of guest speakers, concurrent workshops, entertainment, and vendors.
State and local officials talked about the history and culture of gangs, the way gangs recruit, school safety, and specific gang activity in the area. The Lancaster County Police Department, Sheriffs Office, School District, Community Powerhouse, the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and The Learning Institute for Tomorrow were all local sponsors. Entertainment came from partner Catawba Indian Nation, a gospel rapper from Charlotte and two local step teams.
Mecklenburg Cares System of Care from their neighboring state of North Carolina joined hands and provided information and speakers as well. Saturday’s format spoke to the youth about dangers and downfalls of gang involvement and alternative options. Session topics included recognition and awareness, gangs on the Web, school safety, prevention and intervention, Hispanic gangs, gang trends, and lessons learned. For more information on this highly effective, multiple partner community event, please contact PD, Chana Sanders at crs72@scdmhs.org or 803-366-3391 x104.
Sustaining the Chicago Youth Organization, Beyond Measure
The end of a cooperative agreement can run out the clock for innovative youth programming, but in Chicago’s System of Care, strategic partnership with a faith-based organization will guarantee "new life" for meaningful youth participation.
SOC-Chicago youth coordinator Raphaelle Richardson and the Beyond Measure youth organization had occasionally collaborated with a local neighborhood organization, Lighthouse Youth Center, to share activities and energy. As the clock ticks down in the final year of Chicago’s cooperative agreement, these partners have moved beyond "dating" to a firm marriage proposal. New Life Covenant Oakwood, the congregation that supports the Lighthouse program, wants to strengthen its program with the sort of effective youth voice Beyond Measure has exemplified. The youth group, in turn, needs a stable partner and place to serve as its continuing foundation.
Ms. Richardson, who also serves on the board of Youth MOVE National (PDF), recently accepted New Life’s offer to become executive director of the Lighthouse Youth Center. The ministry has secured a church building to house the Center’s programming, and Beyond Measure members are deeply involved in its renovation. More than a dozen youth dedicated part of their recent spring break to intensive planning. Their new center will house tutoring, counseling, recreation and social activities, and will serve as a hub for community voluntarism when it opens this fall.
Based on their planning, the SOC-Chicago governing body has approved substantial funding to support Beyond Measure’s transition to the Lighthouse Youth Center. Longtime Beyond Measure member Kendrick Terry has agreed to serve as a youth coordinator and mentor to local youth with behavioral health challenges, as Raphaelle takes on her new role.
Mr. Terry wasted no time, helping to coach Beyond Measure member "Kevin" to make an effective appeal to the governing board. Kendrick says that Beyond Measure "literally saved my life" from the pull of the street on a susceptible teen. With this in mind, there is no wonder as to the determination with which he, Raphaelle, Ada, Jerome, "Kevin" and other local youth have pursued and secured the new life for Beyond Measure.
San Francisco’s Children’s System of Care’s Family-Driven, Youth-Guided Care Mini Grants
San Francisco’s Children’s System of Care (CSOC) launched their Family-Driven, Youth-Guided Care Mini Grant Program in 2007. Since 1998, San Francisco’s Community Behavioral Health Services has promoted family-driven, youth-guided, care in child serving systems. Bringing family-driven, youth-guided care from the system level to the program level using families and youth as the bridge was the logical next step. The Family-Driven, Youth-Guided Care Mini Grant Initiative was developed by the CSOC Family Involvement Team and Youth Development Team to provide $10,000 planning grants to six community-based providers to assess the extent to which their programs embraced family-driven, youth-guided care. The participating providers include Chinatown Child Development Center, Edgewood Children’s Center, the Foster Care Mental Health Program, Mission Family Center, Southeast Child and Family Center, and Support for Families and Children with Disabilities.
A family-driven care assessment (PDF) as well as a youth-guided care assessment tool (PDF) was developed, field tested, and translated to assist teams of provider staff, families, and youth to examine programs from the moment a family walks in the door to the transition from services for their effectiveness in engaging families and youth. As a condition of grant funding, providers agreed to complete assessments working together with a team of two caregivers and two youth. Providers also hosted ‘meet and greet’ sessions with families and youth to review assessment findings and develop strategies to address challenges to family-driven, youth-guided care. Provider work plans were recently presented at the CSOC Annual Symposium on Family-Driven, Youth-Guided Care. In Year 6, these providers will implement work plans that will bring family-driven, youth-guided care to the program level.
In addition to the Mini Grant Initiative, the CSOC Youth Task Force developed a "Choose Your Therapist" Form (PDF) as well as a therapy session rating form for youth to complete before and after therapy sessions. These forms have been made available to San Francisco behavioral health providers.
To learn more about these initiatives, contact Karen Strickland, CSOC TA/Social Marketing Coordinator, at karen.strickland@sbcglobal.net, or (415) 661-4343.