CHARITABLE OF VENTURES OF ORANGE COUNTY DBA PROJECT KINSHIP

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Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act {WIOA) n,i .Oe COI Ne, Santa Ana Workforce Development Board: Youth Service Provider 11. Civic Engagement or Leadership Development (2 pages max) A. Can your organization offer a civic engagement opportunity or leadership development opportunity for WIOA youth, if so, please describe? Through the proposed program, Workforce Development Program participants will have multiple opportunities to build their civic engagement and leadership skills. The first is attendance at the California Workforce Association (CWA) Conference. Program staff and participants will both participate in the annual conference as part of this grant. In addition to the CWA Conference, Project Kinship has hosted an Annual Public Safety and Re-entry Conference for private and public service providers since 2014. Participants include: leaders from SAUSD; Orange County (OC) Sheriffs Department; OC Probation Department; OC Health Care Agency; and the City of Santa Ana. During the conference, participants gain knowledge about best practices and how to help prevent the re-entry population from slipping through the gaps in the systems. The conference also offers a forum for identifying opportunities for partnership and alignment between entities that serve the formally incarcerated throughout the county and Southern California Region. Workshop themes include how to incorporate restorative justice -focused and trauma -informed practices into programming, as well as coordinating service delivery for hard to reach participants. Workforce Development Program participants will be invited to participate in the Annual Conference as. attendees, panelists, and support workers to build their civic engagement and leadership skills. In addition to the annual conference, Project Kinship offers multiple trainings during the year on Gang Intervention, Health and Wellness, Trauma -Informed Care, and Restorative Justice. Through these trainings, participants with 'lived experience" are trained on how to advocate for system change and share their testimonies to educate others on trauma and transformation. Finally, Project Kinship convenes the Capacity Building Network of Re-entry Provider Coalition, which engages the Orange County Chief of Probation, Presiding Juvenile Justice Judge, Chiefs of Police of several cities, and community leaders in strategic planning to address issues of community violence and challenges to re-entry. Participants are often invited to speak during site visits or meetings, which builds their public speaking and leadership skills. Project Kinship also hosts weekly Restorative Circles to support those who are in conflict, to build rapport with participants, and to build a sense of community. These circles create a safe space to allow participants, staff, and other stake holders to connect and establish a sense of kinship that results in accountability, healing, and transformation. It is a culturally sensitive approach that identifies core factors that lead to negative choices. Exploring these factors through a trauma -informed lens, it helps to assess environmental, family, and negative peer -related challenges that can be addressed by participants and supported by the group. Workforce Development Program participants are encouraged to participate in the Restorative Circles and even serve as mentors to those who are newer to Project Kinship services. Finally, Project Kinship partners with the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Law School and the University of Southern California (USC) School of Social Work to have staff and participants present to students enrolled in the District Attorney, Public Defender, and Social Work education programs, Through these partnerships, UCI students volunteer at the Project Kinship Office to provide legal clinics with participants to work toward record expungement and