O.C. YOUTH COMMISSION 5 -2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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EXPERJENCE: Programs: The Orange County Youth Commission serves Santa Ana youth with several programs. We began with offering after-school programs to "at-risk" inner city youth. These youth were referred to us by school teacher/administrators. The youth referred to our program were labeled "at-risk" because of low academic performance and/or behavioral problems. Soon after opening our after-school programs we received an opportunity to open an after-school boxing club. More recently, we have developed an after-school reading program for youth with low reading performance. Here, as with our school based after- school program, we offer a tutor/mentor relationship to these youth. In addition, we have adopted a mentoring program for youth with at least one parent in prison. Finally, every year we send some of our students to summer camps. This is not used as an incentive for success in our programs. We basically, determine who goes to camp by way of individual assessment in terms of need. All of our programs have been successfuL Howeyer, the program that shows the highest long-term success rate is our After-School Boxing Club, because it is open to all age groups, not just middle school aged youth, as is the case with our school based after-school programs. This provides a situation that allows the youth to return year after year. Indeed, our boxing club youth tend to remain in the program year after year. Incorporation ofEmoloyers Involvement into Program: Employers: Employers for our purposes are potential employers. We are just beginning an outreach to employers in the local area to introduce them to our programs. We want to introduce them to our youth. We want them to, perhaps, someday proYide future employment opportunities for our youth. These potential employers are asked to giye our students a tour of their work environment and speak to them concerning what the youth needs to accomplish in order to acquire a specific position within that particular industry, corporation, government entity etc... Administrative Staff Qualifications: The Orange County Youth Commission founded in 1997, by Rosemarie "Rosie" Avila, for the purpose of serving the needs of inner-city at-risk youth. Rosie is a goyerning board member for the Santa Ana Unified School District and a Biola Trustee. She received a Master of Arts Degree from Biola in the field of Organizational Leadership. Marcia Lynne, Director of Research and Public Relations, who will provide oversight and ensure compliance to WIA standards, earned required Ph.D. units in the field of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine, before transferring to a Master of Arts degree in Social Ecology. In addition, she has a Master of Arts degree in Experimental Psychology. Marcia, also, has applied clinical psychology and adolescent/family counseling experience. She is trained in psychological, aptitude and 8