Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Orange County Youth Commission <br />Santa Ana, California <br /> <br />individual counseling and/or mentoring services to accomplish educational goals. Many <br />have past gang involvement. Others have been suspended or expelled from school at one <br />time or another and some are involved in alternative school settings like the Community <br />Day School, which refers students. A number of youth are members of families on <br />welfare. Several are youth in the foster-care system and others are on parole. The <br />majority is at-risk for school failure and dropping-out. Every element of our after-school <br />programs is geared to preventing school drop-out. <br /> <br />In 2006, OCYC provided a job for a young lady who has been through the foster care <br />system and subsequently hired her to work in the office keeping track of WIA receipts <br />and paperwork. We have several youth who attend the program who are on probation. <br />Staff is currently mentoring one young man, a youth offender, and gave him a job <br />shadowing experience and he was hired to help with drug counseling. <br /> <br />We have young people who have been in the boxing program for three and five years. <br />One young man wanted to get into the Santa Ana ROTC but could not. Anthony Serrano, <br />Sports Club Director, encouraged him not to quit and he finally made it into the program <br />and is now in the military. He continues to come back to the gym when he is off to visit <br />Anthony. <br /> <br />One boy was a runaway from home for two weeks. Anthony noticed his eyes were red <br />and at first suspected drug use. The boy continued to deny drug use. Anthony watched as <br />he left the gym and noticed he was crying. Anthony chased after him and learned that the <br />boy had run away from home for two weeks. Anthony, through counseling, was able to <br />reunite the boy and his mother. <br /> <br />Number of youth served: The number of youth that attend the boxing club fluctuates <br />from 50 to over 100 with an average of 30 to 40 each day. However, we project that we <br />will case-manage and serve 15 youth in this special WIA program and follow up with an <br />additional 15 as they exit the program. Over the course of the 12- month period during <br />the 2007-08 year, we will be serving a total of 30 teens, 14-18 years of age, providing <br />intensive tutoring, leadership development, counseling and follow-up services). <br />Although our goal is to have 15 enrolled in the program, we will continue to emoll <br />additional clients throughout the year. They all live within inner city limit of Santa Ana, <br />California, designated as a high crime area. Those youth who will participate under this <br />grant are legal u.s. residents who reside in Santa Ana, California and are members of <br />low-income families. They all presently attend the Orange County Youth Commission's <br />(OCYC) Santa Ana Boxing Club, an after-school program that integrates academic <br />tutoring, mentoring and other supportive activities with athletic skill development and <br />leadership training. All of these youth require incentives to participate and some of these <br />youth are on probation, or in foster care. Many of these youth live with relatives other <br />than father and mother and many have only one parent. <br /> <br />The Santa Ana Boxing Club is one of 17 after-school clubs operated by OCYC. Most <br />clubs are located in school settings, but this one is unique in that it located in an authentic <br />boxing club within the local community. <br />