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College/Career Transition Program 19 <br />ACCESS Safe Schools & Suppor. Services <br />Santa Ana Workforce Investment Board Youth Council <br />_rants and has been able to establish expertise in providing high -quality programs to severe at - <br />risk students. Safe Schools has maintained an outstanding working relationship with a variety of <br />collaborative a,encles for almost ten years. Safe Schools' philosophy towards building partners <br />includes: shared vision. sustained conunitment. and enhanced capacity. In these collaborative <br />relationships. each partners shares in the common goal of improving the long -tenor career <br />prospects of participants b�, increasing their educational attainument and employment outcomes. <br />The success of the Coll egelCareer Transition Program established in ?004 was dependent <br />upon the relationship built between the Transition Specialist and ACCESS teachers. All <br />transition services were initiated by ACCESS teachers and staff. Parents were invited to attend <br />case management meetings with their students. Meetings included: answering questions about <br />classes offered. touring the college campus. and filling out applications. The Transition <br />Specialist was bilingual: for this reason. parents tended to ask more questions. especially in <br />regards to financial aid. college requirements. and necessary document concerns. It is just as <br />important for the parent to prepare for the transition as the students. so they were encouraged to <br />contact the Transition Specialist at anytime with questions. The proposed College/Career <br />Transition Program will be based on this proven model. therefore. Safe Schools will be relying <br />on a Transition Specialist to support teachers. administrators and corninunity partners. Many of <br />the folio«�ing duties that will be assigned to the Transition Specialist were previously "out of job <br />description" activities performed by teaching staff. The Transition Specialist will be experienced <br />in credit retrieval through performing credit evaluations to ensure youth are on track for <br />graduation. Throughout their work with students. Transition Specialist will assist with parent <br />outreach including: phone calls. home visits. and Quarterly Parent Nights. They will also <br />provide resources and trainings for parents to increase student success. <br />The CollegelCareer Transition Program will incorporate youth input throughout vear <br />during interactions and focus groups with the Transition Specialist. Youth input and feedback <br />will be provided during one-on-one sessions and during special events such as alunuir panels. the <br />N'_%orld of Work CollegelCareer (N�'01v 7 Fair event. and satisfaction surveys completed after <br />attendance at a colle-e career related fneldtrip. The Transition Specialist will also incorporate <br />employer input year round. Their feedback will be gathered during the recruitment for and after <br />their participation in the 'vVONV CollegelCareer Fair event. 'dearly 100 local representatives <br />participate in this event every year: this includes local employers. career professionals. and <br />institutions of higher education. Their feedback will allow the Transition Specialist to ensure <br />that college transition and job skills activities will adequately prepare youth to compete with <br />their same -aged peers for college seats and local jobs. Also. the Transition Specialist will <br />maintain a list of job requirements and contact information for local employers to aid young job <br />seekers. This is a win -win situation for students and employers as it helps to facilitate <br />appropriate matches for immediate job openings. <br />3. Describe hoN, staff will receive traininb and oirgoinb staff development to increase staff <br />capacity and expertise in the field of youth development and entploynient. ACCESS and Safe <br />Schools take pride in the professionalism. range of experience. and quality service delivery of <br />their staff. including the fact that they are culturally competent andior bilingual in a variety of <br />languages spoken by the targeted youth and their families. Safe Schools provides trainings and <br />curriculum in the following areas: <br />• Gana Awareness and effective strategies working with gang members <br />• Working with incarcerated and high -risk youth <br />