ORANGE COUNTY CHILDREN'S THERAPEUTIC ARTS CENTER 15 - 2010

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Youth We are the only facility in Orange County and Santa Ana that offers this powerful combination of the arts, academics and creative therapies for youth with and without disabilities. Our programs have cultivated many success stories where students have improved their academic and literacy tests scores; some of our High school dropout students have re -enrolled in classes towards earning their diplomas, and very talented older youth have been hired as arts teachers in the community! Employers OCCTAC has established strong partnerships with local business in the community. Some of these partnerships include local small business in downtown Santa Ana, the Santa Ana Public Library, Santa Ana Police Athletic and Activities League and the Heritage House Museum. 3. Describe how staff will receive training and ongoing staff development to increase staff capacity and expertise in the field of youth development and employment. The OCCTAC staff participates in on-going training during the year. All related OCCTAC and Academy staff receives monthly training which covers, but is not limited to, implementing new academic curriculum and materials, documenting student growth, and teaching specially designed academic instruction in English to English Language Learners. Other trainings have included: Child Abuse identification and reporting, discipline strategies, lesson planning, building collaborative teams, working with special needs students, interacting with parents and operational issues relevant to a implementing a successful after-school arts program. Regular site visits also take place by the Director of Programs and occasionally by the Chief Operating Officer to monitor learning academies and after-school programs. OCCTAC's Administrative Staff provides ongoing feedback on effective teaching, academic support and mentoring strategies as well as class room management techniques to classroom teachers, teaching assistants and staff. 4. List the positions dedicated to this proposal. Include a description of duties and time allocation for each responsibility. Executive Director—Dr. Ana Jimenez-Hami is the Founder and Executive Director of OCCTAC. She earned a doctoral degree in the fields of Educational Psychology and Special Education with an emphasis on the language and literacy skills of children and youth with special needs. She is also a part-time faculty member at Chapman University in the School of Education. During the past 20 years, Dr. Jimenez has prioritized on researching and implementing educational creative interventions/methods that empower youth and the Latino community to succeed in the academic world, and reach for higher educational goals. Dr. Jimenez has been recognized continuously in the community for her contributions. Last year, she was a recipient of the National Hispanic Business Women Association award for organizational entrepreneurship (May, 2007); a National award by the Heartspring Foundation for creativity in Special Education (July, 2007), and a faculty award from Chapman University (June, 2007). Previous awards include City of Santa Ana Community Building Award (2006), and others. Time allocation for this program is 3%. Chief Operating Officer—Dr. Gail Arriola-Nickell holds a Ph.D. in Psychology, and has worked at OCCTAC for over 9 years. As the COO and former Director of Programs, Dr. Arriola-Nickell brings strong leadership and innovation in directing both the professional and organizational development. Dr. Arriola-Nickell has over fifteen years of successful public programming experience, working with a diverse range of projects as well as implementing educational programs for children, youth and adults. She has a strong background in administration, organizational development and management. Her affiliations are: Marquis Who's Who of American Women 2005; County of Orange Certificate of Recognition; Certificate of Special Congressional 15 EXHIBIT A