Fortaleciendo la Familia Hispana: APPROACHES TO STRENGTHENING THE HISPANIC FAMILY
Summary of Best Practices
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR)—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. Through its network of nearly 300 affiliated community-based organizations, NCLR reaches millions of Hispanics each year in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. To achieve its mission, NCLR conducts applied research, policy analysis, and advocacy, providing a Latino perspective in five key areas—assets/investments, civil rights/immigration, education, employment and economic status, and health. In addition, it provides capacity-building assistance to its Affiliates who work at the state and local level to advance opportunities for individuals and families. Founded in 1968, NCLR is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization headquartered in Washington, DC. NCLR serves all Hispanic subgroups in all regions of the country and has regional offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, and San Antonio. Copyright © 2010 by the National Council of La Raza Raul Yzaguirre Building 1126 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 (202) 785-1670 Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved
Acknowledgments This summary of best practices is the culmination of a collaborative effort by staff within NCLR’s Affiliate Member Services component and the 2010 Family Strengthening Award winners. NCLR thanks the Affiliate program staff who contributed to the publication of this guide. From La ClĂnica del Pueblo: Alma Hamar, Mental Health Counselor; Jeff Raderstrong, Communications Assistant; Ben Turner, Project Officer; Viviana Knowles, Chief Development Officer; and Vanessa Rojas, PhD, LICSW, Director of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Department. From Mi Casa Resource Center for Women: Katharine Brenton, Communications and Grants Manager, and Karen Fox, Director of Youth and Family Programs. From Youth Development, Inc.: Debra Baca, Vice President; Jonetta Martinez-Pacias, Associate Director; Trudy Schoepko, Senior Education Facilitator; and Carmen Secatero, Training/Communications Manager. From NCLR, Mauricio Hernandez, Grants and Special Programs Coordinator, reviewed and edited this guide and provided substantive oversight and guidance. Gregory Wersching, Assistant Editor, provided editorial oversight, and Tiptavee Thongtavee, Graphic Designer, was responsible for the design and layout. This research was funded by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. We thank them for their support but acknowledge that the findings and conclusions presented in this report are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the foundation.
Janet Murguía President and CEO Headquarters Raul Yzaguirre Building 1126 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036
July 10, 2010
TEL 202.785.1670 FAX 202.776.1792 www.nclr.org
Dear NCLR Affiliates:
It is with great pride that the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) presents its 2010 Family Strengthening Awards Best Practices Guide: Fortaleciendo la Familia Hispana. Now in its seventh year, the NCLR Family Strengthening Awards (FSA) Program has become a benchmark of excellence for Affiliate-based programs that strengthen the Latino family. NCLR staff and Affiliates have embraced the awards as a unique opportunity to not only recognize such programs but also circulate model family strengthening practices throughout the NCLR Affiliate Network. One of the many opportunities for highlighting these programs is this publication, a compilation of profiles of FSA winners. Each year, NCLR expands its library of award-winning best practices, and this library has become an invaluable resource for Affiliates when developing and enhancing their own programs. This year, we are proud to highlight the three Affiliates selected to receive an NCLR Family Strengthening Award: La Clínica del Pueblo, Mi Casa Resource Center, and Youth Development, Inc. This publication marks the beginning of the documentation and distribution of the 2010 awardees’ best practices throughout the NCLR Affiliate Network. Award winners will also share their program highlights at the workshop, “Strengthening the Hispanic American Family,” during the 2010 NCLR Annual Conference in San Antonio, which will provide a glimpse into each of the programs and give Affiliates a greater understanding of the family strengthening philosophy. Affiliates will have an opportunity to gain a deeper knowledge of how these programs were developed and implemented through technical assistance training sessions that will be offered at the end of the year. The Conference workshop and training sessions will give Affiliates a forum for discussing potential solutions to the challenges they face in addressing problems in their communities and serving Latino families. NCLR’s Family Strengthening Awards have been made possible through a valuable partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF). Since 1948, AECF has worked to build better futures for disadvantaged children and their families in the United States. The primary mission of the foundation is to foster public policies, human service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families. AECF believes that for children to have the opportunities necessary to achieve and grow up in a healthy environment, their families must have access to services and social networks that strengthen their ability to provide for and nurture their children. The factors necessary for strengthening families include opportunities to work, earn a decent living, and build assets; social networks that help isolated families link with friends and neighbors, as well as social, civic, and faith institutions; and accessible and responsive public services, such as good health care, decent schools, and fair and effective law enforcement. At NCLR, we are proud to know that our Affiliates provide these services and resources to the Latino community every day, offering support on multiple levels and strengthening families through a holistic approach. All of the winning programs have demonstrated effective strategies to successfully meet the needs and challenges of their communities. They have demonstrated their commitment to serving and supporting Latino families in a comprehensive fashion, ultimately providing children with an opportunity for advancement and success. I sincerely hope that the family strengthening best practices outlined in this publication become a resource for NCLR Affiliates to enhance the services they provide to Latino families. I also hope this guide reminds us of the power of our Affiliates to create solutions that improve opportunities for Latinos and strengthen our community. Sincerely,
Janet Murguía President and CEO Regional Offices: Chicago, Illinois • Los Angeles, California New York, New York • Phoenix, Arizona • San Antonio, Texas
Table of Contents La ClĂnica del Pueblo Winning Program: Mi Familia Issue Area: Mental Health................................................................................1 Mi Casa Resource Center Winning Program: Mi Casa Resource Center Youth and Family Development Programs Issue Area: Youth and Family Development.....................................................8 Youth Development, Inc. Winning Program: YDI Early Head Start/Head Start Program Issue Area: Early Childhood Education...........................................................16
Family Strengthening Programs for Hispanic Communities La Clínica del Pueblo Mi Familia PROGRAM SUMMARY La Clínica del Pueblo was founded in 1983 as a one-doctor, one-room clinic operating one night per week. Today, La Clínica is known throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area as a dependable source of holistic health care. At La Clínica, patients have access to bilingual health professionals and an environment that welcomes their culture and history. Cultural competency is the hallmark of La Clínica’s approach to health care. All direct service staff are bilingual, and most are themselves first-generation immigrants from Latin America. La Clínica provides primary health care, mental health and substance abuse services, HIV/AIDS care, social services, interpreter services, and health education and outreach to men, women, and children. From its family practice model of primary care to mental health services, serving children through seniors, La Clínica practices an integrated approach to health care, taking every aspect of a family’s wellbeing into consideration. Mi Familia engages children, adolescents, and parents in counseling, therapeutic exercises, and workshops to reduce the negative impact of traumatic stress and improve overall family stability. The weekly group sessions—the heart of the program—use art therapy, relaxation techniques, group exercises, role playing, and other expressive media to educate participants on how to express their feelings. Participants also develop strategies for dealing with emotions in constructive ways, emphasizing the prevention of trauma, violence, and abuse. Mi Familia grew out of La Clínica’s immediate response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, developing into intensive family support groups. Over the past nine years, Mi Familia has proven to be enormously successful; before the end of each program cycle, there is already a waitlist for families wanting to participate in the next cycle. Given the significant barriers to care that traumatized Hispanic immigrants face and the underutilization of mental health services by this population, Mi Familia represents a unique approach to the provision of mental health services for Hispanic families. In addition to diagnosing and treating mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), La Clínica’s mental health counselors teach participants to manage stress, communicate more effectively, and improve parenting skills. As a result, families become more stable and family members are less at risk for negative outcomes such as domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and poor school performance.
BACKGROUND Need for the Program Hispanic families in the Washington, DC area face an enormous number of barriers to their overall health and well-being. Nearly 90% percent of La Clínica’s clients are recent immigrants from El Salvador and other countries in Central and South America. Many of these immigrants arrive from rural regions with little access to education, health care, and social services in their home countries. Other barriers include high levels of poverty, domestic and gang violence, hunger, difficulties adjusting to a new culture, intergenerational conflict (between parents and children as new and old cultures mix or clash), and the lasting effects of PTSD caused by past experiences in their home countries. Many Hispanic immigrants in Washington live in neighborhoods where drug dealers and gang warfare are everyday occurrences. More often than not, parents carry the burden of their own traumatic experiences, having been exposed to war, earthquakes, hurricanes, and extreme poverty in their home countries. Past traumatic experiences can severely limit parents’ ability
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to help their children cope with distress of their own; many times, unwittingly, parents pass their traumatized worldview on to their children. Families commonly separated during the immigration process must work to rebuild their life in a new country, learn a new language, and heal from the past. All of these factors contribute to high levels of traumatic stress and its negative impacts on Latino children and adolescents. Common symptoms among kids include poor school performance, acting out, severe anxiety or depression, drug use, and violence. Domestic violence is also an all-too-common issue among La Clínica’s clients due to the factors mentioned above, as well as difficulties adjusting to a new culture and the prevalence and promotion of machismo in families. Since its inception in 2001, the Mi Familia project has directly responded to the needs of the surrounding Hispanic community. After 9/11, La Clínica’s mental health staff organized support groups to address the feelings of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty awakened by the terrorist attacks. The first session addressing traumatic stress took place on September 15, just four days after the Twin Towers fell. Over time, the groups evolved into a comprehensive family mental health intervention, addressing issues that Hispanic families face, such as trauma, anxiety, domestic violence, gangs, incest, and homophobia, among others. La Clínica’s mental health staff members have worked diligently to overcome the stigma surrounding mental health issues and offer the program in a culturally competent manner. In the Hispanic culture, mental health disorders and their treatment are veiled in shame and skepticism. The stigma attached to mental health care requires time-intensive building of trust and the utilization of additional services (such as education, primary medical care, and social activities) to incorporate patients into mental health programs. La Clínica has also made notable progress in overcoming stigmas through its mental health education and outreach campaigns in Spanishlanguage print, radio, and television. Notably, over 50% of all mental health clients at La Clínica are self-referred.
Population Characteristics Today in the United States, a disparate proportion of the Latino population lacks access to or fails to receive adequate health services.� Many Central Americans who settled in the Washington, DC area during the 1980s were highly traumatized by exposure to war violence, forced or sudden migration, and entry into an unfamiliar society where they lacked English language skills. Very few were afforded refugee status by the United States, which confined many to the underground life of undocumented immigrants, stripping them of their access to essential health and human services. As a result, Latinos continue to experience significant barriers to health care and health outcomes that lag behind those of their White counterparts. Statistics indicate that Latinos are the most medically underserved ethnic group in the country.� They are less likely to have health insurance, more likely to have incomes below the federal poverty level, and less likely to have primary care providers or a specific source of ongoing care than any other racial or ethnic group in the U.S. Nearly one-fourth of Latino children in the U.S. are uninsured—the highest number of uninsured children of any ethnic group in the country— and more than 32% of Latino adults also lack proper health coverage.�
� Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, “Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care” (Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2000), http://www.ahrq.gov/research/disparit.htm (accessed May 5, 2010). � Ibid. � Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Cheryl Hill Lee, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004. U.S. Census Bureau. Washington, DC, 2005, http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p60-229.pdf (accessed May 5, 2010).
Based on patient surveys, the population served by La Clínica consists mainly of immigrants from Central America who have had little access to education or health care in their home countries. Ninety percent are more comfortable communicating in Spanish, more than 75% have no insurance, and over half of the adults have less than a seventh-grade education. Patients are often from rural backgrounds and have little experience with health care systems. Fifteen percent of Latinos in Washington live beneath the federal poverty level, with more than 27% living 200% below the level.�
KEY ELEMENTS Program Goals and Objectives The overarching goal of Mi Familia is to engage children, adolescents, and parents in counseling, therapeutic exercises, and workshops to reduce the negative impact of traumatic stress and improve overall family stability. To this end, Mi Familia focuses on the following goals: Goal 1: Mi Familia will treat traumatic stress and its symptoms in its clients. •
Objective: A minimum of 100 participants will be screened for traumatic stress over the course of one year. Measure: Approximately 75 clients identified as suffering from PTSD, depression, anxiety, or other effects of trauma will be treated through one-on-one and family therapy. Improvements will be measured through comparisons of the clinical intake evaluation and periodic evaluations.
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Objective: Enroll children in group therapy sessions. Measure: At least 50 children and adolescents will show improved social and academic development as evidenced by improved report cards and progress notes, among other indicators.
Goal 2: Mi Familia will prevent trauma and its negative impact on its clients. •
Objective: Implement the 16-week group program, teaching positive parenting skills and communication strategies and addressing common sources of trauma, such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, and gang violence. Measure: Sixty families will recognize and prevent trauma and self-report improved parenting skills and family relations.
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Objective: Parents will participate in group sessions as a part of the program. Measure: 75% of parents who have attended more than 80% of group sessions will selfreport increased commitment to improving family relationships between themselves and their children.
Goal 3: Reduce stigmas regarding mental health treatment and counseling in the Latino community. •
Objective: Reach out to high-risk families who have not used mental health services before, using the Mi Familia program as a way to integrate participants into other mental health services offered by La Clínica. Measure: 60 families will participate in the program, with the family-centric approach to mental health allowing individuals to overcome stigmas associated with mental health.
� Heather McClure and Kristin Jerger, The State of Latino Health in the District of Columbia (Washington, DC: Council of Latino Agencies, 2005), 24.
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Services Provided Many children, adolescents, and parents are referred from the Mi Familia group to additional services offered at La Clínica, as well as to other specialized services in the community. •
Psycho-Educational Group Therapy: Group talk therapy sessions for participants, segmented by age
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Individual Therapy for Parent/Caregiver: One-on-one talk therapy sessions for parent/ caregiver participants Family Therapy: Family talk therapy sessions with a mental health counselor Couple Therapy for Parent/Caregiver: Couple talk therapy sessions with parent/caregiver participants Medical Services: Culturally appropriate primary medical care, ranging from pediatric to geriatric care Social Work Services: Social support and case management for participants to help with medical and nonmedical needs Legal Services: Legal support services for participants Workshops on Traumatic Stress: Educational group sessions for participants regarding traumatic stress and how to cope with it Speech Therapy for Children: Speech therapy sessions for child participants Learning Disability Testing and Referrals for Children: Screening and testing for child participants, as well as referrals to treatment Psychiatric Referrals and Treatment: Referrals to psychiatric treatment for participants
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Program Design Mi Familia engages children, adolescents, and parents in counseling, therapeutic exercises, and workshops to reduce the negative impact of traumatic stress and improve overall family stability. Bilingual mental health staff conduct mental health screenings, individual and family counseling, and psycho-educational group interventions focused on identifying, treating, and preventing traumatic stress. At the heart of the program is the weekly group sessions, which educate participants on how to express their feelings and develop strategies for dealing with emotions in constructive ways, emphasizing the prevention of violence and abuse. Over the course of 16 consecutive weekly meetings, mental health staff facilitate these sessions, which are composed of age-appropriate exercises and activities (such as art therapy, relaxation techniques, and role playing, among others) to provide participants with improved communication skills and tools to constructively manage conflict, stress, and anxiety. Participants enroll in a 16-week cycle of two-hour group sessions. Over the course of four months, participants come to see the group as a family—a safe place where they can share their past traumas (e.g., torture, abuse, war), their resulting negative impacts, and the present-day challenges that their family faces (e.g., domestic violence, gang membership, depression). They also begin to share their success stories, which encourage others to put into practice lessons learned (e.g., how to manage anger, how to relax, how to communicate and identify emotions, how to resolve conflicts). Without the continuity and length of the group sessions, participants would be less likely to develop the trust and confidence necessary to share and work through these issues. Concurrently, participants may be referred for individual or family counseling, psychiatric treatment, and/or medical treatment if a client is not already a medical patient of La Clínica. These weekly sessions last as long as necessary to ensure improved mental health outcomes (in addition to the academic, developmental, and family stability improvements that accompany these changes). Typically, participants will receive three to six months of therapy, depending on the nature of the problem. For more intense cases, therapy may be required twice a week. In all cases, staff tailor the frequency and duration of therapy based on a client’s need and observed progress.
At the end of the cycle, parents who have attended a minimum of 13 sessions “graduate” from the program, receive a certificate of accomplishment, and are recognized by La Clínica staff and members of the community. For many of the graduates, this is the first time they are formally recognized for their accomplishments, as many have not graduated from high school. This recognition, in addition to modeling positive behavior for their children, also reinforces clients’ own sense of self-worth and confidence.
Funding Some of the major funding sources for Mi Familia include City of Washington, DC Office on Latino Affairs (Community Health Grant), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and service fees The program’s total budget is $145,174, at approximately $1,190 per client. The following list describes the program’s funding streams: • Foundations 27% • Local Government 20% • State Government 0% • Federal Government 28% • Corporations/Banks 0% • Events 0% • Other 25%
Partnerships Mi Familia has collaborated with several local NCLR Affiliates to meet its clients’ additional needs. Some partner organizations include: • CentroNía • Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care • Ayuda, Inc. • Latin American Youth Center • Spanish Catholic Center • DC Department of Mental Health, Multicultural Services
OUTCOMES Client Flow Throughout the two cycles of workshops offered each year, Mi Familia serves an average of 100 clients. Approximately half of the clients continue to participate in other integrated services offered at La Clínica. Given the program’s success and La Clínica’s holistic approach to providing services to the community, numerous departments within the institution continue to refer families to the program. Effective communication and education among the departments at La Clínica contribute to successful referrals to Mi Familia.
Specific Results over Time Since the program’s inception, La Clínica’s Mental Health department has provided over 5,000 clients with one-on-one counseling, group therapy, or both. The majority of program participants have graduated from one of nine cycles of sessions. Initially, children exhibit a variety of symptoms including difficulty concentrating at school, behavioral problems, extreme fearfulness, and violent behavior. Based on program evaluations, nearly 70% of the children who participate in the groups make significant academic and developmental improvements, and over 75% of the parents report using positive parenting skills and an overall improvement in family relationships at home.
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Unanticipated Results At its inception, the project was designed to cater toward the emotional needs of its Washington, DC clients. Over time, an increased demand for this project was observed due to its popularity and success, leading its founders to expand eligibility to residents of Maryland and Virginia. Since the program’s second year, there has been a waitlist for the next cycle of groups.
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE Based on nine years of experience, La Clínica del Pueblo strongly believes that it would take at least two years for another NCLR Affiliate to establish a similar program. In order to implement the program, initial funding is vital for stability and growth. The required infrastructure includes teams of three—one licensed mental health providers and two assistants (for the children’s group)—a safe place with easy transportation access for the clients, three spacious rooms to accommodate the three simultaneous groups, two yoga resources to facilitate stress reduction for children, audio resources and art materials, coordination of speakers from multidisciplinary specialty fields, and community partnerships to enhance the program. The principle ingredients of this program include team members’ commitment and leadership.
Lessons Learned and Challenges Given that the program’s clientele are Latino immigrants, a vital lesson learned was the importance of hiring licensed mental health professionals who are culturally and linguistically competent and sensitive in delivering the various program components. Their commitment is fundamental to the program’s continuation and success. At the program’s inception, the lead mental health therapist supervised and trained volunteers (mental health students) to lead one group. It was learned that a strong commitment was essential to the group’s cohesion, as well as building the clients’ trust and confidence. After a few years into the program, La Clínica was able to hire licensed professionals who committed to each cycle’s 16 sessions. Another lesson learned was that the Latino community needs to be reminded of each session one day prior to it, since community members are not accustomed to attending weekly therapy sessions. In part, this may also be related to the stigma associated with mental health treatment. Overall, the following conditions must be met in order for the program to be successful: • Motivated clients who hope to improve their lives and their family’s situation • A strong team of committed and caring mental health professionals • Capacity to refer to other complementary services • A steady flow of funding for the continued implementation of the program
REPLICATION NCLR Affiliates that would like to replicate the Mi Familia program at their local site must be able to meet the following criteria: • Cultural competency and an understanding of the population they are working with • Collaboration, teamwork, and cooperation to ensure the implementation of the program • Sustainability through funding, personnel, and community support
CONTACT INFORMATION Vanessa Rojas Mental Health and Substance Abuse Department Director La ClĂnica del Pueblo 2831 15th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 Telephone: (202) 448-2835 Fax: (202) 667-3706 Email: vrojas@lcdp.org
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Family Strengthening Programs for Hispanic Communities Mi Casa Resource Center Mi Casa Resource Center Youth and Family Development Programs PROGRAM SUMMARY Mi Casa Resource Center was founded in 1976 by eight Head Start mothers in Denver, Colorado who understood that education and employment were vital for people to achieve personal and financial stability. In the late 1970s, Mi Casa began offering job training programs for women to help them break into higher-paying jobs traditionally filled by men. Recognizing self-employment as another viable route toward economic stability, Mi Casa expanded in the 1980s to include bilingual business development services to nurture the natural entrepreneurial spirit of many Latinos living in Denver’s thriving Hispanic and Spanish-speaking communities. In the late 1990s, Mi Casa responded to the need for enrichment programs during out-of-school time for Latino students by opening a school-based neighborhood center in northwest Denver. Mi Casa continues to work toward its mission to advance the economic success of Latino families through business, career, and youth and family development strategies. For over 11 years, Mi Casa’s Youth and Family Development programs have provided lowincome Latino youth with engaging after-school and summer opportunities at the Mi Casa Neighborhood Center (MCNC). The MCNC offers research-based programs focused on academic success, technology training, leadership development, career education, and college preparation. Involving the entire family is key to Mi Casa’s approach to youth development, and with its many services for adults, MCNC is a rich resource for parents and children alike. Parents are encouraged to engage in their children’s education by attending family events, parenting workshops, and adult education classes, including English-as-a-second-language (ESL), GED, and bilingual computer literacy classes. Mi Casa also offers career training in high-growth industries and bilingual business development programs that support MCNC in important ways. Mi Casa strives for a holistic, family-centered approach to its services, and all programs are coordinated to ensure that the agency is meeting its overall goal of increasing the employability, education, knowledge, and life skills of the individuals it serves. Each participant is thoroughly assessed to understand not only their needs related to the program that interests them, but also their personal needs that might be addressed through other Mi Casa programs, partner agencies, or community resources. Sensitive to the many obstacles that poverty creates, Mi Casa facilitates access to supportive services in the community. Through its many partner agencies, Mi Casa helps families access resources for transportation, free child care, housing assistance, low-cost health care, food assistance, free legal advice, citizenship information, and mental health counseling.
BACKGROUND Need for the Program The Mi Casa Neighborhood Center was created in response to an expressed need and desire within the Latino community of northwest Denver for positive youth development programming for children during out-of-school time. As a part of a national movement to expand the Beacon Center best practice model from New York City throughout the nation, a community mapping project was conducted in Denver in collaboration with local foundations. Three areas of the city were identified as prime locations to open Beacon Centers due to significant risk factors present for youth (such as high rates of school dropouts, delinquency, and crime). But these communities were also selected for their significant assets (including parks, recreation centers, and community-based organizations), which could be networked to provide more comprehensive services to youth and families. Of the sites selected, Lake Middle School in northwest Denver
had the largest percentage of Latino students. When a request for proposals was released to recruit the partner organization to manage the Beacon Center at Lake Middle School, Mi Casa was operating programs from a nearby site and jumped at the chance to expand its much-needed services for youth and families in a largely Latino community. The need for the positive youth development programming at the Mi Casa Neighborhood Center cannot be overstated. Mi Casa specifically targets low-income Latino youth who are at a high risk for academic failure and other negative behaviors. The achievement gap for Latino students is large and growing. In Colorado, the high school graduation rate for Latino youth is just 56%, compared to 82% for White youth and 74% for the state overall. In fact, the graduation rate among Latino students has dropped 14 percentage points since 2003. Latinos in Colorado also score considerably lower than their White peers on standardized tests in math, reading, and writing. Moreover, they are far less likely than Whites to have attended college or obtained a college degree. Just over 11% of Latinos nationwide hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to nearly 28% of Whites and 17% of Blacks, according to the U.S. Census. As a result, Latino households earn far less than state and city averages. In Denver, the median annual household income for a Latino family is just 60% of what the average non-Latino household earns. In Colorado, the Latino population is large and growing. Latinos, who already compose more than 20% of the state population and 34% of Denver’s population, are expected to grow by 29% per decade between 2010 and 2030, with much of that growth concentrated in Front Range cities such as Denver. The crisis in Latino achievement, which will result in a poorly educated workforce, will negatively affect the entire community and the competitiveness of the local economy. Mi Casa’s Youth and Family Development Department is working to address these disparities in economic and educational achievement by using evidence-based programs that help Latino youth develop skills for academic success and healthy decision-making, as well as by offering their families opportunities for continuing education and community support.
Population Characteristics Located at Lake Middle School in northwest Denver, MCNC serves youth attending the school or living in the surrounding communities. Based on demographic and economic indicators, the City and County of Denver have identified these neighborhoods as high-need communities. The average household income for the surrounding neighborhoods is $34,930 to $48,312, which is $7,817 to $20,199 below the average household income for Denver. Rates of children in poverty are up to 20% higher in these neighborhoods than the average for Denver, and it’s clear that high levels of poverty lead to housing instability. Family mobility rates are elevated for this region of the city, with one out of every four households having moved within the last year.� These neighborhoods are overwhelmingly Latino; two of the surrounding neighborhoods are more than 80% Latino. Lake Middle School’s student population is 93% minority and 84% Latino. Ninety-six percent of the students meet federal poverty standards and qualify for free or reduced breakfast and lunch, compared to 70% for all Denver public schools. Twenty-one percent of students are learning English as a second language, and all of these students are Spanish-speaking. In October 2009, the Colorado Department of Education and Denver Public Schools rated Lake Middle School as the lowest-performing middle school in Denver, citing the school as failing to achieve adequate yearly progress (a measurement defined by the No Child Left Behind Act to determine how every public school is performing based on standardized test results). Additionally, Lake Middle School
� U.S. Census Bureau, “American Community Survey 2005-2007 Three Year Estimates,” American FactFinder, http:// factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_program=ACS.
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was rated low in school accountability (as determined by school safety, student attendance, teacher-student ratios, and academic achievement).� Lake’s percentage of students scoring “proficient” or “advanced” on standardized tests is 16% to 21% lower than the average for Denver public schools. Behavioral indicators also show a divergence in the success of Lake students as compared to the average for Denver public schools. At Lake, the average student suspension rate is 19%, compared to an 8% average for all Denver public schools.�
KEY ELEMENTS Program Goals and Objectives The program’s overarching goal is to promote positive youth and family development by providing low-income Latino youth and their families with engaging after-school and summer opportunities. The following is a list of objectives related to the Youth and Family Development Programs: Goal: Promote positive youth and family development. •
Objective: Enhance 300 middle school youth’s academic achievement and positive behaviors through their participation in high-quality, out-of-school activities. Measure: 300 youth will participate in after-school enrichment activities. Measure: 75 of these students will attend 30 days or more of programming to become core participants. Measure: 80% of core youth participants will increase their academic performance (as reported by day school teachers and standardized test scores). Measure: 75% of core youth participants will decrease their negative behaviors (as reported by day school teachers). Measure: Students will demonstrate increased knowledge of careers and career paths. Measure: Students will demonstrate increased entrepreneurial skills.
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Objective: Support at-risk youth and their families in making positive decisions through their participation in the CASASTART intensive case management program. Measure: 75% of youth will maintain zero suspensions or decrease suspension rate. Measure: 75% of youth will decrease the number of behavioral infractions ticketed at the school. Measure: 75% of the youth will have decreased truancy issues as evidenced by decreased unexcused absences during the school day. Measure: 60% of the youth will increase their GPA.
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Objective: Engage 150 family/community members to participate in family support services through the Mi Casa Neighborhood Center. Measure: 150 community members will participate in adult programming. Measure: 100 people will participate in ESL classes. Measure: 35% of ESL students will increase their English proficiency by advancing at least one level. Measure: 25 people will participate in GED preparation. Measure: 10 people will obtain their GED. Measure: 25 people will participate in adult recreation activities. Measure: Students will showcase their work during four quarterly family nights. Measure: Parents will participate in six parenting classes.
� Colorado Department of Education, Lake Diagnostic Report (Denver: Colorado Department of Education), http://static. dpsk12.org/gems/communityrelations/PS1detailreport.pdf (accessed May 3, 2010). � The Piton Foundation, “Neighborhood Summaries,” http://www.piton.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=CommunityFacts. NeighborhoodsList (accessed May 3, 2010).
Services Provided The Youth and Family Development Programs provide a holistic, family-centered approach to services, including through the following: •
After-school, evening, and summer programs. Mi Casa Neighborhood Center programs help youth acquire the intellectual and emotional assets they need to be successful in school and beyond. The programming focuses on academic success, technology training, leadership development, career education, and college preparation, as well as forming strong bonds with school and supportive adult role models.
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Preventative case management. The CASASTART intensive case management program works with the youth most at risk of academic failure, substance abuse, and/or delinquency. The case manager works one-on-one with the youth and their families to support academic success, healthy decision-making, and positive youth development.
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Parent/community engagement activities. Parents are encouraged to engage in their student’s education by attending family events, parenting workshops, adult education classes such as ESL, GED, and parenting classes, and bilingual computer and financial literacy seminars.
Program Design Mi Casa’s Youth and Family Development Programs offer research-based after-school, evening, and summer enrichment programming for Latino youth and their families. The primary focus of out-of-school activities is academic success, and mentors work with youth individually to develop strong study skills and healthy decision-making processes. In order to address the needs of the entire family, Mi Casa also offers continuing education opportunities for adults and facilitates access to supportive human services within the community. The Mi Casa Neighborhood Center was founded on and operates under the Beacon Center model, an evidence-based practice first established in New York City in the early 1990s. In a Beacon Center, a community-based organization transforms a public school into a community center of opportunity, service, and safety by offering a range of activities and services for youth and their families during out-of-school time. The success of the Beacon Center model hinges on a close collaboration with the school and community to ensure that there is an aligned safety net to support youth to achieve academically and make healthy decisions. Research has shown that the Beacon Model leads to increased school performance, decreased drug use and fighting, increased self-esteem, and increased moral leadership skills (such as positive conflict resolution).� Participation in after-school programs has been shown to increase attendance and test scores and decrease dropout rates among middle school students. The primary focus of Mi Casa’s after-school programs is academic success, and Mi Casa staff and adult volunteers work one-on-one with children to cultivate strong study skills and academic discipline, as well as strong bonds with the school, teachers, and parents. Youth development activities at MCNC are structured around clubs that allow students to choose two primary after-school activities that pique their interest. The team-building that takes place in MCNC’s small-group setting encourages each participant to develop a sense of responsibility for and accountability to his/her group members. The motto of MCNC and the rules for all who participate are “Respect for Others; Respect for Self; Respect for Space.” This credo of respect provides a safe environment for youth to develop a strong sense of themselves and their potential. The club offerings at MCNC change each semester, with most clubs focused on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning. Mi Casa staff, Denver Public Schools teachers, and trained and screened volunteers lead club activities every day after school.
� Constancia Warren, Prudence Brown, and Nicholas Freudenberg, Evaluation of the New York City Beacons. Phase I Findings. (New York: Academy for Educational Development, Inc., 1999), http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/16/1b/9e.pdf (accessed May 3, 2010).
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An important part of MCNC is the CASASTART program of intensive case management and prevention, a model program created by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University. CASASTART targets children who are at high risk for academic failure, delinquency, and/or substance abuse. The program, which stands for Striving Together to Achieve Rewarding Tomorrows, relies on collaboration between the case manager, the managed youth, the youth’s family, the school, social service agencies, and law enforcement. Youth are nominated into the program by teachers or counselors based on trouble at home or at school. Students are selected to be a part of CASASTART if they demonstrate willingness to work with the case manager and if their families are interested and open to engaging with the case manager and the school. The case manager follows up with each youth once a week, conducts home visits with each family every month, and connects the families to community resources offered by Mi Casa’s partner agencies. An important part of the CASASTART program is pairing each youth with an adult mentor to help the child develop positive bonds and build self-esteem. Evaluated over four years by the Urban Institute, the CASASTART model was found to significantly reduce students’ use of drugs and involvement in gangs while having a positive impact on their grades and school attendance. Participants also reported lower levels of violent offenses, higher levels of positive peer influence, and lower levels of association with delinquent peers.� The activities for youth and adults at MCNC have been strengthening low-income Hispanic families in northwest Denver for over a decade. By providing new opportunities to learn and grow during out-of-school time, form strong bonds within the school and the community, and access the human resources necessary for success, MCNC is responding to the unique needs of each family, advancing their well-being and economic success and contributing to the overall health of the northwest Denver community.
Funding The program’s total budget is $526,530, approximately $1,116.06 per client. Please note that all costs include in-kind donations. Some of the major funding sources for the program are Rose Community Foundation, Lights on After School (a partnership between the City and County of Denver’s Mayor’s Office for Education and Children, Denver Public School Foundation, and Mile High United Way), Daniels Fund, Hildebrand Foundation, Venoco Foundation, Denver Post Charities, Colorado Rockies, United Launch Alliance, Target, the Colorado Department of Education, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The following list describes the program’s funding streams: • Foundations 36% • Local Government 0% • State Government 18% • Federal Government 0% • Corporations/Banks 6% • Events 0% • Other 40%
Partnerships Collaboration is key to the Mi Casa Neighborhood Center’s strategy for success. As a Beacon Center, the Mi Casa Neighborhood Center relies on a continuum of partners that work together to provide holistic and integrated support to meet the needs and interests of the children and families it serves.
� Adele Harrell, Shannon Cavanagh, and Sanjeev Sridharan, Evaluation of the Children at Risk Program: Results 1 Year After the End of the Program. National Institute of Justice Research Brief, U.S. Department of Justice. Washington, DC, November 1999.
Partners include but are not limited to the following organizations: • Denver Public Schools • Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning • Emily Griffith Opportunity School • Food Bank of the Rockies • Denver Police Department • United Launch Alliance • Metro State College of Denver Department of Math and Computer Science • University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work Additionally, Mi Casa participates in a number of collaborative projects which work to increase the availability of and access to programs and services for low-income youth. These collaborations, including the Northwest Denver Collaborative, the Community Schools Planning Group, and the Denver Quality After-School Connection, involve peer learning using best practices and data-driven decision-making, resource-sharing, and advocacy for expanded learning opportunities for disadvantaged youth.
OUTCOMES Client Flow The Mi Casa Resource Center serves approximately 450 individuals and 300 families each year. Over the years, many parents of children in the after-school program, and even the youth participants themselves after high school, have sought Mi Casa’s career and business development services to help them achieve their goals.
Specific Results over Time The measurable outcomes of programs at MCNC reflect Mi Casa’s commitment to helping youth and their families achieve academic, economic, and personal success. During the 2008–2009 school year, Mi Casa served 374 youth in after-school and summer programs. Mi Casa saw an 11% increase in the number of core youth participants (those who attend after-school programs for a minimum of 30 days per year), and among these 71 core participants, significant increases in student performance on the math and reading portions of standardized tests were noted. Mi Casa provided supportive services to 59 families in 2009 and provided intensive case management to 17 families. All 17 case-managed youth passed on to the next grade level. Teachers in Denver Public Schools are asked to fill out surveys on their perceptions of each student’s individual improvement each school year. Mi Casa tracks the survey data for each of its core youth participants. Consistently, Mi Casa after-school participants show a much larger improvement than the state average in terms of their behavior change regarding completing homework to teachers’ satisfaction, academic performance, motivation, class participation, attendance, behavior, and positive peer interaction. Additionally, among core youth participants in Mi Casa’s after-school programs, 43% of those who scored below proficiency on the reading section of standardized tests in the previous school year attained proficiency in the current school year. Thirty-one percent of core participants who scored below proficiency on the math section of standardized tests the previous year attained proficiency in the current year. Mi Casa evaluates program outcomes to determine the impact of services and make them more effective over time. Evaluation tools are designed to focus on outcomes for each program area, including students’ grades, standardized test scores, attendance, tardiness, increased parental involvement in the school, and other variables. Program staff are responsible for data collection from the Denver Public Schools database at the conclusion of each term. Additional information is collected via student and teacher surveys at the end of each school year, and Mi Casa staff work with the Denver Public Schools Department of Extended Learning Services to analyze yearly data.
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Mi Casa’s Youth and Family Development programs have a logic model developed in collaboration with an evaluation consultant, along with detailed evaluation plans that identify outcomes, metrics for measuring outcomes, timelines for collecting data, persons responsible, and database protocols.
Unanticipated Results Perhaps the most salient unanticipated result of operating MCNC involves the relationships between Mi Casa, Denver Public Schools, other community-based organizations, corporations, and government agencies that have formed in order to maximize enrichment programming and supportive services for the families Mi Casa serves. Through its many sustained partnerships, the Mi Casa Neighborhood Center serves as a link between low-income Latino families and the services and resources available in the community to help them achieve their goals. In this way, Mi Casa has been able to facilitate increased access to information and valuable community resources in order to help clients overcome barriers and ultimately trade poverty for lasting economic stability. In addition, Mi Casa has been able to integrate over time once-disparate pieces of its youth development programming under the single umbrella of MCNC. Although the leadership development, youth-adult partnership, and preventative case management programming were originally separate activities with distinct funding sources, Mi Casa has worked to incorporate these activities into the core program model at MCNC. In this way, Mi Casa is able to unite multiple best practice models, providing comprehensive services to youth and their families and achieving the maximum positive impact for the most people.
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE To operate a neighborhood center with programs for youth, adults, and the community requires sustained and diversified financial resources. This is not a program that can be emulated on a shoestring budget. Without adequate capital, it is simply not possible to provide a comprehensive array of enrichment programs and supportive services that define the Beacon Center approach to youth and family development. However, assuming that an organization has adequate funding, it would be possible to implement a school-based neighborhood center in approximately six months, allowing time to secure the school space, establish partnerships, hire staff, and create curricula. In order to improve an already existing after-school program to adhere to the Beacon Model, this could be accomplished with a concerted effort over a period of approximately three months. Because the program model is one of comprehensive support to families, adequate and reliable funding is essential to the project’s success.
Lessons Learned and Challenges A considerable challenge in operating a school-based neighborhood center like MCNC is funding, as significant and sustained resources are required to operate the comprehensive after-school and evening programs offered by MCNC. An additional challenge is staff turnover. Jobs at MCNC frequently attract young, talented individuals who are getting their feet wet in the professional world but also looking toward continued education. The majority of the adult staffers leaving MCNC do so in order to begin graduate study often related to youth development or social work. In order to meet this challenge, Mi Casa has developed an effective training system for new employees, a positive organizational culture that attracts and retains talent, and incentives for extended employment and increasingly competitive compensation. Another significant challenge to successful programming is developing effective strategies to keep low-income parents engaged and active in their child’s learning at school. The parents at MCNC have many demands on their time, and getting them through the door is a challenge. In order to attract more parents, Mi Casa holds quarterly Family Night events, which always include a meal, student performances, fun activities, and a resource fair to inform them about free or low-cost services in the community.
The program requires the following to be successful: • Diversified and sustainable financial resources, including foundation grants, government contracts, individual support, and corporate sponsorships • Strong partnerships with the school, the district, and other community-based organizations that can provide program participants with comprehensive wraparound services to help them overcome challenges • Well-trained staff members who are culturally responsive, bilingual, and knowledgeable about youth development and/or adult education, as well as available resources in the community
Replication NCLR Affiliates that would like to replicate the Financial Services Program at their local site will need to have or develop the following criteria: • Diversified financial resources, including foundation grants, government contracts, individual support, and corporate sponsorships • Strong partnerships with the school, the district, and other community-based organizations that can provide program participants with comprehensive wraparound services to help them meet their individual challenges • Well-trained staff members who are culturally responsive, bilingual, and knowledgeable about youth development and/or adult education, as well as available resources in the community
CONTACT INFORMATION Karen Fox Director of Youth and Family Development 360 Acoma Street Denver, CO 80223 Telephone: (303) 539-5658 Fax: (303) 595-0422 Email: kfox@micasaresourcecenter.org
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Family Strengthening Programs for Hispanic Communities Youth Development, Inc. YDI Early Head Start/Head Start Program PROGRAM SUMMARY Youth Development, Inc. (YDI) was founded 39 years ago in Albuquerque, New Mexico by a small group of concerned community activists who wanted to address the conditions that encourage substance abuse, educational disparity, delinquency, and poverty. YDI’s mission is “to help children, youth and families reach their full potential.” A major strength of YDI is its holistic, strength-based approach to family solutions. Its services include early childhood education and family development for pregnant women, Early Head Start, Head Start, prekindergarten, afterschool tutoring, mentoring programs, gang prevention and intervention programs, dropout prevention programs, GED classes, crisis intervention, shelter for runaways, family advocacy, family strengthening programs, and affordable housing. YDI’s Early Head Start/Head Start Program provides comprehensive services to children six weeks to five years old. The program is part of a continuum of care under the YDI umbrella. Comprehensive services for the children include a multicultural educational program that is tailored to children’s individual needs, fostering their self-esteem and developing cognitive, language, motor, and social skills; medical and dental screenings, which includes follow-up treatment; classroom lessons that emphasize a variety of preventative health practices; nutritious meals and snacks provided in family-style settings; nutrition education in the classroom and for parents to use at home; and evaluation, diagnosis, and special services, along with a nurturing mainstreamed classroom environment for children with special needs.
BACKGROUND Need for the Program The needs and challenges of our Hispanic families include a lack of access to quality early childhood education, health care, and resources for undocumented individuals. Many cannot afford high-quality child care. YDI Head Start levels the playing field for these families by providing quality early childhood education and family development services to ensure that these underserved children are able to compete with their peers once they enter public school. Research has shown that monolingual Spanish-speaking children do not progress at rates that are comparable to their bilingual or English-speaking peers. YDI Head Start has implemented a dual language program that is designed to address this particular deficiency.�� Additionally, the number of Hispanic children under age six with no parent in the labor force is 13%, the highest rate in the U.S. along with Mississippi. According to the Pew Research Center’s analysis of Hispanic and non-Hispanic populations in New Mexico, the median annual personal earnings of Hispanics is $21,182, compared to $30,552 for non-Hispanic Whites�� (see Figure 1).
�� F. Genesee and C. Riches, “Instructional issues in literacy development,” in Educating English Language Learners: A Synthesis of Research Evidence, eds. F. Genesee et al. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 109–175. �� Pew Hispanic Center, “Demographic Profile of Hispanics in New Mexico, 2008,” http://pewhispanic.org/ states/?stateid=NM (accessed May 3, 2010).
FIGURE 1: MEDIAN ANNUAL PERSONAL EARNINGS IN NEW MEXICO, 2008 $30,552
$35,000 $30,000 $25,000
$21,182
$20,000 $15,000 $20,000 $5,000 $0 $90,000
Hispanics
Non-Hispanic Whites
The YDI Early Head Start/Head Start Program has a comprehensive social services component. Component staff help families assess their individual strengths and needs and work with them to develop the right assistance plan for each family. Together they build on family strengths to promote the family’s overall well-being. Parents can also receive training to become paid substitute teachers in the classroom and frequently continue to become paid Head Start staff members. At the YDI Early Head Start/Head Start Program, 49% of staff are current or former Head Start or Early Head Start parents.
Population Characteristics According to The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2008 KIDS COUNT Data Book, 55% of New Mexico children are Hispanic, compared to 22% nationwide. Forty-four percent of New Mexico’s overall population is Hispanic, the highest of any other state. Forty-three percent of New Mexico’s Hispanic children live in single-parent households, compared to 38% in the U.S., and 40% of Hispanic children live in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment.�� In New Mexico, 30% of children speak a language other than English at home, compared to 20% nationwide. The percentage of immigrant children in New Mexico who have difficulty speaking English is 25%, compared to 20% nationally, and 34% of immigrant children in New Mexico live in linguistically isolated households, compared to 27% nationally. The parents of 41% of immigrant children in New Mexico have less than a high school diploma, compared to 26% nationally. Eighty percent of YDI Early Head Start/Head Start families are Hispanic. YDI has seen a progressive increase in enrollment of monolingual Spanish-speaking children in the past five years. According to the YDI Program Information report, during the past three years the percentage of Spanish-speaking children has increased.
�� The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2008 KIDS COUNT Data Book (Baltimore: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2008), http:// datacenter.kidscount.org/databook/2008/Default.aspx (accessed May 12, 2009).
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FIGURE 2: PERCENTAGE OF SPANISH-SPEAKING CHILDREN ENROLLED IN YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, INC.’S HEAD START PROGRAM
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34%
33%
33% 32%
31%
31% 30%
29%
29% 28% 27% $90,000
2007
2008
2009
KEY ELEMENTS Program Goals The overarching goal of Youth Development, Inc. is to “help families reach their full potential.” It is not enough for families to be self-sufficient; rather, YDI strives to assist them in advancing educationally and economically to lead productive and happy lives. YDI believes in a comprehensive approach to family development, as evidenced by its broad range of services. The following is a list of goals for 2010 activities related to the Early Head Start/Head Start Program: Goal 1: Provide a safe, high-quality child development program to enable parents to seek and retain meaningful employment, training, or education. •
Objective: Obtain and maintain National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation. Measure: All 33 YDI child development centers are accredited by NAEYC and have received New Mexico’s highest-quality five-star designation on each individual center license.
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Objective: Receive the State of New Mexico’s nomination to the Administration for Children and Families to compete for the National Head Start Center of Excellence Award. Measure: The governor has submitted Youth Development, Inc. as the state’s nomination for the National Head Start Center of Excellence Award.
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Objective: Participate in a research-based parent satisfaction survey conducted by the University of New Mexico’s educational leadership program. Measure: The results of the questionnaire indicate that parents were overwhelmingly satisfied with the program and felt that it met their needs. The actual response rate of more than 98% and a confidence level of 99% are extremely good and assure very high credibility in the results of the statistical analysis.
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Objective: Provide full-day, high-quality child education and development services to enable parents to work, attend school, or attend trainings. Measure: YDI provides full-day programming for 1,226 children on a daily basis. Its strategic plan has been to slowly and systemically eliminate half-day sessions in lieu of full-day sessions based on parents’ needs.
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Objective: Provide dual language programming for monolingual Spanish-speaking children to preserve the home language and increase English language development. Measure: Learning Accomplishment Profile (LAP) scores indicate the same rate of growth and progress for Spanish-speaking children as English-speaking children. The LAP tracks children’s progress and kindergartners’ readiness in eight domains of learning: math, science, literacy, language development, creative arts, social/emotional wellness, approaches to learning, and physical development.
Goal 2: Enhance the direct participation of parents in their children’s education, socioemotional development, and physical health. •
Objective: Develop specific individualized child learning objectives based on the child’s strengths and interests. Measure: Customized lessons plans have been developed, resulting in an average of 25% increases for Early Head Start children and 17% increases for Head Start children.
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Objective: Enroll children in Medicaid at the Head Start centers and assist 150 uninsured and undocumented families in obtaining low-cost medical care in conjunction with the Hispanic Medical Association. Measure: 1,665 families are enrolled in Medicaid and 108 families have obtained low-cost medical coverage in the 2009–2010 school year.
Goal 3: Promote and strengthen community partnerships. •
Objective: Develop strong community relationships culminating in formal memoranda of understanding pertaining to networking, sharing information, and sharing resources. Measure: YDI has more than 38 formal memoranda of understanding, which have resulted in increased services for children and families. These partnerships are based on shared missions and philosophy.
Goal 4: Provide opportunities for families to achieve self-sufficiency, advance educationally and economically, and help others. •
Objective: Train and educate parents in an effort to “grow our own teachers” in early childhood development, leading to employment opportunities at YDI. Measure: 49% of staff (171 out of 350) in the early childhood division are current or former Head Start parents.
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Objective: Assist parents in enrolling in ESL, GED, and postsecondary classes. Measure: 281 parents enrolled in educational advancement programs.
Goal 5: Assist parents in developing a highly refined advocacy skill set. •
Objective: Train 50 parents in the NCLR-designed parent advocacy program, Sembrando Semillas (Planting Seeds). Measure: 113 parents were trained.
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Objective: Sponsor ten parents per year in a Leadership Development Program, culminating in a visit to the state legislature. Measure: Annually, ten or more parents are trained on the state legislative process, select an advocacy issue, provide testimony, and visit their state representative and senator.
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Objective: Develop a formal partnership with the 2010 Census to ensure that underserved and low-income areas are counted. Measure: During home visits, sample questionnaires were reviewed with 1,600 families. Families indicated that they had a clearer understanding of why it is important to complete and turn in Census forms.
Services Provided The YDI Early Head Start/Head Start Program provides a wide range of comprehensive services that address the needs of the entire family. Those services include: •
Educational program tailored to children’s individual needs that fosters their self-esteem and develops cognitive, language, motor, and social skills. Dual language classes are included as part of the program, whereby 50% of the time the class is conducted in Spanish and 50% of the time in English.
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Health program that provides medical and dental screenings and follow-up treatment, along with classroom lessons that emphasize a variety of preventative health practices
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Special education program that provides evaluation, diagnosis, and special services, along with a nurturing mainstreamed classroom environment for children with special needs
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Nutrition program that provides nutritious meals and snacks eaten in family-style settings, along with nutrition education in the classroom and for parents to use at home
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Transition services that ensure a smooth transition to kindergarten and no interruption in indicated services for special needs children
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Comprehensive social services where staff develop a partnership with the families and assist them in assessing their individual strengths and needs, working together to develop the right assistance plan for each family. They build on family strengths to promote the family’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Services include community outreach and referral, crisis intervention, job search assistance, and help with problems such as alcohol or drug abuse.
•
Parent involvement welcoming parents into the classroom as involved participants in their children’s growth and development. Parents whose children are enrolled in the dual language classrooms are trained in the NCLR-developed Parents as Partners and the Sembrando Semillas curricula, through which parents actively engage with the development of their children and learn how to support their development in the home. Parents can receive training to become paid substitute teachers in the classroom and frequently continue to become teachers and staff members in all component areas. This aspect of YDI’s services offers opportunities for leadership in the program through Center Committees and the Head Start Policy Council, allowing parents to have a voice in administrative decisions and programmatic evaluation. Services also include classes and workshops especially for parents in many subjects, including parenting and nutrition, language and job skills classes, and workshops in developmentally appropriate activities that parents can do with their children at home.
Program Design The metaphor of the onion best llustrates YDI’s program design, which centers the Early Head Start/Head Start Program at its core. Surrounding this essential core are layers of programs and services that support children and families to ensure that all needs are met.
ples Health ou erson Gr y d inderga a ek
Caring C An Pr
NCL RS Me e e H a l d t l h i Ini d Ch t
With funding from the Anderson Foundation, a speech therapist provides therapy to children who are not eligible for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) but still need speech/language development services before they enter kindergarten.
Early Head Start
rs tne ar rds d Exe rcis Ca g an e ti n n
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emillas/Paren do S ts n a m br id Enroll ent/Hea as P m ca i ve for Lifelong E lth i a i at Grand Start rt
Early Head Start offers the same high-quality comprehensive services to four-year-old children who are not eligible for Head Start services due to parents’ income.
ildre Ch t n en
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The Caring Couples Healthy Children program offers a series of workshops in relationship skills development for low-income, unmarried, pregnant, or new parents using the Loving Couples Healthy Children curriculum. Workshops are offered in English and Spanish, and weekly home visits by education facilitators reinforce skills learned at the previous workshop.
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The Grand Start program offers workshops and supportive services for custodial grandparents in raising their grandchildren.
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The Child Health Initiative for Lifelong Eating and Exercise (CHILE) nutrition program provides another layer of care for children and families. The purpose of CHILE is to implement and evaluate culturally appropriate health education interventions for preschool children. It is designed to increase physical activity and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while decreasing television viewing time and consumption of sweetened beverages and high-fat foods. The curriculum includes physical activity and nutrition interventions, food service training programs for families, and a grocery store program to increase the availability of healthy foods.
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Early Head Start/Head Start family services specialists are trained to certify Head Start families for Medicaid eligibility if they are not yet enrolled in the Medicaid program. They can also recertify families whose Medicaid enrollment has expired.
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The Hispanic Medical Association, in conjunction with Southwest Airlines and Bernalillo County, has allocated 150 medical cards for undocumented, uninsured families, providing medical services for the low copayment of $65.
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Through Sembrando Semillas and Prekindergarten Parents as Partners, early education teachers, family services specialists, and administrators are trained on how to meaningfully engage and empower parents.
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The entire YDI agency surrounds the Early Childhood Education and Family Development Services Division since all of its services can be readily accessed through its effective internal referral process. Such services include after-school tutoring, mentoring, gang prevention and intervention, dropout prevention, GED classes, crisis intervention, shelter for runaways, family counseling, family advocacy, and affordable housing.
Funding The program’s total budget is $10,184,986, at approximately $5,843 per client. Some of the major funding sources for the program are the New Mexico Child and Adult Care Food Program, the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, and NCLR. The following list describes the program’s funding streams: • Foundations 0.2% • Local Government 0% • State Government 11% • Federal Government 88.6% • Corporations/Banks 0% • Events 0% • Other 0.1%
Partnerships The YDI Early Head Start/Head Start Program has established partnerships with various community agencies in order to provide comprehensive services for children and families: •
Health: Albuquerque Public Health Department and Clinics, Health Care for the Homeless, First Choice Community Health Care, Las Clínicas del Norte, Community Lighthouse (Mental Health), University of New Mexico Pediatrics Department, Casa de Corazon, Las Cumbres, Taos County Family Dentistry, Children’s Medical Services
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Education: Dual Language Education of New Mexico, Central New Mexico Community College, Northern New Mexico Community College, University of New Mexico Family Development Program, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, Las Cumbres Community Services, Taos County Education Center
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Disabilities: Los Angelitos Early Intervention, Alta Mira Specialized Family Services, RCI Inc., Albuquerque Public Schools, Taos Municipal Schools, Chama Valley Schools, Mesa Vista Consolidated Schools, Penasco Independent Schools, Española Municipal Schools
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Social Services: Catholic Charities Social Services, Albuquerque Housing Services, Foster Grandparents, New Mexico Human Services, Taos County Housing Authority, Home Education Livelihood Program, United Way of Central New Mexico
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Nutrition: New Mexico State University, Ideas for Cooking and Nutrition, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
OUTCOMES Client Flow Each year, the YDI Early Head Start/Head Start Program serves an average of 1,900 children and families. Families come into Early Head Start/Head Start with a variety of needs, many of which can be met by YDI’s wide array of services. To facilitate referrals to such services, YDI has implemented the management information system, which tracks client demographic data, client needs, and services that have been provided. This system’s internal referral process allows for a timely response to expressed client needs. Most referrals are followed up within 24 hours. Approximately one-fifth, or 350, Early Head Start/Head Start clients receive services from other YDI components. The program feeds into the YDI Caring Couples, Grand Start, after-school tutoring, and family counseling programs.
Specific Results over Time YDI is proud of numerous outcomes of its programs. Most notably are the time and resources the parents devote to making the program a meaningful educational experience for their children. Over $3 million of in-kind resources are generated from family members involved in the program. Parents attend financial literacy classes, GED classes, and employment training sessions in order to improve their economic future. Parents volunteer in the classroom, serving as bus monitors, cooks, or receptionists, which demonstrates their belief in and support of their children’s education. Parents work in conjunction with administrative officials to plan and develop budgets, hire staff, and develop long- and short-term goals for the division. They also fundraise to purchase additional supplies, playground equipment, and learning materials. Parents raise more than $70,000 annually because they share the mission and philosophy of the early childhood program. Children’s academic and socio-emotional outcomes have improved over time. As the program has become more sophisticated by employing degreed teaching staff, adopting a new researchbased curriculum, establishing additional partnerships with community providers, improving facilities, and increasing parent involvement, YDI has demonstrated marked improvements in the eight domains of child learning.
Unanticipated Results The major unanticipated result of the program is the number of current and former Head Start parents employed. This group represents 49% of the 350 staff members in the Early Childhood Education and Family Development Division. The “War on Poverty” design does not only educate and prepare children for kindergarten but also empowers parents and improves their economic self-sufficiency. As YDI began investing in staff’s education and training 16 years ago, it attracted increasing numbers of parents as substitute teacher aides, bus monitors, or kitchen staff. Due to YDI’s generous educational leave policy and tuition assistance, it is able to “grow” its own staff. Former parents are represented among the teachers, service specialists, and administration.
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE Any NCLR Affiliate offering comprehensive services to families through a multicultural educational program that is tailored to children and families’ individual needs would be able to replicate the YDI Early Head Start/Head Start model. The key components of this model include strong community networking relationships; working closely with families, staff, and schools to provide a smooth transition from Early Head Start to Head Start to kindergarten; and ensuring that there is no interruption in indicated services. In terms of infrastructure, the organization would need a staff of teachers who provide direct services to children, service specialists who would work
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with families, managers in specific service areas to assist the children and families in obtaining the services needed, and an administrative team that supports the comprehensive level of services. The approximate time frame for achieving this type of program would be one to two years. Depending on the size of the program, the funding necessary for replication of a program serving this population is approximately $5,843 per family. Sustainability is dependent on available funding from local, state, and federal monies, but all efforts should be taken to obtain private-sector support through individuals, corporations, and private organizations.
Lessons Learned and Challenges The Early Childhood Education and Family Development Division faces numerous challenges to being accessible and responsive to children, families, staff, and community partners. Challenges for children include implementation of a dual language curriculum, cultural responsiveness, environmental risks, and an increase in children with significant diagnosed disabilities. In order to address these challenges, YDI implemented the following best practices: a 50/50 dual language model, a research-based curriculum, and the Tools of the Mind curriculum, which in part sequences activities in a carefully created environment and supports teaching an ever-widening repertoire of play, language, and social skills. The curriculum focuses on building self-regulation skills with preschool children. For families, the challenges are poverty, employment, training and education, and health insurance. In order to address these challenges, YDI provides child development associate and substitute teacher training for Head Start parents. Most often, these parents continue on to become permanent employees in the early childhood field. YDI has also partnered with the New Mexico Hispanic Medical Association, Southwest Airlines, and Bernalillo County, which allocated 150 medical cards for undocumented, uninsured families to provide medical services for low a copayment of $65. YDI family service specialists are also certified to complete new Medicaid applications or aid in recertification. Challenges for staff include professional development in the area of dual language education. YDI provides ongoing specialized dual language training for teaching staff so that they may improve their knowledge and skills, thereby enhancing their teaching best practices. In order for this program to be successful, the following conditions must be met: •
Strong and sustainable community partnerships (it also helps to have a strong internal referral system within your own agency)
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Awareness of changing community demographics and population needs. It is important to know what demographics are in the direct service area so that the program can provide families with appropriate services. For example, a strongly Hispanic, Spanish-speaking community would need adult ESL classes and dual language instruction for the children.
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Broad and diverse funding streams, which ensure the sustainability of the program and the surrounding continuum of services
Replication NCLR Affiliates that would like to replicate the program at their local site must meet the following criteria: •
Implementation of a 50/50 dual language instruction model
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Adoption of a research-based curriculum
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Parent training for employment within the program or another early childhood educational program
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Bilingual staff who are sensitive to the families’ culture and linguistic diversity and are trained in the implementation of multicultural curricula
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Partnerships with existing Head Start programs or other early childhood education programs in the area
CONTACT INFORMATION Debra Baca Vice President, Early Childhood Education and Family Development 901 Pennsylvania Street NE Albuquerque, NM 87110 Telephone: (505) 212-7239 Fax: (505) 268-0457 Email: dbaca@ydinm.org
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