Camp JPAC

The application to Camp JPAC is now available on our web site at www.specialneedsnetwork.net. This year, we are making the application process easier than ever- you can either apply online or download and mail us a physical application. Space is limited, so act soon to ensure priority in our lottery system. Application period ends June 30. You will be notified of acceptance via email or phone by July 11.

Camp JPAC Math and Science Prgm

Help SHIELDS and Join the Health Campaign!

FREE Tdap boosters

Karen Bass Testifies About At-Risk Youth, Child Family Services

The Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Ways and Means Committee held a hearing this week titled, “Improving Programs Designed to Protect At-Risk Youth." I testified before the Subcommittee about my experiences 20 years ago as the crack-cocaine drug epidemic created a spike in the number of children removed from the home because of parental substance abuse. Families under great strain were confronted by this trauma, and grandparents began caring for and raising grandchildren, causing newfound challenges on the child welfare system.

I had the opportunity to highlight some of our nation’s best practices in keeping families together, and I referenced our very own organization SHIELDS from South Los Angeles. Though we have come a long way in a short amount of time, the fact remains that there is still enormous work to do to improve our system to help at risk children and families. By providing help to families to prevent the spiral into abuse and neglect, we could avoid the substantial costs of foster care, the trauma of removal, and help families stay together.

SHIELDS celebrates Juneteenth

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which had become official January 1, 1863, Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas on June 19th 1865 with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings. In cities across the country, people of all races, nationalities and religions are joining hands to truthfully acknowledge a period in our history that shaped and continues to influence our society today.

SHIELDS for Families celebrated Juneteenth together with performances, games and activities, dancing, food, fun, and fellowship! Thanks to client council, the activities committee, Francis Jennings, Selvin Peterman & Robert Alvarado (music), Marcus Holcombe (MC), Malcolm Cooper (Graphic Design/Programs) the clients and their families, and the staff for your hard work and participation to make this event a success. A special thank you to Panera Bread Company and Sprouts Farmers Markets for donating food for the event, to T1 – a SHIELDS youth who filmed and photographed most of the event for the Juneteenth video, and to Celestine Ezinkwo of CelestineRap for allowing the use of his song “Justice is Blind” as the soundtrack for the video.

Webinar To Discuss Ensuring Educational Opportunities for Youth in Placement

 

Webinar To Discuss Ensuring Educational Opportunities for Youth in Placement

On June 15, 2011, at 2 p.m. E.T., the National Reentry Resource Center will sponsor, “Education and the World of Work: Anchors to a Strong Juvenile Reentry Plan.”

This Webinar will highlight how strong educational programs in residential facilities can help youth find jobs, and describe how to ensure youth can find continuing education and vocational training in community-based settings. Registration is available online.

Resources:

For more information about the Webinar, visit www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/announcements/webinar-on-how-education-and-work-can-contribute-to-a-strong-juvenile-reentry-plan.

To register, go to https://justicecenter.webex.com/justicecenter/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=649853441

Qualified Experts for Evaluating Children's Competency

One voice can make all the difference! Alert Action Qualified Experts for Evaluating Children's Competency Take Action! Contact the Judicial Council so LCSW's are included! Currently, the Judicial Council of California is drafting rules stating the qualifications and appointment of experts who evaluate children when the court or minor's counsel raises the issue of competency to stand trial in any juvenile proceeding. This is in order to implement a bill passed last year, AB 2212 (Fuentes). Our concern is that the current regulations do not include LCSW's as qualified experts. The proposed rule specifies that the expert must be a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist with particular expertise in child development, forensic evaluation, competency standards, and interventions. The Judicial Council is looking for comments about this regulation by June 20th. They are specifically soliciting comments on whether the court should expand the list of accepted experts to other professionals such as social workers. It is imperative that we get as many comments in as possible. Please send the following letter to the Judicial Council and add your own personal comments if you have experience with this issue.

End the War on Drugs this Saturday, June 18, 2011

Community Solutions – End the War on Drugs
A Community Response to the failed 40-Year War on Drugs & Mass Incarceration


Saturday June 18, 2011 •Doors open at 1pm - All day Events
Chuco’s Justice Center  • 1137 E. Redondo Blvd • Inglewood, CA 90302


Marijuana must be made legal • Over-incarceration must stop • The war on drugs is “the new Jim Crow”
Drug use must be treated as a health issue, not a criminal justice issue
Open dialogue about prohibition and drug legalization
Prisons are NOT the solution!


1pm – Registration/Organizational Tabling
Featuring Prison Nation: Posters on the Prison Industrial Complex
from the archives of Center for the Study of Political Graphics


2pm - Program
Poetry/Spoken
Welcome: Drug Policy Alliance


2:15  - Panel I
Panelists include representatives from: Californians United for a Responsible Budget,
Drug Policy Alliance, PYFC, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, and Youth Justice Coalition

4:00 pm - Press Conference

4:30 pm - Panel II
Panelists include representatives from: LEAP, Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes, FACTS; American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU;  A New PATH, Leila AIM)

Music • Poetry • Hip Hop • Punk

8pm - Candlelight Vigil

8:30 pm – Midnight - More Music • Poetry • Hip Hop • Punk

Featured Artists Include: Alpharaoh • Pat’s Justice • Fantastic 5150’s • Rabia al Sistema
Animalitos • Cuahtemoc • Sherman Austin • Jon Doe • Guerrilla Queenz • WarClub • Skim


Contact: Rodrigo “Froggy” Vazquez • Students for a Sensible Drug Policy 323.667.8297 or frogg_lok@yahoo.com or Mary Sutton, CURB, masutton2@earthlink.net


Friday, June 17, 2011, marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s declaration of the “war on drugs.” His decision catapulted the U.S. into a wasteful, decades-long, failed effort that has had zero impact on drug consumption in the U.S., but has had profound negative impacts on communities in the U.S. and around the world—communities of color in particular. The Drug Policy Alliance, DPA, a recognized leader in drug policy reform, is spearheading efforts across the country to highlight the impacts of this ill-fated war. In Los Angeles DPA, Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, organizations from Californians United for a Responsible Budget and many others are asking the community to come out and join the discussion. Get Educated, Empowered, and Entertained


Sponsored by:  A New PATH / MOMS United to End the War on Drugs •  A New Way of Life • All of Us or None / Los Angeles •
Alternative Intervention Methods (AIM) • American Civil Liberties Union / Southern California (ACLU SC) •  Blacksmith Records Inc. • California Partnership • Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) • Community Justice Network for Youth (CJNY) • Cop Watch / LA • Critical Resístance / LA • Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) • Enlace • Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes (F.A.C.T.S.) • Hip Hop Not Bombs • Homies Unidos • Justice by Uniting in Creative Energy (J.U.I.C.E.) • Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (L.E.A.P.) • Leadership through Empowerment Action and Dialogue (L.E.A.D.) • October 22nd Coalition / LA (O22) • Pico Youth and Family Center (PYFC) • Students for Sensible Drug Policy / Los Angeles City College (SSDP) •  Youth Justice Coalition (YJC) and more…

SHIELDS and LA Prevention Initiative Demonstration Project make a difference in the community!

Across the street from a city park and kitty-corner to a community center, a rooster crows long after dawn already has broken, its racket beating against an apartment window protected by burglary bars and draped with a Mexican flag.


Near the intersection of two wide boulevards clogged with traffic, the old Academy Theater is easy to spot because of its slim cylindrical tower. A church moved into the one-time movie house years ago, offering healing, deliverance and miracle services.


Where once stood burned-out hulls of buildings destroyed during the 1992 riots, signs of rebirth  are evident. But harsh realities impede community progress.


The community of South Los Angeles sprawls across several neighborhoods and a handful of cities, the most recognizable of which are Watts and Compton. Three in every 10 households in South Los Angeles live in poverty. Three in every 10 adults over age 25 have less than a ninth-grade education. The high school graduation rate is 35 percent. More than 300,000 crimes are committed in a year.


The South Los Angeles community also has a high number of child welfare cases. In 2009, nearly 25,000 children in the community were the subject of a child welfare referral, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. Those referrals led to 2,220 children being removed from their homes. At any one time, about 3,600 children in South Los Angeles are in foster care.


The ultimate obligation of child welfare systems is to protect children from danger. But that is not accomplished solely by reacting to child maltreatment that already has occurred. To ensure the safety of America's children and build stable families, the condition of the communities in which they live must be addressed.


An innovative program is under way in South Los Angeles that may signal the future of child welfare in the United States.


It's a future where children are kept safe because their families have received the help they need before any abuse or neglect takes place. It's a future where families receive the support and learn the skills they need so that children can be raised safely and successfully at home – and within the communities they call home.


And it's a future where communities can thrive by drawing strength from the children and families they serve.

•    •    •

This new approach in child welfare is benefiting the entire South Los Angeles community by aiming to stop child neglect and abuse in their tracks. The project is made possible in part because Los Angeles County has a Title IV-E waiver, which gives child welfare systems more flexibility to spend federal child welfare dollars on services other than foster care – such as those aimed at preventing child maltreatment and moving children in foster care into permanent homes.


The Prevention Initiative Demonstration Project (PIDP) serves not only families with open child welfare cases but also those in the community who never have come into contact with the system. Those latter families, however, are at a high risk to enter the system unless they receive help raising their children.




"This kind of a program diverts children from foster care while strengthening the communities we serve," said Blanca Vega, assistant regional administrator for the Department of Children and Family Services office in Compton.


PIDP is a countywide project funded through an investment of $10 million. Casey Family Programs has supported the project through consultation, research and technical assistance.


The project takes on different forms within the various parts of Los Angeles County, based on individual community needs. In South Los Angeles, it is managed by SHIELDS for Families, a nonprofit with deep community ties, which it has used to build a broad network
of PIDP resources.


"Instead of having systems that are set up to keep families apart, we should be investing
in services that are helping keep families together," said Kathryn Icenhower, SHIELDS
executive director.


SHIELDS opened four ASK (Ask, Seek, Knock) Family Resource Centers throughout South Los Angeles as places for families to receive the services they need to raise their children safely and successfully. Each family resource center has a staff person, or "resource navigator," who guides families through the social services maze to make sure they get the support they need.

The family resource centers are well embedded within South Los Angeles. One is inside the Avalon-Carver Community Center, which has been a part of the community since 1940. Another is run through West Angeles Church of God in Christ, which has more than
22,000 congregants.


Families are more likely to walk into a church or community center to ask for services than they would be if the centers were billed as part of the child welfare system, said Ron Taylor, resource navigator at the West Angeles Church family resource center.


"Most people aren't going to ask the Department of Children and Family Services for whatever help they need to raise their children," he said. "This way, families can be comfortable that their coming in won't result in a child welfare case being opened on them. Some don't even realize that the center is connected to the system. They just know they went somewhere and got the help they needed."

Needs have varied among the 8,400 South Los Angeles families that have sought services through the family resource centers as of March 2011. The majority of families come in asking for food or clothing for their children, including baby formula and diapers. Some seek safe housing or assistance with paying rent. Others need beds so their children don't have to
sleep on the floor.


About 75 percent of those served by family resource centers have been parents with no active child welfare case but who need help raising their children safely and successfully.

Rita Espino falls within that 75 percent. She walked into a family resource center needing food and a stove so she could prepare proper meals for her four children, who range in age from 4 to 14. During her first meeting with the PIDP navigator, she was so worried for her children that she broke down in tears. With enough food and a new stove, the children now eat well – and they eat together, each night, as a family.


"Once I am finished cooking, everyone sits at the kitchen table, we say a prayer to thank God and then we eat," Espino said.

•    •    •

Some services are provided directly at the family resource centers, including parenting classes, computer proficiency training, high school equivalency courses and tutoring for children. PIDP also helps parents who are seeking vocational training so they can earn steady work and therefore raise their children safely and successfully.


Leslie Hemsley, who is raising 4-year-old Leslie Jr. by himself, has begun taking a fiber optics cable technician certification course offered free of charge.




"Becoming a father made me a man," said Hemsley, 26. "My son is my heart, my pride, my joy. He is everything to me. I'm trying to move up in life so I can take better care of him. Without him, I don't know what I'd do. Every night, I think about it. I think about losing him. That's why I am really trying to learn a trade. It's for him."


Hemsley, an immigrant from Belize, also is receiving legal aid through PIDP to help obtain a work permit. SHIELDS for Families estimates that more than 1,000 residents so far have received some sort of pro bono legal services through PIDP.


Hemsley said his PIDP navigator, Sharron Eason, has been a blessing for him and his son.

"When I met Sharron, I felt like a weight was lifted off me," he said. "If I have any questions,
I just call her and she guides me to what I need."


The fiber optics certification program has trained hundreds of single fathers just like Hemsley. Most have no active child welfare case but suffer from economic and other stresses that put the family at risk of entering the system. A group of former students even formed a support group for single dads.


"This is what we mean when we talk about building community," said Audrey Tousant, PIDP program manager for SHIELDS. "They are making their own social networks outside of – but
as a result of – the services we are providing."


According to SHIELDS, many graduates of the fiber optics program have found jobs in the field and been promoted to supervisor level, earning salaries of $60,000 to $75,000 a year, plus benefits. A few have started their own companies in cable and computer repair.


About one-third of last January's graduating class of 27 students had jobs lined up even before they received their certificates. A formal graduation ceremony took place at one of the family resource centers, attended by spouses, parents and children of the students. A few graduates carried their babies in their arms as they accepted their certificates.


"You cannot put a price on that kind of pride, that kind of excitement," said Vega, the assistant regional administrator for the county child welfare department. "To see their families there with them, also beaming with pride – I couldn't help but think that with that kind of support, we'll never see these families enter our system. Ever."

http://www.casey.org/Resources/publications/thevision/community.htm 

SAMHSA's 24-Hour Toll-Free Treatment Referral Helpline

One of the most important goals of SAMHSA is to ensure that Americans can find treatment for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in their local area. 

2011 Marks SHIELDS for Families' 20th Anniversary

After incorporating in 1991, SHIELDS rapidly grew from 1 program and 3 staff located at Martin Luther King/Drew Hospital to 34 programs and 350 staff throughout 15 locations. Today, SHIELDS invests in the lives of 5,000 families annually through its programs in Child Welfare, Substance Abuse, Mental Health, Children and Youth, and Supportive Services such as housing, transportation, and educational/vocational training. SHIELDS may be best known for its innovative approaches to service delivery which utilizes a “one-stop shop” approach to its family-centered services. SHIELDS is also known for establishing and maintaining strong collaborations with various government and social service entities in order to improve services and outcomes for families.

Some of SHIELDS' most notable accomplishments include the development and piloting of Up Front Assessments (UFAs) as a component of the Point-of-Engagement program with the Department of Children and Family Services. UFAs engage the whole family unit and other supportive members to prevent or reduce involvement with “the system” and ensure their long-term success. These efforts led to cutting the number of children and the length of time placed in out-of-home care by 50% in Compton, which was once the leader in disproportionally placing African-American children in out-of-home care. Another unique accomplishment is SHIELDS’ family-centered treatment model, providing housing, treatment, mental health, children and youth programs, and other supportive services on-site to the entire family, no matter how large. The SHIELDS family-centered treatment model has led to completion rates of over 81% (over 3 times the national average). The model has been featured in many research and scholarly journal articles, national television segments including Vh1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew”, internationally recognized by the UN, and replicated in areas such as Alaska and New Zealand. SHIELDS is most proud of the hard work, success, and commitment of its many active alumni, who have rebuilt their lives, becoming productive members of their family and community, and many of whom now work as employees of SHIELDS.

In 2011, SHIELDS for Families commemorates the past 20 years of changing lives and looks forward to building up more lives and families.