Street Outreach and Sports & Recreation

Street Outreach, based on a best practice from Boston, is strategy supporting school and/or community based outreach workers who provide mentoring, case management and support services for truants, school drop-outs, and other disengaged youth.  The goal of Sports & Recreation Programs is to intervene with high risk youth 18 and under to develop pro-social behaviors via recreational programs that provide a high intensity of mentorship.

East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) is implementing the multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multilingual EBAYC Street Team to provide street outreach to 160, and case management services to 80, chronic truants, school drop-outs, suspended/expelled students, and juvenile offenders residing in Oakland's San Antonio and Fruitvale neighborhoods.

Annual Funding:     $200,000

Leadership Excellence operates the Bridge, which combines outreach, case management, employment, and recreation services to reduce drop-out rates at McClymonds High School and decrease violence in West Oakland community police beats 06X and 08X.  It outreaches to 90 high-risk youth, and provide case management for 50.  Forty (40) truant and probation youth will receive mentorship while participating in sports activities at the YMCA.

Annual Funding:     $245,500 ($200,000 for Street Outreach, $45,500 for Sports & Recreation)

Youth UpRising employs, through structured, intensive case management and structured violence prevention activities, violence prevention/intervention outreach that includes life skills training and recreational opportunities for at-risk youth.  Eighty (80) truant, suspended, and probationer youth, primarily from East Oakland, are outreached.  From these youth, 40 participants receive non-clinical case management and another 20 receive clinical case management.  Through a sub-grant with Destiny Arts, 40 of the outreached youth participate in either basketball or dance activities with a mentorship component.  

Annual Funding:     $176,170 ($130,670 for Street Outreach, $45,500 for Sports & Recreation)

Youth ALIVE! is expanding Caught in the Crossfire, with the Castlemont Community of Small Schools, school linked health clinic, and Highland Trauma staff to (1) provide outreach to 90 East Oakland youth highly at risk for violence and for not attending or completing high school and (2) provide case management for at least 50 of those youth.

Annual Funding:     $175,000

East Bay Agency for Children provides outreach, assessment, and clinical case management to increase school attendance and diminish involvement in violence among students at Dewey and Rudsdale Continuation High Schools, with a focus on probation youth. The project will connect to 70 students per year, providing case management to 50 and mental health services to 35 participants. 

Annual Funding:     $150,000

Sports4Kids is implementing a collaboration to meet the needs of expelled, delinquent and chronically truant youth from all of the Measure Y targeted communities, by providing recreational activities integrated with mental health services and theories of non-violence to the 350 students at Community Day School and Rudsdale continuation high school throughout the day.  Sports4Kids also trains and deploy 40 youth as assistant coaches.

 Annual Funding:    $91,500 

Outreach to Sexually Exploited Youth

There are an epidemic number of sexually exploited minors in Oakland.  The goal of Outreach to Sexually Exploited Youth is to reach this population and connect them to the programs and support they need to succeed.

The Alameda County Interagency Children’s Policy Council is managing a collaborative of agencies including Asian Health Services/Banteay Srei, CAL-PEP, Covenant House, Dreamcatcher / Xanthos, and the Scotlan Center to conduct outreach to and assess 300 sexually exploited minors throughout Oakland, link (and sometimes physically transport) them to immediate needs such as shelter and medical care, and connect them to the Family Justice Center where they can receive case management.  The collaborative also provides education and awareness training to young people, community groups, and public system partners about the issue of youth sexual exploitation.

Annual Funding:     $225,000

After-School Job Training and Summer Subsidized Employment

After-School Job Training helps high-risk youth acquire skills and contributes financially as well. Subsidized Summer Youth Employment provides job placements for high risk youth in Oakland’s Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program.

Bay Area Video Coalition- Youth Sounds’ Next Generation Partnership re-engages 30 youth in learning by providing technology training, literacy intervention, meaningful professional development and employment.  Services are provided at the Youth Sounds offices on the McClymonds campus, and will serve mainly West Oakland youth.

Annual Funding:     $75,000

Youth Employment Partnership, Inc. with recruitment/case management partners at EBAYC (Fruitvale/San Antonio), Youth Uprising (East Oakland), and Scotlan (West Oakland), provides after school training and employment to 110 high-risk youth through a “Career Try-Out” paid internships or training program during the school year.  In conjunction with the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program, YEP is enrolling 110 high-risk youth in paid summer internships and paid soft skills workshops.    

Annual Funding:     $395,848 ($190,000 for After School Jobs; $205,848 for Summer Subsidized Employment)

Youth Radio provides job-training and stipended work experience that emphasizes skill-building and responsibility for 22 VPPSA eligible high-risk youth through hands on media production workshops.  Youth citywide will be served with an emphasis on recruitment from OUSD alternative education.

Annual Funding:     $75,000

City-County Neighborhood Initiative

This strategy, based on best practices, has community builders going door-to-door to support and encourage neighbors to address their  issues (e.g., typically truant youth, blight, and drug dealing) and help them ultimately to organize (e.g., Block captains, neighborhood watches, Home Alert, Renters or Home Owners’ Associations) and take ownership of their communities.  This strategy is based on the theory that violence must be addressed in the context of the community in which it occurs.

The City-County Neighborhood Initiative, a program run by the City of Oakland Division of Neighborhood Services operates in two neighborhoods, in Ghost Town in West Oakland and Sobrante Park in East Oakland.  The community builders work closely with teams of service agencies including the Service Delivery System (SDS) Teams, Neighborhood Services Coordinators, County agencies, schools, and local non-profit agencies.   In the neighborhoods currently participating in the initiative, youth have become a key focus for neighborhood organizing.

Annual Funding:     $196,485 

Restorative Justice

Restorative Justice Training teaches staff who work with young people on probation and parole how to engage communities in dialogue with perpetrators of violence and find ways for each to heal.

Attitudinal Healing Connection, Inc. provides facilitation for the regular meetings of the Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY) Committee and arranges for and hosts restorative justice trainings for various community members and professionals who work with youth. 

Annual Funding:     $32,000

Pathways to Change

Pathways to Change is a highly comprehensive diversion program for repeat juvenile offenders, with low caseloads for case workers, frequent contact, family contact and support, and careful coordination of community services.

The Mentoring Center, with subgrantees Leadership Excellence, Scotlan Center, Center for Family Counseling, Easy Bay Asian Youth Center, Youth ALIVE!, and Pacific News Service, implements Pathways to Change.  This collaborative of agencies will serve 120 juvenile probationers throughout Oakland. 

Annual Funding:     $491,214

Project Choice Model, Intensive Reentry Employment & Training, Transitional Jobs and Crew-Based Sheltered Employment

The Project Choice Model provides intensive support both pre- and post-release for youth and young adults paroling to Oakland in order to reduce recidivism.  For parolees, Intensive Reentry Training and Employment, including subsidized on-the-job training, helps to reduce the allure of the underground economy while skills are developed. Crew-Based Employment offers parolees subsidized work activity as part of an eight-person crew, such as Public Works, Fire Services, or Community Service. The Transitional Jobs strategy prioritizes direct placement of clients into employment via contracts that pay per client per job placement and retention benchmark.

Allen Temple Housing and Economic Development Corporation, located in East Oakland, provides Project Choice intensive coaching to 40 young adult reentry participants living throughout Oakland, with 30 receiving Intensive Reentry services including subsidized transitional employment, volunteer mentorship, and placement into unsubsidized employment.  In addition, ATHEDCO subcontracts with AmericaWorks to provide direct job placement to 100 young adult parolees and probationers, with follow-up services to guarantee a 60% retention rate after 180 days. 

Annual Funding:     $833,738 ($163,738 for Project Choice; $280,000 for Intensive Reentry Employment & Training; $390,000)

Volunteers of America Bay Area, Inc. seeks to reduce recidivism rates by integrating violence prevention with behavior modification, participation in drug awareness and treatment, and employment services.  Their community reintegration program involves 16 parolees in structured, subsidized, crew-based employment for six months while living in subsidized supportive housing, in either Fruitvale/San Antonio or Downtown/West Oakland. 

Annual Funding:     $273,742

The Mentoring Center, located in Downtown Oakland, continues their Project Choice reentry program for 30 youth offenders throughout Oakland. The program provides cognitive behavior change and intensive case management services to wards while in California Youth Authority and after their parole.  Flexible funds, mental health assessment, and substance abuse support groups are offered post-release.

Annual Funding:     $163,738

Youth Employment Partnership, Inc., located in the Fruitvale District, provides Intensive Re-Entry Training and Employment services to 24 young adults under age 25 who are on probation or parole through an intensive, subsidized, on-the-job training program in the construction industry.  In addition, through a pay-for-performance agreement, YEP provides direct job placement to 26 young adult parolees and probationers, with follow-up services to guarantee a 70% retention rate after 180 days.

Annual Funding:     $430,000 ($280,000 for Intensive Reentry Employment & Training; $150,000 for Transitional Jobs)

Family Violence Intervention and Mental Health Services

Family Violence Intervention intervenes to reduce the negative effects of exposure to domestic violence among children and youth, and their families, by providing them with Family Advocates and Child Caseworker(s). Mental Health Services are critical for young children (0-5) who witness violence in their homes, neighborhoods, and schools. 

Family Violence Law Center, with subgrantees Safe Passages, Center for Child Protection/The D.O.V.E.S. Project, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, Parental Stress Services, Inc., and Through the Looking Glass, runs a coordinated program called Family Violence Intervention and Prevention (Family VIP). This project strives to reduce recidivism for family violence and child maltreatment by providing 1) crisis intervention for 1,500 families with children throughout Oakland experiencing domestic violence and 2) early identification and treatment for developmental/behavioral pathology to 375 young children exposed to family violence.

Annual Funding:     $785,942 ($491,214 for Family Violence Intervention and $294,728 for Mental Health Services

Youth Support Groups

Youth Support Groups, based on a mental health model, are the most effective support for older youth exposed to violence, including violence in the homes and sexual exploitation.

The Family Justice Center supports the older children of families receiving domestic violence services through partners at the Family Justice Center as well as sexually exploited minors outreached through Measure Y grantees by offering support groups.  These groups, based on a mental health model, are the most effective support for older youth exposed to violence. 

Annual Funding:     $147,364

Safe Passages/ OUR Kids Middle School Model

The Safe Passages Middle School Model provides school-based assessment, case management and referrals to needed services, including mental health, for high-risk students at Oakland public middle schools. 

Alameda County Health Care Services Agency operates the Safe Passages/OUR Kids Middle School Model, in coordination with OUSD staff and ACHSA mental health providers, in 21 OUSD middle schools.  The program focuses on middle schoolers who are most at-risk, such as truant and suspended youth. 

Annual Funding:     $240,000

Second Step Violence Prevention Curriculum and Middle School Peer Conflict Mediation Program

Second Step Violence Prevention Curriculum is a nationally renowned social-emotional learning program that has been shown to reduce suspensions and violence in Oakland schools.  A Peer Conflict Resolution Program for middle schools with high rates of truancy is a best practice shown to reduce playground and classroom conflicts, office referrals, and suspensions by preventing the escalation of conflicts that could otherwise lead to disruption of learning.

The Oakland Unified School District implements Second Step Violence Prevention Curriculum in all Oakland Head Start sites, Family Day Care Centers, and Kindergarten through 8th grade schools.  (Some middle schools will be given the option of implementing Too Good for Violence, another federally approved curriculum.)  OUSD also implements a Peer Conflict Resolution Program at 21 middle schools with high rates of truancy, recruiting and training 300 mediators to handle over 700 disputes annually. 

Annual Funding:     $510,862

Teen Center Support

Youth UpRising, Oakland’s largest full service youth development-focused teen center, is a major resource for Measure Y violence prevention efforts.  As such, Measure Y has committed to five years of operational support.

Annual Funding:     $300,000

Gang Intervention and Prevention Demonstration Projects

The Gang Prevention and Intervention Program Strategies include a parent education programs for families with elementary and middle school children and youth at-risk for gang involvement and programs that provide youth living in Measure Y High Priority beats in Central and East Oakland (aged 12-24) who are gang involved and/or at high-risk for becoming gang involved with positive alternatives to gang life. 

A collaborative led by the Oakland Unified School District, Office of Alternative Education and sub-grantee California Youth Outreach will use trained Youth Intervention Specialists working in five of Oakland’s toughest alternative schools to provide 75 gang involved youth with Gang Redirect classes, personal and family interventions, case management, leadership opportunities and connections to community support services.  California Youth Outreach will also provide gang prevention and awareness workshops for parents and provide technical assistance to Oakland organizations providing services to gang involved youth.

Annual Funding:        $255,000

Project Re-Connect will provide 80 parents of elementary and middle school children at-high risk for gang involvement with parent education classes.  Classes will be held one time per week for eight weeks and include sessions devoted specifically to gang awareness and prevention.

Annual Funding:       $85,000

Crisis Response

Catholic Charities of the East Bay will coordinate the Oakland Community Response and Support Network to provide first response, emergency funds, intensive support services, referral to mental health to friends and families of up to 60 homicide victims.

Annual Funding:           $300,000   

Alameda County Health Care Services Agency will provide mental health services and coordination for CRSN participants. 

Annual Funding:           $100,000 

Youth ALIVE! expanded the Caught in the Crossfire program at Highland Hospital to provide more  youth victims of violent incidents with intensive support services.

Annual Funding:            $65,000

For Future Implementation:

Safe House Challenge Grant: A challenge grant has been issued to the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency for the purchase and renovation of a facility to be used as a Safe House for Sexually Exploited Minors (SEMs). The Safe House will provide SEMs with emergency shelter, health and mental health assessment, food and clothing for a 72 hour period. It will also provide professional and peer counseling. Ultimately, it will provide long term services to those SEMs who decide to permanently leave the street life.  If enough additional funds are not raised to cover the full cost of purchasing and renovating a Safe House facility by June 30, 2009, the funding will be reallocated. 

One Time Funding:                    $225,000