Report Recommends Funding Increases for Juvenile Crime Intervention Programs
According to a new report from Fight Crime, Invest in Kids California, funding cutbacks enable only 4 percent of serious juvenile offenders and their families to receive intensive, therapy-based services—despite research showing that such programs can cut repeat arrests by as much as half and could save taxpayers more than $700 million annually. The report, funded in part by TCWF, calls for funding increases for the Juvenile Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction program and the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act, which funds several repeat-offender prevention programs. Fight Crime, Invest in Kids California is led by police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys and crime victims. read more
UCLA Roundtable To Discuss Social Welfare and Gangs
“Social Welfare and Gangs: A Community and Policy Challenge” is the topic of a roundtable discussion to be held by the UCLA Department of Social Welfare on May 15. Panelists include TCWF grantees Communities in Schools, Homeboy Industries and Bo Taylor, 2003 TCWF California Peace Prize honoree and founder of Unity One. The invitation-only event will be moderated by Jorja Leap, a faculty member in the UCLA Department of Social Welfare and a gang advisor to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. read more
Poll of California Youth Reveals Major Concerns About Neighborhood Violence
African American and Asian youth in California rate violence in their neighborhoods as the greatest challenge facing their generation, according to a recent poll of 600 Californians ages 16 to 22. Commissioned by New America Media, the poll reveals that youth of all ethnic groups view the breakdown of the family and violence in local communities as more pressing issues than the war in Iraq, global warming or even worries about school. Conducted entirely via cell phone, the “California Dreamers” poll also conveyed the youths’ overwhelmingly optimism about the future. read more
Six States Join California in Refusing Title V Grants
Federal Title V grants for abstinence-only sex education do not allow promotion of condom or contraception use. For this reason, California has never participated in the program, initiated in 1998. By the end of this year, six more states— Connecticut, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island and Wisconsin—will have dropped out of the grant program. A recently published study by Columbia University and the Guttmacher Institute, a TCWF grantee, attributes 86 percent of the significant decline in teen pregnancy rates from 1995 to 2002 to contraception. read more
Support Urged for Disability Screening of Youth in Foster Care
In an April 8 Op Ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, John Burton urged support of Assembly Bill 1331, which would require county child welfare agencies to screen 16-year-olds for mental and physical disabilities, and to apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for youth likely to qualify. The bill, still in committee, would enable youth to remain in foster care while their SSI applications are processed. Annual costs are estimated at less than $2 million. Burton, former president pro tem of the California Senate, founded the John Burton Foundation for Children Without Homes, a TCWF grantee. read more
Resource Guide for African American Seniors Now Available
The Association of African American Professionals, Inc. (AAAP), a TCWF grantee, has published a guide to resources in California for aging African Americans. Intended for consumers, caregivers, service providers and policymakers, the Elder Care Resource and Public Policy Guide also provides tips on health care, fire safety, child care, legal services and employment. read more
Funding Increase Urged for Gun Violence Prevention
Gary L. Yates, president and CEO of The California Wellness Foundation, participated in a session at the Council on Foundations’ annual meeting in early May that urged grantmakers to increase funding for research on effective gun violence prevention strategies. Yates noted that foundation-funded research on this issue has influenced public policy in California. The session added in the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting in April, included presentations by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns; David Hemenway, author of Private Guns, Public Health; and Roseanna Ander, gun violence program officer at the Joyce Foundation. read more
Beltrán-del Olmo To Be Honored by CSUN
Magdalena Beltrán-del Olmo, TCWF vice president of communications, will be honored by the La Raza Alumni Association of California State University, Northridge (CSUN) at a May 19 ceremony. Beltrán-del Olmo, who has led the TCWF communications department since 1996, graduated from CSUN in 1982 with degrees in journalism and Mexican-American studies. Also being honored is entrepreneur Josefina Aguilar, founder of Espresso Mi Cultura Books & Coffee. The association annually recognizes alumni for their dedicated and outstanding service to others and to the community throughout the years. read more
Interactive Website Offers Forum for Community Violence Prevention
Not Just a Number is a website that enables residents of Oakland to respond to the escalating homicide rate in their city by connecting with one another, sharing stories and proposing solutions. Produced by 49th Parallel Productions in conjunction with The Oakland Tribune and its website affiliate, InsideBayArea.com, the site includes videos made by community groups and links to pertinent news stories. Every feature invites user comments. The website is funded in part through a TCWF communications department media partnership. read more
New Federal Regulations Raise Reporting Threshold for Toxic Chemicals
A report from the Environmental Working Group, a TCWF grantee, investigates the effect on California of new federal regulations that roll back standards for the Toxics Release Inventory program of the Environmental Protection Agency. Higher reporting thresholds will permit 337 industrial facilities in 31 California counties to stop issuing detailed annual public reports on the use or release of more than 1.1 million pounds of hazardous chemicals. Among them are known or suspected carcinogens, such as ethylbenzene, styrene and chromium. read more
Health Careers Academy In Antelope Valley Is Model High School Program
Established 15 years ago in Palmdale High School, the Health Careers Academy offers college-preparatory courses with a medical focus as well as hands-on training. Open to all ninth-grade students in a school that serves a largely poor and predominantly Latino population, the academy claims a 100 percent graduation and college entrance rate. Low-performing students are weeded out in their junior year. Those who remain spend part of every day shadowing medical professionals in local clinics and hospitals, followed by a senior-year internship. read more
Report Identifies Ways To Increase Latino Participation in Nursing
The U.S. has a severe nursing shortage, yet the profession remains overwhelmingly Anglo, non-Hispanic despite the nation’s growing minority population. Even in California, Latinos comprise only 4 percent of registered nurses. A new report from the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) identifies best practices in California nursing programs to help increase Latino participation in the profession, including ways of addressing family-related, financial and socio-cultural barriers. TRPI, a TCWF grantee, is an affiliated research unit of the University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning, and Development. read more (PDF)
