Social Skills

Play Equity to Advance Mental Health (sponsored by the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation)

South LA

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

South LA suffers from an inadequacy of well-kept public green space. 82% of our LA County parks are in disrepair. One third of all people with autism in California live in LA. The autistic community in California lacks structured outside time in a clean and healthy environment. The ABA training for those on the spectrum produces best results in a one-on-one setting, so those on the spectrum who are in school do not always enjoy the benefits of a larger group - particularly growth in life and social skills pertaining to tasks in the outside environment. The community of those on the spectrum gets lost as a subgroup of the already underserved. They can not always express how they are feeling emotionally, and the "normal" conventions of talk therapy will be impossible for them. Play, exercise, fresh air, companionship, and attention is the best medicine we can give for their mental health.

This grant will support our "Social Skills" program. All youth and young adults benefit from time in nature; time playing; time relaxing. For those on the spectrum, this time is even more precious as it must often be monitored and structured for the sake of safety. We engage with those on the spectrum in play to aid in their mental health: stress reduction; anxiety management; exercise; peer activity; confidence building. Each cohort has 10 participants. We have 25 volunteers for each cohort, and 3 facilitators. Dior Sunset Foundation has partnered with Compton parks to renovate a park which was in disrepair. Our goal is to lead the community in reanimating our green space and using them for not for profit programs which would be free to the communities. Beyond those on the spectrum, safe, healthy play is a betterment for all health, especially mental health.

One third of people with autism in California live in Los Angeles County. The best work for youth with autism is done in small group settings which are nonrestrictive and calming. The number of people who could benefit from our program and others are beyond our current capacity to reach. We are currently hoping to help 50 individuals and their families. Success for us (beyond the personal good we are seeing for these families) comes in being able to form partnerships with more parks and green spaces so that we can share our program freely with those who ally with our mission. We have enough volunteers so that our ratio for youth to team member is 1:2. We aim to maintain that ration and market to more volunteers.

Do to the nature of working with youth on the spectrum, we are unable to see impact through immediate large numbers. Our work thrives in small group settings with qualified individuals. We judge our impact by the amount of families who learn through their engagement in our programs. We are grateful to work with a team that produces consistent positive results with children and young adults, so our joy comes in seeing those outside of the spectrum share information, volunteer, and contribute. The evidence must be evaluated on a case by case basis. Each individual in our program has a desired goal, be it to cope with a behavioral issue, handle stress of being in an interpersonal situation, join in a group with others confidently... etc. The goals are concrete for each person and we evaluate throughout the 10 weeks to see that everyone individual progress.