Trauma-Informed Youth Development for South Central Youth

K-12 STEAM Education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

With over 30 years of service in South LA, APCH is deeply connected to our community! We hold monthly Parent Association meetings and biannual stakeholder meetings bringing together leadership, staff, members, and their families. Nearly 100% of our youth are Latino, and more than a third of APCH's staff live in South LA. Overall, 66% of staff identify as either Latino or African American, reflecting the local ethnic and cultural diversity. Community reflective leadership exists at all levels of APCH-two program alum proudly serve on our Board of Directors. We are also fully aware of the statistics associated with our service area: -District 9 is one of the most impoverished districts in LA -More than 60% of residents do not have a high school diploma; 3% have college degrees -98% of our families qualify as extremely low income (88%) or very low-income (10%) under HUD guidelines -Limited number of youth development programs -High need for mental health support, especially post-pandemic

An LA2050 grant will deepen APCH's trauma-informed youth development programs, which address community needs for enriching, safe after-school programs, summer camps and sports, all with strong mental health components. Our services aim to improve high-school graduation rates and pathways to higher education, physical and mental health, as well as workforce training for youth of South Central. Our free programming is delivered year-round, reaching 800+ underserved youth (ages 8-24) annually at our 32,000 square feet multi-disciplinary community center, theater and community gardens. Educational Services features individualized academic support and tutoring. Wellness focuses on athletics, urban agriculture and nutrition. Teen & Young Adult Services encompasses vocational preparation, career/college advisement, and scholarships. Arts & Creative Expression includes professional instruction in filmmaking, dance, music, fine arts and theater. Counseling provides mental health support, behavioral intervention, therapeutic services, and parenting programs. This year, for the first time, APCH will embark on a trauma-informed training program for all staff. Each team is also looking at ways to embed trauma-sensitive service delivery; for example, a new Athletics Program Training trains coaches in the South Central Sports League to understand the definition of trauma, its impact on coaching, learn strategies and plan development for trauma-sensitive program design for teams and classes.

APCH youth development programs primarily support the underserved immigrant population of South Central with after-school care and enrichment programs. We are increasing accessibility to educational resources in STEAM, while improving play equity and mental health within the city's most vulnerable areas. Los Angeles will benefit from a South Central community enriched with culture, arts, and education; that is thriving, both mentally and physically. Our success will be measured based on the following: 1. Increase enrollment by over 30%, from 600 members to 800. 2. Achieve member high school graduation rate to 90%, matriculation to college to 80%. 3. Provide $400,000 in scholarship support to our first-gen college scholars. 3. Ensure that Counseling meets and screens all members at least twice a year, and provides 3,000 hours of therapeutic and behavioral support services via hour-long sessions. 4. Complete successful staff training and become a trauma-informed campus.

Our impact will be measured based on the above objectives. APCH tracks and assesses program outputs and enrollment with Apricot360, a case management software. Our dedicated Senior Director of Data & Evaluation continues to solidify our data collection methods and evaluative infrastructure, resulting in reports have that show the impact of our youth development programs, such as a 95% high school graduation rate. In 2021, we completed an evaluation with Gray Space which engaged in 5 months of interviews and focus groups, conducted an alumni survey, and reviewed internal documents from across three decades. Findings show our positive impact over the years: https://issuu.com/apch2830/docs/apch_-30_years_of_love_hope_and_opportunity_1_/15. We are currently launching the final phase of evaluation with Gray Space that will help us continuously refine our programmatic logic model and ensure that programs are sustainable, standardized and regularly monitored for alignment with targets.