Urban Agriculture and Embodied Stewardship Immersion Training Program

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Low-income communities in LA County are reported to have limited access to green space as well as fresh, healthy, and affordable food. Research also indicates that Green Arrow Co-Lab’s (GAC) targeted population within these geographic areas – criminal legal system-impacted youth – have a disproportionately low level of access to food while suffering from disproportionately high levels of mental health challenges (Sentencing Project, 2023). Justice system involvement is a negative health exposure and thus a major determinant of lower levels of health equity, youth development, and community well-being (Prison Policy Institute, 2021). This disproportionately impacts BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) in LA County: over 90% of the youth population on active probation supervision, including those in custody, are Latinx or Black (Los Angeles County, 2020). Systems-impacted youth deserve services that are culturally-tailored, trauma-informed, and focused on communal well-being.

GAC has been successfully providing programs at five partner locations in Los Angeles, having served 200+ young men and women (ages 14-26) through land-based education that includes trauma healing techniques, restorative urban agricultural practices, career exploration, job training, leadership development, cooking classes, and garden development. GAC's recently launched Urban Agriculture and Embodied Stewardship Immersion Training Program is a 3-year partnership program with Citizen Farmers Academy. This program is designed to incorporate cognitive, somatic, nature-based, and trauma-informed healing practices into a gardening curriculum. Each step of the curriculum aims to support youth with regulating their nervous systems, building/expanding resiliency, learning land stewardship and food development, and providing opportunities for potential agricultural careers. Participants will engage in the program with a cohort of peers for 4-5 months wherein they will engage in urban agriculture 3-5 times per week, healing and mental health training 3-5 times a week, and will also engage in a 2-3 day intensive training program. By developing this program from years of feedback from our community members about their needs and desires, we have developed a health-equity minded curriculum that centers healing within the body and mind, with the community we cultivate through joint growth and respect, and with the land we steward with compassion and diligence towards our futures.

Over the next three years, 50+ program participants will go on to work with 200 system-impacted youth at our 5+ sites across the region, continuing the work of advancing access to mental health services, empowering job opportunities, and fresh food for our LA communities. LA County will see formerly incarcerated youth leading fulfilling careers in agriculture and community support services, an expansion and spread of our earth-based healing curriculum for more systems-impacted youth across the LA county area, along with higher numbers of fresh foods for youth and communities impacted by food apartheid. Specific long-term impacts of the organization are measured by the number of active urban farming & agricultural training programs, number of students with part-time and full-time employment by 2026, decreases in recidivism and crime rates, and increases to mental wellness (self-confidence, emotional regulation skills, etc.) for LA County community members.

Our program will continue to measure success by advancing the internal resourcing of individuals and assessing for enhanced self-efficacy, social-emotional health, positive relationality, and nervous system regulation. Agricultural job training knowledge and skill building practices will be assessed through measures such as job readiness, conflict resolution skills, and community engagement. Our program's impact will also be measured through engagement of cultivated community leaders who support our vision of expanding the program.
Assessment of success will be conducted mainly through analyzing improvement in the quality of relationship to self, family, and community and through participants' ongoing participant feedback. This data is collected through pre- and post-written surveys, one-on-one interviews, and focus groups, all conducted by program staff who have similar lived experiences to promote responsiveness to participant needs when sharing openly about their experiences.