Young Men's Empowerment Collaborative

The Office for Victims of Crime’s (OVC) Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services Final Report (Vision 21) envisions that “all crime victims in the 21st century can readily access a seamless continuum of evidence-based services and support that will allow them to begin physical, emotional, and financial recovery.” However, Vision 21 recognizes there are serious challenges to achieving this goal. Improving the field’s understanding of violence and trauma and their effects on survivors are among these challenges. To this end, OVC collaborated with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to release the FY 15 Supporting Male Survivors of Violence solicitation. The solicitation sought to enhance the services available to male survivors of violence, particularly boys and men of color, and their families, by funding demonstration projects that put in place evidence-based models and practices to provide trauma-informed, comprehensive services and supporting policies for these survivors and their families. OVC and OJJDP used this solicitation to competitively select 12 demonstration sites from across the country to meet this need.

The California School-Based Health Alliance will use this award to support the Young Men's Empowerment Collaborative (YMEC), which will promote justice and healing among young men of color harmed by violence in West Contra Costa County. West Contra Costa has the third highest rate of violent crime in the state. As a result, there are high levels of trauma, health problems, and academic challenges among survivors, many of whom are young men of color. The YMEC intervention will be centered in the West Contra Costa County Unified School District and its nine school-based health centers (SBHCs). The project will demonstrate the potential of a school system to scale up evidence-based, trauma-informed practices to identify survivors, improve their experience in the classroom, and provide them with evidence-based interventions.

During the three-year project period, YMEC will work to identify these survivors by expanding screening and outreach efforts, integrate trauma-informed care into each SBHC to more effectively respond to survivor needs, and create a supportive classroom environment for survivors by increasing trauma-informed practices that strengthen the ability of teachers to recognize trauma survivors, respond effectively, and refer them for services.

ca/ncf

The Office for Victims of Crimes (OVC) Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services Final Report (Vision 21) envisions that all crime victims in the 21st century can readily access a seamless continuum of evidence-based services and support that will allow them to begin physical, emotional, and financial recovery. However, Vision 21 recognizes there are serious challenges to achieving this goal. Improving the fields understanding of violence and trauma and their effects on survivors are among these challenges. To this end, OVC collaborated with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to release the FY 15 Supporting Male Survivors of Violence solicitation. The solicitation sought to enhance the services available to male survivors of violence, particularly boys and men of color, and their families, by funding demonstration projects that put in place evidence-based models and practices to provide trauma-informed, comprehensive services and supporting policies for these survivors and their families. OVC and OJJDP used this solicitation to competitively select 12 demonstration sites from across the country to meet this need. The California School-Based Health Alliance will use this award to support the Young Men's Empowerment Collaborative (YMEC), which will promote justice and healing among young men of color harmed by violence in West Contra Costa County. West Contra Costa has the third highest rate of violent crime in the state. As a result, there are high levels of trauma, health problems, and academic challenges among survivors, many of whom are young men of color. The YMEC intervention will be centered in the West Contra Costa County Unified School District and its nine school-based health centers (SBHCs). The project will demonstrate the potential of a school system to scale up evidence-based, trauma-informed practices to identify survivors, improve their experience in the classroom, and provide them with evidence-based interventions. During the three-year project period, YMEC will work to identify these survivors by expanding screening and outreach efforts, integrate trauma-informed care into each SBHC to more effectively respond to survivor needs, and create a supportive classroom environment for survivors by increasing trauma-informed practices that strengthen the ability of teachers to recognize trauma survivors, respond effectively, and refer them for services. ca/ncf