Week #60
'At-Risk Youth Pathways & Services' Meeting Notes Prepared by Zoë Haddad (Walls Project)
Roxson Welch (Executive Director, FYSC)
Family Youth Service Center has so many partners on site and across the city growing on a regular basis:
TRUCE, DARE, BRPD Missing Persons, Truancy partnership, TASC, EBR Crimes Victim Assistance, Capitol Area Family Justice Center, Southeast Louisiana Legal Service, IRIS Domestic Violence Center, Baton Rouge Advocacy Center, Project Impact, AKCCL, Empower 225, Solutions for Families, EBRPSS Drug Task Force, LA Organization for Refugees and Immigrants, FYB
Justice Center deals with all areas of domestic violence including counseling for children
If you talk to a kid and ask them who is it they don’t want to disappoint and find out who it is, you can work with that child - there’s somebody they’re looking up to
If there’s no one - you know there’s a serious problem
In Baton Rouge we have a large number of children impacted through violent crime
Project Impact is hands-on intensive assistance with families and children through social workers. They get referred by schools, law enforcement, neighbors, etc. If they are interested, the whole world wraps around them at that point. Provides critical one-on-one tutoring, community outreach officers do welfare checks, give the children and families whatever they need - beds, anything they need to stay stable.
Tekoah B. Boatner HS-BCP (Executive Director, Youth Oasis)
Been around since 1998, then known as the BR Alliance for Transitional Living now Youth Oasis
Joined in 2017 with the goal of focusing on our mission and impact on the city
As of now full spectrum youth services agency
Serve ages 16+, “transition aging” - aging through different phases, primarily exiting foster care or stepping down from secure care with the Office of Juvenile Justice
This year we expanded services to the 18-24 population to provide extra support
Majority of our population has had instability, trauma...need lots of time to build that village
Consistency breeds trust - lacking consistency leads to lack of trust
Most of our kids come through the school system, the best place for intervention
Our main priority is to give kids as many chances to fail and not be labeled as outcasts because of that failure - what happened before they came to us has no bearing on how we treat them. Our people here are very skilled in Trauma Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) and other positive youth development frameworks
Everyone else has decided who these kids are and we want the kids to decide who they are, to give them the time and help to do that
18-24 services consist of emergency shelter, transitional housing, drop in center, rapid rehousing, parenting and trafficking in the fall
My biggest ask to the BR community is to look through the cracks - look for the kids who are not A students, not “Exceeding despite...” - that’s a well of potential, of citizens we’re ignoring. The kids we ignore sit like a dormant virus and pop up based on triggers - our goal is to diminish those triggers. Look for those kids and understand that all adult services are youth services. There’s a difference between offering services to kids underage and offering specifically tailored services to youth. You are dealing with a developing brain, which is a privileged position to be in and should be handled with care. Most of the ills we are working to address start with family dynamics and healthy relationships.
If the children are not okay, Baton Rouge is not okay.
Aishala Burgess (Executive Director, TRUCE)
Help people ages 14-24 that may be involved in groups or gangs in our city, may be on probation or parole, or may have dropped out of school and are interested in finding a way back to a successful life
We have two full time social workers who work directly with each client
Make sure they receive any referrals for mental health and substance abuse treatment, make sure there’s an educational plan, Uber them to and from any medical appointments to remove the transportation barrier, pay for anything the child may need (TWIC cards, books, drivers license, OSHA certifications, so on)
Serve not only the child but the entire family
Pre-COVID we were in neighborhoods plagued by violence every month - went directly to the community and asked how we could help instead of assuming what the residents may need, instead of waiting for them to come to us
“Beat the Heat” was our weekly summer program where we would break up hot spots of violence where they popped up
“Hoop Fest” closed out the summer, which will be back as soon as we can safely bring it back. Law enforcement served as referees and coaches for kids without coaches which was another opportunity letting kids see them in a different light
The non profit board members consist of government, business owners, faith based in the community
The community picked our name, our kids picked our colors (charcoal grey and lime green)
Our goal is to reach the kids who are violent kids, those likely to kill or be killed
Receive referrals from the court system, schools, neighborhoods, parents reaching out for intervention
Also go to the Department of Corrections to see who’s returning to Baton Rouge and what we can do to keep them from returning to prison
Goal is to keep our kids safe, free, and alive
We have call ins and we offer them services and a way out, we beg them to put down their guns
The kids hear from law enforcement, mothers that have lost their kids
Everything we offer is free - we just want them to leave that life alone
If we hear of any feuds we have Custom Notifications where we go to the home, school to prevent shootings - we plead with them to let law enforcement handle this for you
Try to go through as many shootings with law enforcement as we can to see if there’s a way we can intervene
Tara High was one of our schools where we did One Lunch Wednesday - a voluntary mentoring series with kids mostly on the verge of dropping out, in the criminal justice system - 7 of the 15 graduated. We provided speakers, asked them what their needs and interests were. For instance, took them to see the Saints play in Dallas a few years ago
They receive a lot of love and hope from us
The crime rate is high right now - we would love as we get ready to kick off the summer and fall for our community members to get involved. If you want to get involved with Custom Notifications, reach out. We are on pace to be on our worst year as it relates to homicide and non-fatal shootings. Our kids need us more than ever. This is a time for collaboration so we can save our kids. If you’re a business owner, open your doors and give these kids a second chance with gainful employment, the opportunity to do better.
Roxson Welch: Baton Rouge as a whole is amazing. When I ask for something for the kids and families, I get it. But what we have to understand is every single act and moment we have is a chance to change the day of a person. Kindness matters. People forget how to be kind to children. If I could change one thing it would be for people to treat children - and each other - with kindness. We all have struggles and kids have struggles we can’t even imagine. The struggles I had so many years ago, we didn’t have the same kinds of things...now the problems are so much bigger than just smoking cigarettes. Every chance you get to create a relationship with a child just by being kind matters. Tekoah Boatner: I was going to talk about some of the other things we do as an agency because part of our way of working with kids is to focus on our staff. It’s my mission to make sure that everybody here is paid a living wage including my direct care workers. You’re asking people - many of our employees are former foster youth - to sit with someone in a vulnerable state and not have their own needs at the top of their mind. I want to echo what Roxson said and talk about the kids again, reminding everyone that over time as we become adults we forget a lot. We forget that fear, hurt, and anger all manifest as different behaviors. We learn to treat people based on their behavior and not our shared humanity. Our kids get the brunt of that. Keep that top of mind that what you’re seeing is hurt people, hurt children. We need to have more safe spaces so that we can wrap that hurt in security and comfort and community so they feel confident and trust that they can rejoin the community. If there is nothing in the community for them, there’s no reason to participate in it. Every interaction is an opportunity to change someone’s perspective of their environment.
Coalition Questions and Discussion
Casey Phillips (The Walls Project): A few questions from the chat...What are the ages of youth in TRUCE? How many do you serve? What is the staffing pattern like? What are the gaps in your service that other people can step in to offer?
Aishala Burgess: Our main focus is ages 14-24 but we’re learning a lot of our 13 year olds are doing the same things our high school students are involved in. We don’t turn anyone away. Our gaps - there are many. We have two social workers that work with each of our clients. I try to top their caseloads generally at 35 kids at one time. We would not be able to be effective if each social worker had more than that especially when dealing with the more high risk kids. There’s a major gap when it comes to the needs of our parents. Once you start removing layers of trauma in that family, the parents are experiencing a lot of the same things. We have parents with multiple children that we’re expecting to do multiple things, working hourly wages and can’t keep up. We label them as disconnected but they are connected - they’re weighing taking care of their families. There’s not a lot of mental health services for our younger kids. I receive emails all the time asking about 8-10 year olds. We’re seeing violent crime in elementary schools. It’s becoming younger and younger and we need a lot of people to intervene. Another major gap is connection - any connection we can get to provide our felons with gainful employment that will sustain a family, offer them health benefits. Another thing, when I was going to school I didn't have to pass a dead body. I’m on homicide scenes and I see kids going to school, getting on the bus and passing a dead body. I see high school students staying home to take care of their younger siblings, gaining a truant record. We keep adding layers and barriers when we should be finding ways to collectively remove those. Some parental services we can send our moms, dads, and parents to after work hours...a lot of the sessions to successfully complete work hours are during work hours. If there’s someone offering parental classes or support that’s flexible with hours please send me a message.
Casey Phillips: School buildings should be open from 6 AM to 9 PM, 12 midnight. There should be after school programs, parent classes...our schools should become community centers again. We’ve got to push to change the rules around the use of these taxpayer built schools into community hubs. The mental health and trauma side...Reverend Anderson mentioned our city is living in a perpetual state of trauma. On the last Friday of this month we’ll be discussing intergenerational health services. I’m going to flip it over to Dean Andrews from the College of Business at Southern asked what kind of data you’re keeping and is it available to analyze?
Aishala Burgess: Yes please! That could help with grant opportunities in the future. We are in the process of revamping our database thanks to a great donor allowing us to upgrade and to make it easier to share and extract data but we would love any type of partnership we can get to expand and to grow.
Casey Phillips: Pam, did you maybe want to talk about what you put into the chat? A lot of people resonated with it and it leads into Esperanza’s question...How can we scale these programs to Ascension, WBR? Pam?
Pam Wall: I would just comment from my years working with youth job training programs - JAG is a great program and we don’t have enough JAG programs. I’ve said this before...One of the nation’s biggest problems is that most programs are too brief, too shallow, and we don’t connect with other groups that have different programs that apply to the people we’re trying to help. It’s indicative of the way we fund things. We fund things for a year, maybe two, and you can’t serve the same family for three years of a grant program because you don’t have outcomes to send to the funder. I did read though about a youth program for kids 16+ and discovered that most of the parents were not employed so they took the parents in and offered them the opportunity to participate just like the youth. We fund adult employment training and youth employment training but I don’t know of any that fund them together. So they do intensive training, do a job search, and employ folks. In most cases the relationship between the parent and the youth - most of these were males - improved and allowed them to reinforce what they were learning with each other. Most people here are involved in some way with preparing kids for the future. I’m trying to inspire people to do longer, intergenerational programs. I think funders - the city included - might do some innovation funding to try some of these things that are working in other places.
Reverend Anderson (PREACH): Programs like 4-H, Girl Scouts, all these programs who are youth development programs have huge track records. But, we tend to focus on urban areas when there are very strong issues in the rural parts of our parish. Look at the drug issues - in Zachary and Cheneyville and some of those other areas - they are hiding in plain sight. Those youth also get forgotten. One of my issues is we have schools in every community. We have a vibrant parks and recreation facility. Yet it always feels like we are pushing resources in law enforcement, who are the people least competent to do youth development. Our children live in a trauma induced world. You’re not going to find anyone in Louisiana who is not full of trauma. We’re also not talking about the elephant in the room - I was shocked by the racial breakdown in our juvenile justice system. I love Youth Oasis. But they work with two of the highest risk youths. And one of them is the folks the state is supposed to take care of, which is children aging out of foster care. That speaks volumes to the problem that the children the state is supposed to take responsibility for are more likely to end up in prison than anywhere else. The second group they do a great nurturing job with is our LGBTQ+ community. Again, very at risk children and a lot of our programming won’t address these children until they’re desperate. We have a lot of great partners on this call that do a lot of great work. If we start thinking about taking the ingredients of our gumbo and putting the ingredients where the pot is...and I call the pot the schools. The BREC centers. The community centers that exist in all 12 of the Metro Councils. That’s where I am, that we force the conversation about how we have all these different school districts - but are they all partnered in pre-criminal youth justice development? The same thing with CATS and these other services...how do we get kids where good positive things are happening, and how do we respect the role and the proprietary relationship parents should have?
Rinaldi Jacobs, Sr (Scotlandville CDC): We all agree that education is the passport out of poverty in part. My question...there are a large number of programs that do not require people to go into a whole lot of debt and can have a high school education and still earn middle class wages. For example, truck driving, medical coding, cybersecurity...These are not positions that require you to have even a two year degree. Why isn’t there a focus with our Istrouma graduates, Capitol High, these other schools, directing these kids into these programs that could create middle class wages? Most of them start off at $35-40k a year with only less than say 8-10 weeks of education. To me that seems like a no brainer.
Casey Phillips: I’d like to lift up two points, and I don’t want to speak for any other organization on this call, but as The Walls, the biggest mistake we ever made was with the Futures Fund just being in-school youth for the first six years. The moment we changed to intergenerational and used that word it opened up so much opportunity for so many more people. Second, as intergenerational training, we’re trying to figure this out with EmployBR, BRCC, trying to get through all this paperwork...it’s hard to get people approved because of the way the federal guidelines are written...it’s a cumbersome process. We’re trying to get it so that everyone enrolled in our program goes through EmployBR, gets access to everyone else’s training and gets automatically enrolled in BRCC. They’re automatically able to access these blue collar jobs.
Tekoah Boatner: The minute a kid enters any one of these systems there are barriers to accessing all of these pipelines. When we have a kid who wants to get certified as a welder or go through apprenticeship, because they may have come out of OJJ we can’t get a sponsor because they either don’t know someone or the sponsor isn’t willing to sponsor a kid who just got out. There’s training programs within the schools they go to, however, if they don’t have a certain GPA they can’t participate in these job skill courses. They make it 2.5, but if you are below grade level, this path is closed to you. When all of these pathways are closed it becomes much, much harder. You can’t say that your program is for everyone when any blemish knocks them out. When they get into these systems every single mistake they make gets added on as a blemish. And again, all these pathways are now closed. It’s similar to the thing of “Everyone has the same 24 hours.” I do not. Beyonce has way more hours than me because she has a whole group of people helping her get through life. The tropes we tell ourselves just aren’t the reality for these kids. Let’s take the blinders off and say this is what it is, now let's fix that. Let's stop pretending that our welfare system and our community support system is open to all because it is not.
Kendra Hendricks (CRPC): One of the things I have not heard is that underemployed or nontraditional students sometimes don’t have those options to get the high paying jobs. They’re working minimum wage jobs and they have responsibilities. They have homework, can’t go to training because they have childcare. They’re stuck in that cycle. Maybe we could close that loop to work with childcare, changing the hours for these trainings.
Tyra Banks (MetroMorphosis): I want to echo everything that was just said. There are social, emotional, and biological changes that happen to you when you grow up in high stress and poverty that make it difficult to be as resilient and gritty. One of my little cousins, we call him the most certified drug dealer we ever met because he went to school for everything, but because he got in trouble when he was younger, he had a very difficult time getting these jobs. Where can we become stronger advocates for ban the box, expungement, how can we stand up as a community, what can we be a part of to advocate for changes for example with the Department of Labor’s expectations? How can we advocate so our kids are not so stuck? Also, how do we get 4-H in schools? We all had 4-H at our schools when we were younger. My son doesn’t have 4-H, it wasn’t offered at any of the three schools he has attended.
Alfreda Tillman Bester (Dept. of Children and Family Services): Thank you to everyone who presented. It’s been good information we can use in all the different organizations represented here. One of the things we’re doing at SU Law Center Vulnerable Communities and Peoples Initiative...our focus is on listening to the people who present to us, like with all of you...we have an idea of what is needed but for every person that comes it’s something different. I found myself talking about Maslow’s hierarchy of need...it’s very hard to talk to someone about getting additional training when they are housing insecure and their children are hungry. We want to look at opportunities to give people on the job training and focus there - if they have some income while they’re receiving education and training, they’re more likely to stay in the job and the training. Asking them to choose between their immediate needs - making sure children are housed and fed and that their basic needs are met - they’re going to choose the immediate need. We have to be more deliberate and thoughtful about the way we fund things. It can’t just be “Let’s do a program”. We have to listen to the people who are to be served. It has to be intergenerational. If I’m sending a child back to a volatile situation...we have to deal with the parents. Because if the parent is stressed, the child is stressed.
Sarah Barlow (BRCC): We’ve got a couple things at several of our sites. Listening to the amazing work that’s happening, I’m thinking of opportunities for the people you’re serving to obtain training with us, whether through the credit side or through the workforce solution side, which is the essentials...Students that have come to us seeking adult basic ed or through our JAG program can concurrently enroll in a workforce training in four areas: transportation, IT, healthcare, and skilled crafts. With the money provided under Reboot, they can engage at little to no cost to earn credentials while working on literacy and numeracy and complete their progression toward the high set test. We’re very fixated on barriers. We also have programs that train individuals to get TWIC cards to get into plants. We partnered with Southern Law to help those students. There’s a lot of opportunities that we need to think about barriers in different ways. I heard people say that there’s GPA requirements. Through our Early College Academy MOU we’re removing that GPA barrier. We’re pushing hard with the Board of Regents. I’m happy to talk more about that. We’ve executed 11 Early College Academy agreements with parishes around us. Esperanza Zenon (RPCC): I’m always impressed by the numbers of folks and agencies and opportunities I learn about in this call. I would love to have some of those opportunities in Donaldsonville, but that’s another conversation. I want to say that all the training programs are beautiful but the key thing I see missing are the employers. At the end of the day if employers aren’t open and available all you did was frustrate people more because they did what they needed to do but still can't get a job. I see a lot of folk with degrees and training that can’t get through the door because they don’t know somebody. Especially in these plants and refineries. I’m always amazed at how many community organizations serve our youth but I always say employers need to be at the table because they can change someone's life just by being open to hiring them. Casey Phillips: We’re working with some partners in Dallas around some legislation around corporate tax rebates around hiring underemployed populations to incentivize. We have got to figure out a way to incentivize businesses to hire folks who are underemployed in our community.
Gwen Hamilton (NSBR): I want to say thank you. You’re doing wonderful, very difficult work. I hope the result of today’s meeting is some opportunities to collaborate with others on the call who may be doing similar work, have similar needs, or offer similar services. One, no one has talked about CTEC, a high school training program, they’re under-enrolled. There’s also an automotive training program on the Department of Labor’s most wanted job list. I brought those out because I want to share with you where I am today...it haunts me because two years ago Chief Paul said, “We have got to stop growing criminals.” It takes us back to what is systemic? What is the commonality? The commonality is reading and literacy. We have got to make sure that our youngest, early childhood, are wrapped in the services they need and that they learn to read by third grade and beyond so that the wonderful programs you have don’t become bigger over time. You guys are struggling to deal with it on the back end. It starts at a young age. There’s data that show that when people, particularly African American men, can’t read by third or fourth grade, they know it, they’re embarrassed and they find other options to keep them happy.
Zoe Haddad (The Walls Project): I was curious about medication access - anything from ADHD medication to insulin. Lindi also put into the chat, what are the services as far as people who have physical disabilities, developmental delays, etc. That sometimes gets left out of the conversation and that can be life or death for some people. I’m curious what services, if any, are out there.
Tekoah Boatner: Most of the kids in our target population have Medicaid, so they can get their medication. We are writing a program to do medical case management with kids because as with all things adults are often seeking to do things to kids not with them...you hand a kid a mental health diagnosis and then you give them psychotropics and say, “Here, take it.” And there’s nothing else that follows about what it’s doing to their brain and their bodies. Large scale, if they are diagnosed with anything, look to organizations in the area for programs for kids who don’t have Medicaid. Most pharmacies have an internal program, St. Vincent De Paul has a pharmaceutical program. When we have extra prescriptions we take it to them and they disperse them. If you come across a kid without insurance, there is no reason. Louisiana doesn’t get a lot right, but they got that right. There’s no reason for the kids not to be insured. Kids can get access to medication but keeping them on the medication is the next step.
Aishala Burgess: I see there’s a question about Medicaid when they enter the juvenile justice system...their Medicaid will follow them. Most facilities should have a physician, nurse…there’s nurses around the juvenile detention center all the time. Next, Casey, I did have a question. I’m always looking for help - if there’s anyone with resources to help youth when their TWIC card is denied...there is an appellate process, but it’s a lot of cumbersome paperwork. A lot of people have no idea that that denial is something they can appeal.
Alfreda Tillman Bester: I am a member of the Reentry Coalition with the Department of Corrections and one of the things that’s happening is a real discussion about whether TWIC should be required by employers, and the responsibilities that many of these young people are given when they go in there, they really should not have it. I just want you to know that that’s a real discussion about the qualifications on the TWIC card.
Jennifer Dobies: I am a social worker with a public defenders office at Juvenile Court so most of these resources I’m dropping in the chat are just because I’ve referred people to them. I put some info about CTEC requirements. Uplifted is a great program we’ve worked with for people with disabilities and connecting them with work...a big part of my job is connecting people with resources.
Zoom Chat
08:49:46 From Christopher Spalatin to Everyone: Ms Burgess what age are these children?
08:51:21 From Gwendolyn Hamilton to Everyone: How many children/young adults do you serve. What does your staffing pattern look like. What are the gaps in services?
08:52:29 From Donald Andrews to Everyone: Ms. Burgess Do you keep data on your cases and the outcomes of your intervention and is it available for analysis?
08:53:15 From Esperanza Zenon to Everyone: How can this project be replicated in Ascension Parish?
08:53:17 From Alfreda Tillman Bester to Everyone: How do you involve the parents, Aishala?
08:56:33 From Tyler Litt to Everyone: So important, Roxson—Seeing the humanity in children is so important.
08:57:23 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone: Community IS the antidote to violence and addiction.
08:57:29 From Pam Wall to Everyone: Not exactly related but, yes, everything is related in some way.....Does anyone on the zoom know about projects in other states that roll out youth job training programs (and job training is a goal of many of you) where youth are trained but their parents, if unemployed or underemployed, can also participate. The evaluation of these programs show that teen and parent reinforce the skills taught and help each other find those jobs that are the goal.
08:58:14 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone: YES!
08:58:40 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: This parish and state is one big trauma, whether pandemic, cancer alley, floods, violence, etc. But low and no wealth communities aren't provided counselors and restorative resources but law enforcement, law enforcement> Our school to prison pipeline is so huge because this is the model.
08:59:09 From HAWF Team to Everyone: I have to hop to another call. But I leave you with this from Bryan Stevenson: "Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done." Think about your biggest mistake and if that followed you around every day. Every person is capable of change and redemption.
08:59:15 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Youth Oasis does amazing work for children that the community has honestly thrown away!
09:00:22 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Again transportation is a huge barrier to children getting into safe out of school and after school programming.
09:00:31 From Casey Phillips to Everyone: Thank you for that quote Tristi!
09:01:16 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone: Hey all! This has been an inspiring meeting - y'all are amazing. I'm a therapist at Grief Recovery Center and Red Stick Mental Health. The Wisdom of Trauma documentary is being screened virtually now UNTIL 6/14/21 with Dr. Gabor Mate, here is the sign-up link - it's a powerful documentary created in a way it can be shared with both trauma-informed providers AND clients/general public. https://drgabormate.com/the-wisdom-of-trauma
09:01:46 From Tyra Banks to Everyone: Thanks for sharing that
09:01:54 From Erin to Everyone: Good morning everyone — Thrilled to join you this morning. I’m joining by phone unfortunately, as I’m en route to Shreveport. I lead Propel America, which connects disadvantaged 18-24 year olds to careers through financial assistance for short-term college training programs, career coaching and wrap around supports, and job transition and placement supports. I’d love to connect with anyone who works with this population! - Erin Bendily 225-937-8873 https://www.propelamerica.org
09:02:24 From tboatner to Everyone: Very big barrier
09:02:52 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Why are some of the programs not working with our established youth development programs that have excellent track records like 4-H, etc?
09:04:24 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: You can't be a community that keeps paying people nickels and dimes and expect good results.
09:05:02 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: How many youth annually do these programs serve?How many serve youth pre-criminal justice impacted?
09:05:20 From Tyra Banks to Everyone: I love this! Work hours are not 9-5 for everyone
09:05:41 From Tyra Banks to Everyone: I can definitely do Nurturing Parenting training. I’m certified
09:06:05 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: 360 schools are a great model!
09:06:10 From Alfredo Cruz to Everyone: yes!
09:06:51 From Dr. Pamela Ravare-Jones to Everyone: EmployBR is a great resource for Youth, Adults,
and dislocated workers - The program services in-school and out of school youth - for more information please call 225.358.4579
09:07:22 From tboatner to Everyone: We would happily staff after hours at schools so teachers can focus on teaching and not child rescue
09:07:28 From Rodneyna Hart to Everyone: Do we have a directory for all of our guests and we regulars?
09:07:52 From Roxson Welch to Everyone: FYSC has family support groups via Zoom that are after hours. They are truly wonderful
09:08:00 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Why do we spend tax dollars for policing but ask all these programs to live and die on grants.
09:08:25 From Christopher Spalatin to Everyone: YES Rev Anderson
09:08:46 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: JAG is awesome!
09:08:53 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone: It's a national issue.
09:08:56 From Roxson Welch to Everyone: FYSC serves children and families throughout EBRP. Many of our clients are walk-ins or call-ins that get help quickly. Project Impact serves 60 families.
09:09:25 From christian to Everyone: Another option would be for the schools to create bus stops at youth serving organizations….
09:10:17 From Walls Project to Everyone: Also grants requiring extensive financial information/proof of the participants just to participate is a big barrier
09:10:28 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: There are great organizations like VOTE, Families and Friends of Incarcerated Children, Daughters of the Incarcerated, Capital Area Re-entry Coalition, REAL to work with impacted families and those closest to the collateral damage created by putting children in the criminal justice system. We have great subject matter experts.
09:11:36 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: We are not bringing up the elephant in the room: racism. What is the racial make-up in the juvenile justice system?
09:12:04 From Rachelle "Ray-chel" Sanderson (she/her) to Everyone: Addressing intergenerational trauma is key
09:13:21 From Esperanza Zenon to Everyone: there is 4h in my parish but not one comes to the schools on my side of the river
09:14:47 From Jennifer Dobies to Everyone: Youth are often hesitant to join programs that are in connection with law enforcement, as well. Especially if they are already system involved.
09:15:43 From Christopher Spalatin to Everyone: What age does foster care end for kids in LA?
09:15:54 From tboatner to Everyone: They can stay until 21 now
09:16:31 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone: Our entire culture is built on a foundation of white supremacy and colonizers who have never owned the horrific damage we've done and continue to do with BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, Disabilities and all the other marginalized identities.
09:18:25 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: We are one of the highest parishes with domestic violence. We have to acknowledge the role of domestic violence.
09:18:31 From Pam Wall to Everyone: Every survey I know about highlights transportation and for young moms, child care as the largest barriers to enrolling in job training programs.
09:19:44 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone: Yes Rev. Anderson - domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault and abuse, poverty.....
09:20:38 From Rachelle "Ray-chel" Sanderson (she/her) to Everyone: Could be significant opportunities through the development of the green and water economies as we work towards a just transition - also wondering what it would look like to unionize for these so that there is job security, better benefits, higher wages, etc?
09:21:02 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Say that!
09:21:05 From Aishala Burgess to Everyone: North Baton Rouge Initiative has been AMAZING at BRCC
09:21:21 From Liz Smith to Everyone: Now that the MJ Foster Promise Program has passed through the legislature, could we ask LCTCS to come tell us about it? It will help with access to training for adults outside the traditional workforce pipeline.
09:21:38 From Casey Phillips to Everyone: Great idea Liz
09:21:51 From Ann Zanders to Everyone: And North Baton Rouge Initiative is free
09:22:08 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Criminalizing youth makes it so much harder to help them.
09:22:33 From Christopher Spalatin to Everyone: What are the youngest incarcerated kids in LA?
09:22:34 From Aishala Burgess to Everyone: Yes, Ann....its been a blessing to several of our kids.
09:22:52 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Good example! I never thought of time that way!
09:22:55 From Jen Tewell (she/her) to Everyone: Y'all always inspire me but today is off the charts. Thank you for this. I have to head to my next session. Have a great weekend!
09:23:10 From Casey Phillips to Everyone: And Thank You!
09:23:28 From Jennifer Dobies to Everyone: Kids can be incarcerated started art age 10 in LA
09:23:34 From Christopher Spalatin to Everyone: that’s insane
09:24:29 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: It's so Louisiana!
09:24:39 From Christopher Spalatin to Everyone: Let’s change that!
09:25:03 From sarahbarlow to Everyone: BRCC offers Reboot training in Healthcare and Skilled Crafts to students as they pursue their HISET--the goal is that students concurrently complete. We are also removing GPA barriers for kids in High School interested in engaging in technical programs.
09:25:04 From Aishala Burgess to Everyone: I am in desperate need of someone that focus on Literacy! I have kids that can't read. Any help PLEASE!!
09:25:55 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Contact VOTE, Capital Area Re-entry, REAL and East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition!
09:26:22 From Jennifer Dobies to Everyone: https://www.adultliteracyadvocates.org/ Literacy Group for Baton Rogue (18 +)
09:26:52 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Traditional programs like 4-H and Girl Scouts were some of the first groups to run programming in carceral environments.
09:26:52 From Patrick Tuck 4-H to Everyone: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/portals/our_offices/parishes/east%20baton%20rouge/features/parish_contact
09:27:37 From sarahbarlow to Everyone: BRCC provides literary classes free at our Acadian Campus in our ABE program. And numeracy.
09:28:15 From christian to Everyone: Every child in the Y’s camps or out-of-school time programs receives a literacy program
09:28:50 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Groups like the Gardiere Initiative and CADAV are doing exceptional work and live in the community and yet there programs are starving for resources and yet we keep funding the new shinning thing that is law enforcement centric. It tells our children exactly what we value.
09:29:25 From tboatner to Everyone: I get so many calls from parents who are just out of options, support and patience
09:29:28 From Zoë - Walls Project (she/her) to Everyone: I’m curious about medical issues for children, specifically medication access - are there programs that help ensure prescriptions are available/paid for?
09:29:46 From Liz Smith to Everyone: NexusLA and Dow are leading the way for the BR region in offering Apprenticeships, which train people for jobs while they're on the job - so they earn and learn.
09:30:03 From Liz Smith to Everyone: I've gotta run. Thanks, everyone and have a wonderful weekend!
09:30:06 From Casey Phillips to Everyone: Esperanza you are next then Aishala
09:31:10 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: To address COVID-19 we learned that we had to take it to the street. I think we have to take those same tools to youth development. We never talk about the amazing role of our super library system in helping facility support services for the entire community.
09:32:13 From Lindi Rubin Spalatin to Everyone: I am curious if any of these training programs and outreach programs are doing anything with people living with disabilities. Often time these communities are separated out or ignored when it comes to development across the board. Does anyone know if the MJ Foster Promise has designated any fund for outreach to people living with physical disabilities or developmental delays?
09:33:22 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: How many of the programs work with the non-English speaking population and the special needs population?
09:34:05 From Jennifer Dobies to Everyone: https://upliftd.org/ voc services for people with disabilities
09:34:12 From sarahbarlow to Everyone: barlows@mybrc.eduwww.mybrcc.edu 4197041081 (cell)
09:34:19 From Aishala Burgess to Everyone: YES Esperanza!!!
09:34:43 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: No employer should be able to get tax incentives without being willing to service our hard to employ populations.
09:34:53 From Jennifer Dobies to Everyone: https://thearc.org/chapter/the-arc-baton-rouge/ another program for people with disabilities
09:34:57 From Erin to Everyone: Propel connects students who train with employers, with guaranteed interviews!
09:35:05 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Absolutely!
09:35:10 From sarahbarlow to Everyone: Esperanza--great point That is why BRCC is so focused on internships as a part of our Automotive, Criminal Justice, and Process Technology programs.
09:35:24 From Erin to Everyone: We also prep the student with soft skills, interview prep, and transition services and supports.
09:36:47 From sarahbarlow to Everyone: The BRCC Tara High Early College Academy Cy-TECH is a direct path to IBM. Employer partners are a key to this all making a difference
09:37:09 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Love this conversation! Great work, Casey!
09:37:22 From Kevin Guitterrez to Everyone: Thanks so much for all of the work represented on this call!
09:38:06 From Pam Wall to Everyone: What are the academic requirements of CTec?
09:38:22 From Perry Sholes to Everyone: www.internshiptalent.org is a college level internship program. We are working to increase our presence in BTR and work to bring employers to the table. perry@internshiptalent.org
09:38:41 From Pam Wall to Everyone: Too many employers only want the students who are B students...…….
09:38:57 From tboatner to Everyone: That's the issue Pam
09:39:14 From Aishala Burgess to Everyone: Yes, Pam
09:39:20 From Jennifer Dobies to Everyone: CTEC admit requirements: Students have to be on track for graduation Good attendance & discipline records Students must have a passing math and English EOC.
09:39:20 From Erin to Everyone: Please connect any 18-24 year olds who are interested in free college training and job placement supports in automotive technology to this opportunity: http://bit.ly/propelauto
09:39:35 From Judith Rhodes to Everyone: https://ebrschools.org/programs/ebr-ctec/ C Tech HS program in N Baton Rouge
09:40:30 From Esperanza Zenon to Everyone: Universal Pre-K is needed. I have been helping my daughter to navigate the application process for getting my g-daughter into Pre-K only to be told that there are only 257 slots. What happens to child 258?
09:40:39 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Good point!
09:41:51 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: What happens to their Medicaid when they are in the juvenile justice system?
09:44:01 From Judith Rhodes to Everyone: https://ololchildrens.org/our-network/clinical-specialties/health-centers-in-schools/ Healthcare Centers in Schools for children enrolled in EBRPSS
09:44:04 From tboatner to Everyone: Same!
09:44:43 From Jennifer Dobies to Everyone: The Public Defender's Office is currently working to appeal a TWIC card for a juvenile client. Aishala, once we find out the results of that, I can let you know.
09:45:10 From Ann Zanders to Everyone: Ms. Burgess please put your email address in the chat.
09:45:21 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Again, VOTE, REAL, Capital Area Re-entry, etc. Southeast Legal Services helps with some of this work.
09:45:24 From Gardere Initiative to Everyone: aZaab@peoplebuildingcommunities.org ; ashqarzaab@hotmail.com ; Ashqar Zaab helps with mentoring, guidance, education and accountability for folks preparing for petrochemical industry. He serves everyone. Veterans and previously incarcerated are served by People Building Communities (PBC). PBC helps people transition for school and work by assisting with TWIC remediation and appeal process, Passport and OHSA reciprocity, Association of Builders and Contractors (ABC) qualification courses, and wrap-around-type case management.
09:45:49 From Casey Phillips to Everyone: Jennifer Dobies - can you come off mute and share some of the great resources you are sharing in the chat?
09:46:15 From Aishala Burgess to Everyone: Aishala Burgess-aburgess@callatrucebr.org. My cell number is 504.481.4069
09:47:04 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Jennifer is amazing!
09:48:17 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana
09:48:28 From Rodneyna Hart to Everyone: Happy Anniversary!
09:48:30 From Ann Zanders to Everyone: I may have someone that works with REAL
09:48:34 From Verna Bradley-Jackson to Everyone: Ms. Linda, I will get her info.
09:48:50 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Happy Anniversary!
09:49:03 From Judith Rhodes to Everyone: http://www.leaac.com/faq-resources/qualifying-for-a-transportation-worker-identification-credential/ lots of good info about TWIC
09:49:28 From Aishala Burgess to Everyone: Thank you all so much for listening
09:49:53 From Lindi Rubin Spalatin to Everyone: This was a conversation. Thank you for this. I have to go to another meeting.
09:49:55 From sarahbarlow to Everyone: Thank for all you do
09:50:12 From tboatner to Everyone: tboatner@youthoasis.org
09:50:14 From Zoë - Walls Project (she/her) to Everyone: Thank you so much for everything y’all do. This has been an incredible conversation.
09:50:44 From Rinaldi Jacobs Sr to Everyone: The new "F" word is Felony! 50,000 truck drivers needed. 65,000 insurances adjusters needed, 314,000 cyber security people needed. Education less than 10K for school less than 4 months training requires all average 40K starting
09:50:49 From Karla King - concerned citizen to Everyone: Thank you again for this conversation today. Please know those of us in the community are listening, sharing, and networking this information
09:50:52 From Roxson Welch to Everyone: Roxson Welch email: roxson@fysc-ebr.org
09:50:52 From Gardere Initiative to Everyone: TWIC is not hard, it is a simple process for regular folks, https://www.tsa.gov/for-industry/twic - . There are some issues for those with criminal record that someone should speak to .
09:51:11 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Excellent point, the new F word!
09:51:19 From Christopher Spalatin to Everyone: Thank you so much for this. A lot to take in. Thanks for doing this amazing work
09:51:49 From tboatner to Everyone: 24 hour agency y'all lol
09:52:17 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Thank you Casey
09:52:48 From Zoë - Walls Project (she/her) to Everyone: Reminder that any flyers/announcements you’d like to lift up can be emailed to zoe@thewallsproject.org to include in the meeting notes.
09:53:04 From tboatner to Everyone: Have a good weekend everyone!
09:53:19 From SK Groll to Everyone: Thanks for sharing that Rev. Anderson
09:53:46 From Rodneyna Hart to Everyone: Same as always, Juneteenth at CPM on the 18th 6-9 with BRAAMuseum and Rev Jetson and 19th 10:30am-12pm with Chef Celeste. Also GREEN BOOK, looking for voices and prospectives for programs. 225-229-3389, rhart@crt.la.gov
09:57:04 From Rev. Alexis Anderson to Everyone: Everyone should do Juneteenth! It's amazing celebration and the state will finally be recognizing it as a state holiday!
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