A Visit to Latin American Youth Center

This week, we're thrilled to introduce you to a new member of the DCAYA staff, Laura Romero. We'll let her introduce herself in this post, as well as share a bit from her visit to Latin American Youth Center.

As the new Youth Policy Associate at DCAYA, I am learning about issues that affect youth in DC--one of those issues is youth homelessness. I’ve always been interested in the nonprofit world, but my passion for politics led me to American University where I study an interdisciplinary major, CLEG (Communication, Law, Economics and Government). I’ve worked with nonprofits before. Specifically, I taught English at Colombia Chiquita, an organization dedicated to helping abandoned and at-risk children. I was also the founder/president of the American Red Cross Club at my high school where we Citizen CPR certified students and installed fire alarms in low-income neighborhoods. Now, at the DCAYA, I’m learning about many issues. I’m sitting in on meetings and listening to people discuss passionately about what they are working on, and I’ve had the opportunity to go out into the city and immerse myself into the issues that affect youth here.

In October, I had the opportunity to visit the Latin American Youth Center (“LAYC”) Safe House Drop-in Center, a safe space for youth who are in need of housing resources. The center offers employment and educational guidance, long-term case management, assistance in finding housing programs and shelters as well as supplies, clothes and other needs. 

Walking into the center, you immediately feel the sense of community and openness. The center encompasses diversity and inclusion and welcomes youth 24 years old and under of any race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity without, limiting its assistance to those who are of Latin background. 

Low-income youth face many barriers to succeed, and to address those barriers, LAYC helps provide opportunities like GED exam preparation, year-round tutoring and homework assistance as well as college preparation. Besides providing academic opportunities, the organization provides safe housing, including transitional housing for homeless and runaway youth, and health and wellness assistance, including sexual health education and counseling.

I was able to meet with John Van Zandt, the Safe Housing Program Manager, who is very dedicated and passionate about his work with LAYC. John joined LAYC 8 years ago after having been a spanish teacher at a high school. He gave Mariah, the DCAYA Youth Voice Fellow, and I a tour around the drop-in center to give us a better idea of the work at LAYC. 

On the first floor, the center has a place where youth can use computers for educational and recreational purposes, and behind that room is where the bunk beds are. LAYC opens their doors to any young person who is in need of any assistance--some youth might need a place to live while others just want to be in a safe space for a couple of hours. 

The second floor was my favorite. The smell of pasta and mashed potatoes led us into a spacious living room. Young people were sitting on couches while one young woman prepared a meal that smelled absolutely delicious creating a cozy, homelike setting. 

We also toured other rooms of office space and storage. One room, designed by IKEA after awarding the organization a prize, serves as a room of needs where youth can get clothes, shoes, or diapers. LAYC is always in need of donations; anything from food to clothes to supplies can be of great use to these youth. 

Although my visit was short, I was able to witness the dedication the staff has to bettering youth’s lives. What they do isn’t easy, but it’s rewarding and full of constant joy. Having had the chance to see what this amazing organization does was an unforgettable experience. 

Organizations like LAYC are important because they help children, teenagers, and young adults find their potential and motivate them to overcome barriers. LAYC gives them opportunities that they’ve never had before.

November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. Every year, as many as 7,354 youth will experience at least one night of homelessness in the District. Currently, there is not enough shelter/housing for youth experiencing homelessness to meet the growing demand in the District. DCAYA will have an ongoing series of blog posts where experts and more members of DCAYA will share insights and information on youth homelessness.

We are grateful to have Laura on board and we hope you'll get a chance to engage with her, during her time at DC Alliance of Youth Advocates.

Testimony Highlights from Performance Hearings

With DC Council Budget Hearings just over a week away, we thought we'd recap and share some highlights from testimony that member organizations have provided during Performance Oversight Hearings at the Wilson Building.

Here's an excerpt from Bethany Henderson's testimony, the Executive Director of DC SCORES, provided at the performance oversight hearing for DC Public Schools:

Research shows that increased academic achievement won’t be reached simply through more instructional time. With income gaps widening, free enrichment opportunities like the ones we offer are increasingly essential to helping DC’s at-risk children achieve successful school outcomes.  Unfortunately, the need in DC is great.  Thousands of low-income children currently have no access to expanded learning programs. Indeed, over the past year our own waiting list has swelled to 16 schools.  This represents a serious opportunity gap that threatens negative long-term consequences for these children and our city. 

DC SCORES and DCPS share the same goal: that low-income DCPS students succeed in school and in life.  Community partners like DC SCORES can and do play a powerful role in realizing that goal.  Not only do we provide programming, but we bring significant private funds to the table.  For every dollar of local government funding we receive (very little of which comes from DCPS), we raise and deploy more than two dollars of private money.  This year alone we are bringing well over $1 million in private resources to bear on student outcomes.  Continued and expanded collaboration, coordination, and data-sharing between DCPS and expanded learning providers will only enhance student outcomes. 

Here is part of Frank Cervarich's testimony which he provided for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities' performance oversight hearing, as Deputy Director for Young Playwrights' Theater:

In the past twenty years, YPT has engaged over 12,000 students in our artistic process by integrating free playwriting programming into local schools, and reached over 85,000 audience members with free, professional productions of our students' plays. We integrate our programming directly into local public schools, leading every student to write their own play and bringing professional actors into
the classroom to perform their work.  

We work to not only improve student literacy, but to inspire our region’s underrepresented young people to realize the power and value of their voices and stories. Our impact is deep and enduring. Students tell us their experience with YPT inspired them to attend college, often as first-generation applicants, and pursue careers paths from the arts to education to neuroscience.We began in 1995 serving 20 students in one classroom. Today we serve over 1,500 students in all eight wards of Washington, DC, four times more students than in 2010.  We work to meet the Mayoral priorities, and we have been doing so for over twenty years.

And in case you haven't seen last week's blog post yet, here's an excerpt of testimony which Ademir Delcid, a student in Latin American Youth Center’s Guide to Post Secondary (GPS) Program from the performance oversight hearing for the Department Of Employment Services and the Workforce Investment Council:

During my 2 years of being in LAYC, I got to meet a wonderful team of advisors. I was given the opportunity to work with Adriana, Scholastique, Ella, Diana, Alexis and Loren. Meeting them and talking with them made me realize that they knew what they wanted for us students, which was to succeed and be prepared for the next chapter in our lives. Being a senior, I do not have the opportunity to continue working with them, however all that they have done in the short amount of time were worth the little time. Overall what each and every individual in this program has helped not only me but other students achieve is the progression, impact and determination to succeed in and out of school. I have witnessed firsthand how my life has been impacted and I thank each and every member of LAYC GPS for their never ending spirit to see me and others be prepared for college and life. I see each and every individual that have worked with me as more than advisors, they are my family and LAYC is my home.

It's testimony from DCAYA organizations, community members, and youth themselves that really make a difference as our representatives make the annual policy and funding decisions whose impact lasts for much more than a single fiscal year.

So what can you do? Here's a simple list, of which we ask you do at least one:

• Sign our #ExpandLearningDC online petition
• Bookmark our website's event calendar, for upcoming Budget Hearing dates
• Check out this blog from January, which lets you know what Committee each agency and hearing falls under, as well as how to sign up to testify yourself

That's it for now! And as always, let us know if you have any questions.

Holiday Highlights from DCAYA's Amazing Members!

It's a quiet week here in the office, so we thought we'd take this week's blog post to share some Twitter highlights of Holiday greetings and happenings from DCAYA members over the past week or so. This selection is in no particular order. Enjoy.

Thanks to all our Elf Store volunteers on Sat! Thanks to you, our kids were able to buy gifts for their families! pic.twitter.com/UkXGjzstII

— Jubilee Housing (@jubileehousing) December 14, 2015

Escuchame! Searching for the Latino Youth Voice

All youth deserve to be heard.  They provide valuable information about their thoughts, their needs, their struggles, and their dreams.  If we listen carefully enough, we can incorporate their ideas into improving our schools, programs, and communities.  But what happens when that voice is hidden or comes in another language?  Do we stop listening?  Do we ignore it altogether? 

Recent census numbers show that the Latino population in Washington DC is growing consistently and significantly, currently representing 9.1% of the population.  This reflects an increase of nearly 22% from 2000, and is expected to continue growing at a rapid pace.  While some of this is due to immigration trends, many of these new Latinos are US born-youth and children, who are growing up to face the same economic and social challenges that other urban communities of color face.   Yet, when it comes to Latino youth, there is often a huge information gap, and as a result, their voice is stifled.

Despite this growth, Latino youth are often seen as an elusive population, prone to under-counting and not widely represented in studies and reports.  Over the last 9 years as I have worked as a social worker serving these youth and families in DC, I have stopped to ask myself "why?"  Why are Latino youth living in the community not being counted?  Why are their voices not heard?  What can we do to seek out and listen to the Latino youth voice?

Released in October, the DCAYA report Connecting Youth to Opportunity:  Better Understanding Disconnected Young People in Washington, DC, made an interesting breakthrough.  Approximately 26% of the youth participants in the DCAYA study identified as being Hispanic or Latino.  Why is this significant?  It demonstrates that this is not an issue that only impacts the communities “east of the river” but that neighborhoods like Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, and Petworth also contain high numbers of disconnected youth.  But quite simply, it reveals how Latino youth have been consistently underrepresented in previous studies leaving them without the advocacy needed to support them.   Young people in Washington DC continue to battle poverty, homelessness, violence, unplanned pregnancy, trauma, and lack of educational and employment opportunities.  Latino youth are not immune to these problems, yet we often don’t hear about their experiences, their stories of struggle and triumph.     

There are numerous possible factors that contribute to this missing voice and under-counting, including fear of interaction with government or those perceived to be linked to government.  Although they are US-born, Latino youth may have family members who are undocumented, and that is enough to silence them.  Community based organizations like the Latin AmericanYouth Center, Mary’s Center, La Clinica del Pueblo, and Carecen have worked hard to establish trust with Latino families and youth.  At the Latin American Youth Center, we make every effort to amplify that youth voice, and have tasked ourselves with the challenge to better serve their needs, but this issue is so much bigger than us.  By reaching out the community as DCAYA did, valuable information from Latino youth was included in their results and recommendations.  All across the 8 wards of the District, organizations are working with Latino youth, and we need them all to listen carefully and contribute to the conversation.  It is incumbent upon us as service providers, youth advocates, and government entities, to seek out the Latino youth voice, partner with community organizations, and make sure that all residents of the District are counted and heard.  We need to listen carefully, because Latino youth have a lot to say.  

Susana Martinez is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker who has worked with Latino communities in Texas and Washington, DC, and has expertise in providing clinical and case management services to immigrant families, victims of domestic violence, and youth and families within the child abuse and neglect system.