GOOD: Supporting Success for At-Risk Youth in Yuma, Arizona

By Lori J. Heredia, Yuma Private Industry Council

• father in jail, mother absent;
• behavioral/mental issues;
• English language difficulty;
• over 200 absences;
• on juvenile probation;
• and bottom 5% of class academically.

In addition, the high school these youth would soon be attending has the highest dropout rate out of the five mainstream schools in the district (Arizona Department of Education, 2011). Clearly, these youth were an appropriate population to target with innovative programming to help them stay in school.

Up and Running
Using Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in-school youth funds, the Youth Services Department responded quickly to the critical needs of these students by kicking off the Growing Our Own Destiny (GOOD) program.

Of the 27 identified at-risk youths, 25 were enrolled as the first-ever GOOD cohort in June, 2009, with a solid goal for each to gain a high school diploma and to continue through college. An effective, working curriculum was developed and implemented, focusing on:

• tutoring;
• work experiences;
• intensive follow up;
• community service opportunities;
• summer employment opportunities;
• skills training;
• individualized guidance/counseling; and
• opportunities to gain and use leadership skills.

The result of a collaborative effort between YPIC, Yuma Union High School District #70, and Yuma Business Education Consortium, GOOD programming will continue through at least May, 2015. This novel approach to helping at-risk youth succeed will provide valuable data from which to base improvements in program delivery and minimize participant disengagement. In addition, program staff is optimistic that similar programs will develop to perpetuate the GOOD model for Yuma’s disadvantaged youth.

Making GOOD Happen
The first GOOD cohort members are now high school juniors. A second cohort was organized in 2010, and they are now sophomores. In each cohort, some participants have moved or left the program; specifically, as of November, 2011, 14 participants remain in each group.

GOOD program participants meet twice monthly in YPIC’s MLK Youth Career Center (http://www.ypic.com/MLK_Center.html) at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Neighborhood Center, a City of Yuma-owned facility located just west of Yuma High School. One meeting is set aside for workshops and one meeting is devoted to community service.

Yuma High School junior Edgar Rodriguez recently participated in a GOOD community service opportunity in partnership with the City of Yuma Art Center:
“I helped children make spoon puppets at the Children’s Festival of the Arts on Main Street about three weeks ago and in November of 2009. It is fun to work with kids; it makes me think when I was a kid - children are really cool.” Edgar is planning to study psychology at the Northern Arizona University satellite branch in Yuma. He says the GOOD program taught him how to study properly:
“I used to watch TV, but now I study by myself in my room without the TV or music,” Edgar said.
A true GOOD success story, Edgar’s grade point average has improved from 2.1 to 3.8 in the two and a half years since he entered the program.

GOOD program participants who continued for the second year in the first cohort were provided a used desktop to rebuild/refurbish, gaining valuable hands-on technology experience and expert instruction from a technology educator. And, they got to keep their ‘new’ computer:
“I learned how to work with PowerPoint, keep the computer from getting viruses, and install new programs,” reports GOOD participant Kassandra Richkarday. “I use it to do homework, like English essays, every month or two months. I use it to write in MLA style with Word. I get on it every day; I have about 600 friends on Facebook.”

Kassandra says the GOOD program motivates her to keep her grades up, since they must maintain As and Bs to stay in the program. Her favorite activities are the community service opportunities:
“I enjoy interacting with people – in the (GOOD) group; and I meet all kinds of different people: kids, older people.” ' Kassandra plans to attend Arizona Western College to study business management and then transfer to a university.

GOOD program staff report they love working with the GOOD cohort participants:
“The main reason I love working with the participants is because you can see your efforts are worthwhile. They began as immature freshmen, to sophomores, and as juniors they are accepting responsibility and ‘getting it’,” said David Rosales, the GOOD program youth advocate. David divides his workday between classroom RB6 on site at Yuma High School and after-school hours at the MLK Youth Career Center. He asserts that student success depends on a high level of parent participation: “In the beginning, we gave a parent-student orientation that outlined the expectations for both the students and their parents. We have a parent-student conference at least once a semester in support of participants’ academic performance. We also communicate directly with parents through mail, telephone calls, and at-home visits.” In addition to relying on parents, the GOOD program draws heavily on the expertise of local employers, educational and legal professionals, and partner agencies. An example scheduled for 2012 is a two-week higher education experience at Arizona Western College in disciplines such as emergency medical technology and graphic design.

A GOOD Model
The GOOD program staff continues to mentor and motivate participants to stay in school through graduation and perhaps into college. The staff has high hopes that these once-discouraged eighth-graders will stay on the path the GOOD program embodies, overcoming the challenges they face and becoming role models for at-risk youth. In the meantime, YPIC will continue to advocate for Yuma youth through the GOOD program, building a model that can be implemented for many years to come through community resource partnerships, local school districts, higher education, Yuma-area employers, and government agencies.

For more information, contact YPIC Youth Manager Janette Crawford at jcrawford@ypic.com. The Yuma Private Industry Council is the Yuma County (Arizona) One-Stop, and strives to meet the unique and changing requirements of our communities by providing quality workforce development and career resources that enhance economic growth while delivering a "seamless" workforce system sensitive to the needs of the local job seekers and employers.