Nidia Aguilar California State University, Long Beach School of Social Work May, 2012

1. WORTHY OF RECOVERY THROUGH HOPE (WORTH): A MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM FOR AT-RISK URBAN YOUTH IN LOS ANGELES: A GRANT PROPOSAL PROJECT Nidia Aguilar California State University, Long Beach School of Social Work May, 2012

2. Introduction • Social Problem • Youth violence in the United States is a growing concern for communities as well as researchers (Andres-Hyman, Forrester, Achara-Abrahams, Lauricella, & Rowe, 2007). • Exposure to community violence and trauma can lead to psychological and social problems for inner-city youth. (Ono & Pumariega, 2008). • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)(Bertram & Dartt, 2009; Zinzow et al., 2009). • Depression - factors that contribute to depression can be directly connected to low socioeconomic issues prevalent in urban environments, which can result in numerous mental health needs (Roberts, Robinson, Toop, Newman, & Stewart, 2008). • Anti-social behaviors (Nelson, Coleman, & Corcoran, 2010). • Statistics • In 2009, the U.S Department of Justice-Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimated that the number of violent crimes in the United States reached 1,318,398, a 5.3% decrease from 2008 (FBI, 2010). • Zinzow et al. (2009) conducted a national study in which they examined 3,614 teens ages 12-17 who witnessed community violence and domestic violence in relation to teens’ psychiatric outcomes. These authors found that 8.9% of teens reported to have witnessed domestic violence and 37.8% of teens reported to have witnessed community violence. Their findings indicated that community violence was the most common form of violence and that two in five U.S. adolescents have reported witnessing community violence and domestic violence (Zinzow et al., 2009). Furthermore, their study found a relationship between witnessed violence and mental health outcomes with PTSD and Major Depressive Episode significantly associated with witnessing domestic and community violence (Zinzow et al., 2009). • Youth have historically underutilized mental health services due to attached cultural stigma, shame and lack of knowledge (Gulliver, Griffiths, & Christensen, 2010).

3. WORTH Goals • To address such issues the program’s goal is to promote self-worth, teach the importance of mental health wellness, and develop coping skills to help guide them to healthy adulthood. • Expand current counseling services by adding the WORTH Mental Health Program that will offer individual and family therapeutic services as well as support groups and parenting groups. • Increase utilization of mental health services among mentees in the YMC agency. A variety of counseling services will be offered from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm to make services accessible for mentees to attend these sessions. • Promote positive relationships by providing support, help mentees build boundaries, promote self-respect and respect for others. Empower mentees to set realistic goals, and become role models among their peers.

4. Social Work & Cross-cultural Relevance • The relevance of this program to the social work profession is that it advocates for services for disadvantaged inner city youth and promotes social justice. The focus of implementing an early intervention component in collaboration with YMC is to help serve vulnerable minority youth facing poverty, violence, and discrimination in their communities. This collaborative program will raise awareness in the field of social work as well as address barriers that have plagued inner-city youth’s access to services. The implementation of WORTH will meet the unmet need of this community at a time when budget cuts affect money distribution to inner-city programs, which creates more disparities in treatment. Grant writing is an essential skill for social workers in order to help urban communities sustain and create additional mental health services/programs. Competent social workers are needed to provide tailored services for this target population. The goal of these services is to help inner-city youth transition to healthy adulthood; thus, the implementation of accessible mental health services in this community is vital. • Moreover, this project contributes to the field of social work and mental health services by promoting multicultural diversity and competency. The National Association of Social Work Code of Ethics (2008) states that the profession must incorporate knowledge, skills, and values in order to appreciate and respect cultural and ethnic differences, defend and empower those most vulnerable to marginalization and oppression, strive to end discriminatory practice, and promote social justice. As such, inner-city communities are composed of minority members that are often times underserved or unserved, including inner-city youth. The mentees served at YMC and the WORTH program represent an oppressed group of individuals from low socioeconomic status and low educational achievement. • Inner-city participants are usually of minority ethnicity, primarily Hispanic and African-Americans (Tobler, Komro, & Maldonado-Molina, 2009). As a result, practitioners should develop their knowledge of inner-city youth and their environment and incorporate culturally sensitive practices to enhance relatedness (Allen-Meares, 2007). Additionally, Allen-Meares (2007) suggested that a social worker’s culture or understanding of culture could have a significant impact on the delivery of services rendered to their clients. Social workers culture awareness is an essential component that creates a positive therapist and client relationship. Those who lack of cultural awareness can deter the client from engaging (Allen-Meares, 2007). Therefore, the understanding of the unique experiences of inner-city youth will help to enhance the quality, adherence, and participation in the WORTH program.

5. Methods • Target Population • The target population in this project was youth mentees from the Youth Mentoring Connection. The YMC stipulates that in order to receive services, mentees must be between the ages of 12-18 years of age and be currently enrolled in middle or high school. The geographical areas that YMC serves include the Greater Los Angeles area, as well as the surrounding urban areas. According to YMC, (n.d.,) the population they serve is comprised of: 56% Hispanic/Latino youth, 34% African American and 10% Other. The eligibility criteria to receive services from the WORTH program will require that the participating youth is a current mentee at YMC and has an active parental consent on file, which will be obtained prior to the provision of therapeutic services. In order to obtain services, YMC staff can refer mentees to the WORTH program. In addition, the youth will have to voluntarily accept and/or request mental health counseling services by completing a program application. • Strategies used to Identify and select a funding source. • Various funding sources were researched to find the best match for the WORTH program’s purpose, and its population’s needs. Sources that were researched were: Internet websites, libraries databases, private funders, business groups and organizations. The Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership Library was visited to attain access to a national grant database. The grant database offered directories with references to a network of libraries, non-profit organizations, corporations, and foundations. To locate a funder, a search covering the topic of mental health was initiated. A broad list of over 300 foundations and corporations were generated. Additional search terms were used to generate a list of funders that were more in line with geographical boundaries and the program’s needs. Fields of interest that helped refine the search were: “mental health, associations,” “mental health, clinics,” “ mental health, counseling support groups,” “mental health single organization support,” “youth development services,” “youth and social services,” and “crime and violence prevention youth.” • Following a widespread search, 16 results met the criteria for funding the WORTH program. From the 16 results, five were found to be the most compatible: The California Endowment, Mark Hughes Foundation, Sierra Health Foundation, Health Care and Retirement Corporation (HCR) Manor Care Foundation, and Weingart Foundation. The five foundations were then narrowed down to the specific geographic area, field of interest and population. Other foundations were considered however, due to current federal, state and private economic hardships there were limited or no financial resources to start a new program available. • Additional strategies were used for narrowing potential funding sources. These included: browsing the Internet utilizing the following search engines: Google, Yahoo, and Bing. The search terms that were used were: “mental health funding,” “at-risk youth funding,” “social services funding,” “grants,” and “program funding.” Additionally, federal, state and private funding sources were researched including: www.grants.com, www.foundationcenter.com, www.grantsmanship.org and www.fundsnet.com. Many funding sources were considered for this project. The Weingart Foundation was chosen as the funding resource for this project. The Weingart Foundation was the best match as it was best suitable to the population’s needs, funding accessibility, guidelines, area of interest, and population of interest. The following are descriptions of other possible foundation resources that were considered.

6. Methods • Identify the funding source selected • The Weingart Foundation was selected to fund the WORTH mental health program in Los Angeles. This foundation provides funds for non-profit organizations that assist underserved and disadvantaged youth. Their fields of interest include: children and youth services, youth crime and violence prevention, education, human services, family services, recreation, medical and many more. Their purpose is to provide support for community and social services, education and health care all with a strong emphasis on programs for children and youth (The Weingart Foundation, 2011). This foundation funds programs that benefit the whole community and improve the quality of life for individuals. The foundation provides the highest priority to activities which give greater access to people who are economically disadvantaged with particular interests in low-income children and youth. This foundation’s geographical focus is California with limited funding to seven Southern California counties including Los Angeles County. This foundation has also been affected by the current economic crisis nevertheless, is focusing on providing unrestricted grants to organizations that outreach to economically disadvantaged communities. This foundation accepts applications throughout the year. If and when the application is considered it takes approximately six months to have the application reviewed and to obtain notification of the board’s decision. The foundation reported awarding a total of over $37,000,000.00 to different programs and organizations in 2010. • Sources used for the needs assessment • There were numerous sources used to obtain information regarding the needs assessment component of this grant. The following provided statistics and reports that helped identify the need for the WORTH program. State and county sources (e.g., Los Angeles Police Department crime reports, Los Angeles Unified School District dropout rates and California Department of Corrections) were used. Other pertinent data sources included the U.S. Census, Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institute of Mental Health. • Projected budget range and categories • The budget for “Worthy Of Recovery Through Hope” mental health program will require $224,478.00, which is explained in a line – item budget (see Appendix A). The program staff will include a full- time program director, a full time MSW, a full time case manager and a full time administrator assistant. The program will also have four interns, two MSW interns and two BSW interns who will each receive a stipend.

7. Grant Proposal • Program Summary and Description • The WORTH program will be a free of cost mental health service pilot program that will run for a 12-month period. This program will assist the mentees from YMC by providing coping skills to address their mental health issues. Exposure to community violence, delinquency, poverty and lack of resources might impair their social and personal function (Ono & Pumariega 2008). To address such issues the program’s goal is to promote self-worth, teach the importance of mental health wellness, and develop coping skills to help guide them to healthy adulthood. • The WORTH program will address psychological issues including the mentees’ symptoms of anxiety, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, low self-esteem and trauma caused by emotional, physical and/or mental abuse. The program will provide 45-50 minute weekly individual therapy sessions. Family therapy sessions will be offered to those mentees and their families if considered appropriate. Close support groups will be held once a week, and each group will run for a period of eight weeks. The groups will be client focused and will discuss different topics like: anger management, trauma, emotional distress, social skills and any other topics that the youth identify as a barrier for social growth. • Population Served • The WORTH program will be implemented in collaboration with YMC. The WORTH mental health counseling component will focus on providing services to participating mentees at YMC between the ages of 12-18 years old. The program’s primary focus will be, to serve inner-city youth who are currently participating in the mentee/mentor program at YMC. The geographical areas that YMC serves include the Greater Los Angeles area, as well as the surrounding urban areas. According to YMC, the population they serve is: 56% Hispanic/Latino youth, 34% African American youth and 10% who is identified as Other. • Sustainability • For the purpose of this project the WORTH program will be fully funded by The Weingart Foundation. The In-kind support provided by the host agency will be a total of $21,500.00 and this cost will cover office supplies such as: six computers, a printer, a copy machine, fax machine, pens, pencils, paper at $5,000.00. This will also cover rent and utilities at $15,000.00 and to furnish the WORTH program with desks, sofas and file cabinets @ 1,5000.00.

8. Grant Proposal • Program Objectives • The WORTH pilot program will provide free of cost mental health services to mentees from YMC. The WORTH program will not require the mentees to have any type of medical insurance in order to receive services. The expansion of the counseling services at YMC will give mentees a sense of comfort, making WORTH an accessible and convenient service. The WORTH Program will help eliminate the current waiting time a mentee faces when attempting to access counseling services. • The WORTH program will implement interventions like role-playing to help the mentees gain insight on their behaviors and symptoms which may be interfering with their social, home, or school environment. • A culturally and linguistically trained Clinical Social Worker (CSW) will provide individual and family therapy to mentees and their parents. The WORTH will also have BSW interns who will provide case management to the youth and their families by gathering resources and making linkages to community organizations as appropriate. These interns will also assist in co-facilitating the parent group, and orientations. • The program staff will model appropriate behaviors (i.e. positive praises to help build their self-esteem) when building mentee and therapist relationships. The WORTH program will empower the mentees by providing tools to help them take control of their lives and create a meaningful role. • Program Evaluation • The WORTH project will be evaluated on its effectiveness to assist inner-city youth and their families who are involved in the YMC mentoring programs. The project will collect data on each mentee and family served, types of mental health diagnosis, types of services utilized, number of sessions utilized, and reasons the services were provided. Demographic information such as: age, grade level, birth place, family size, living situation, location, social economic status, and length of time of involvement with YMC mentoring services will be collected at intake. Mentees and their parents will be informed that all of their personal information will be confidential and will only be used for the purpose of data collection and funding. Information provided will help staff capture a complete picture of the target population and their needs. Pre- and post-tests will be completed by each mentee every three months to assess the effectiveness of the interventions and the mentees mental health wellness progress. Pre-test will be distributed at the beginning of group and post-test will be distributed at the end of each support group. Additionally, a client satisfaction survey will be issued to all mentees and will be collected after completion of their services. The surveys will be used in evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of the WORTH program, its staff, office space, and their overall experience.

9. Lessons Learned & Implications for Social Work • Lessons Learned • Grant Writing • Identification of Need • Location of Potential Funding Source • Implications for Social Work • The process of writing this grant demonstrates the importance for social workers to develop the skills to create, fund and implement programs that will meet the needs of groups of children, youth, families, individuals and groups. Grant writing can offer the opportunity for social workers to carry out a vision and successfully provide services, advocate for social justice, and guarantee dignity and worth to clients. The ability to write a grant guarantees that the mission and vision of the project can be carried out when serving underserved populations as organizations are all facing financial hardship in the current economy. • Social workers’ current struggle is to provide quality services to a large quantity of clients with little financial support. Often social workers are over worked and take on additional responsibilities to help meet the needs of the target population. Writing this grant provided this writer with the knowledge of operational barriers which helped her better understand the functions of programs, organization and foundations.

10. References Allen-Meares, P. (2007). Cultural competence: An ethical requirement. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 16(3/4), 83-92. doi:10.t300/J051vl6n03_06 Andres-Hyman, R. C., Forrester, A., Achara-Abrahams, I., Lauricella, M., & Rowe, M. (2007). Oppression and empowerment: Perceptions of violence among urban youth. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 17(2), 147-158. doi:10.1002/casp.907 Bertram, R., & Dartt, J. (2009). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: A diagnosis for youth from violent, impoverished communities. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 18(3), 294-302. doi:10.1007/s10826-008-9229-7 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2009).Violent Crime - Crime in the United States 2009. Retrieved from http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/violent_crime/ index.html Gulliver, A., Griffiths, K., & Christensen, H. (2010). Perceived barriers and facilitators to mental health help-seeking in young people: A systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 10(1), 1-9. doi:10.1186/1471-244X-10-113 Nelson, D., Coleman, D., & Corcoran, K. (2010). Emotional and behavior problems in urban and rural adjudicated males: Differences in risk and protective factors. Victims and Offenders, 5(2), 120-129. Ono, Y., & Pumariega, A. J. (2008). Violence in youth. International Review of Psychiatry, 20(3), 305-316. doi:10.1080/09540260801990241 Roberts, K. T., Robinson, K. M., Topp, R., Newman, J., Smith, F., & Stewart, C. (2008). Community perceptions of mental health needs in an underserved minority neighborhood. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 25(4), 203-217. doi:10.1080/07370010802421202 Weingart Foundation. (n.d.). Weingart Foundation: Home. Retrieved September 12, 2011, from http://www.weingartfnd.org/home Youth Mentoring Connection. (n.d.). Youth Mentoring Connection. Retrieved June 16, 2011, from http://www.youthmentoringurbanoasis.org/ Zimmerman, M. A., Stewart, S. E., Morrel-Samuels, S., Franzen, S., & Reischl, T. M. (2011). Youth empowerment solutions for peaceful communities: Combining theory and practice in a community-level violence prevention curriculum. Health Promotion Practice, 12(3), 425-439. doi:10.1177/1524839909357316 Zinzow, H. M., Ruggiero, K. J., Resnick, H., Hanson, R., Smith, D., Saunders, B., & Kilpatrick, D. (2009). Prevalence and mental health correlates of witnessed parental and community violence in a national sample of adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 50(4), 441-450. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.02004.x