Opportunity Knocks (O.K.) Today

formerly known as Project Heavy West


Activity Location:


"Vera Davis Center" - Venice.
610 California Avenue, right at the corner of California and Electric
(a block east of Abbot Kinney Blvd.)
Phone: (310) 574-1355


Steve Singleton, M.A.

Steve is the Youth Advocacy Program (YAP) supervisor for O.K. today,
who will gladly provide you all necessary information.
Click on his image to send an email.
Please mention "Youth Advocacy Program" as your topic.

General:

YAP, or Youth Advocacy Program, has been around for about eight years. A joint creation of the L.A. City Attorney's Office and LAPD, the program embraces the OK Today mission of providing services to divert youth from delinquency and break the cycle of continued offenses that eventually lead to more serious crimes and incarceration.

With YAP, "first time offenders" are offered counseling in lieu of an appearance in Juvenile Court.

How it works:

  • During a youth's "cite-back" interview with a Juvenile Detective
    following an arrest (usually a few days later),
    the detective making the determination to refer to YAP
    will call the participating YAP agency for that LAPD division
    to set up an intake interview for the youngster and parent.
    Appropriate referral forms are then made part of the youth's arrest file
    and forwarded to the YAP agency.
  • Included in the packet are several copies of the referral form
    with the bottom section blank, to be filled out by the agency,
    first to verify that the client-family did, in fact, show
    for the intake as instructed (or not), and then, at the end of the required number of sessions (usually ten),
    the agency sends back another copy of the form indicating
    that the client did (or did not) successfully complete the program.
  • If successful, the youth's arrest is then never filed
    with the Juvenile Justice System and there is no official "record"
    (though, the arrest remains in LAPD computers
    and will register as such if the individual is arrested again).
  • If unsuccessful, LAPD files the matter with L.A. County Juvenile Court
    —an action that could theoretically lead to probation or detention
    in a juvenile facility.

      Some details:

      The City Attorney has set the required number
      of YAP counseling sessions at ten and requires parent participation
      in "parent education", similar to the basic format
      of the OK Today model.

      This is no coincidence, since OK Today was closely consulted
      as the program was planned, with the City Attorney
      using OK Today's Parent Education program and counseling/case management format
      as the design selected for the program when it was implemented city-wide.

      On the west side of L.A. (LAPD's West Bureau)
      OK Today was and still is, the sole service-provider for YAP.
      YAP clients are seen in each of OK Today's field offices
      and at the Main Office in West L.A. and provide a steady flow
      of clients for our Parent Education Program since the late 1980's.

      OK Today case managers have offered either individual and/or group counseling
      to YAP clients with a consistent success rate
      (no re-arrests in the 12 months following completion)
      of around 90% (some years better!) for over ten years.

      THE FAMILY DEVELOPMENT NETWORK:

      Since the 1980's, "human services" in the Los Angeles region
      has largely been funded by "block grant" funds
      provided by the Federal Government to individual states
      that then funnel the monies to local principalities through various conduits.

      In the City of Los Angeles, that conduit is the Community Development Department, or CDD.
      Every funding cycle, (usually every 1-3 years),
      CDD issues a "Request for Proposals" or RFP,
      open to any 501C-3 Non-profit interested in providing services in the city.

      Each non-profit agency submits proposals
      that are then scored and ranked competitively by CDD.
      Funds are then awarded based on successful scores,
      and based on the amount of money available.

      Since the funding is specifically targeted to poverty/low-income populations
      (as defined by Federal guidelines), and since L.A. is so populous,
      the city is broken down into "Community Improvement Planning Areas"
      with blocks of funds divided up according to census data on said populations.

      For the current funding cycle, FY 2000, it was decided
      to overhaul the human services delivery system. Instead of funding individual agencies or even collaborations,
      agencies within each CIPA had to form together as a network,
      with each client/family seeking services able to access the resources of the entire network at any one point.

      These networks were to focus on supporting entire families,
      not just individuals, hence their designation as "Family Development Networks" or FDN's.
      In addition, each FDN was specifically directed in the RFP
      to incorporate their area's YAP services. In CIPA 5,
      (L.A.'s Westside; roughly from La Brea Blvd, to the beach and Pacific Palisades to LAX—essentially LAPD's West Bureau),
      existing service providers got together and decided the Career Planning Center would provide leadership
      for a proposed FDN, with OK Today serving as the prime subcontractor for YAP services.
      This, indeed, was the proposal that was selected.

      Thus, OK Today's Youth Advocacy Program continues to function
      with its clients now having full access to the resources of the entire network---from the Venice Family Clinic,
      the poverty/homeless assistance of the St. Joseph Center, help with immigration issues
      through the LRO (Latino Resource Organization) or any other FDN resource.

      THE VERA DAVIS MCCLENDON CENTER:

      One of the primary "field offices" of OK Today is the "Vera Davis Center" in Venice.
      At 610 California Avenue, right at the corner of California and Electric (a block east of Abbot Kinney Blvd.),
      the center is in the heart of what used to be the "industrial" area of Venice
      when there were railway tracks down Electric Avenue.
      Serving the "City of Venice" as its one and only Public Library from 1924,
      until the new library was completed on Venice Blvd.,
      in 1994, the building at 610 California was declared a California Historical Site in the 1980's.

      Vacated at the same time as the community was trying to recover from a devastating bout of gang violence
      (51 shootings in 18 months), there was a compelling demand for the City to provide a facility
      that truly belonged to the community; that could stand for peace and civic healing.

      The Old Library seemed the perfect place.
      However, few of those activists calling for the center were backed by any organizational entity.

      Reflecting the desires of their clients, agencies such as OK Today,
      Venice Family Clinic and Venice Community Housing Corporation as well as the fledgling "Venice for a Positive Change"
      banded together to present their case to City Council and CDD
      and be the responsible entity that could help such a center function in the name of the local residents.

      One of the agencies in the group was "LIEUCAP"
      one of the pioneering shelters for battered women in the City of L.A.,
      founded by long-time activist Vera Davis-McClendon.

      As the process of remodeling the building and securing funding was coming to a close
      and the center was to be designated as an official L.A. City Youth and Family Center
      (joining six other such centers throughout the city), Ms. Davis fell ill and passed away.
      Shortly thereafter, when the newly refitted center was to open, the decision to name the center after Vera,
      in honor of her 5 decades of service to the community, seemed to be the only obvious choice.

      Today, the Vera Davis Center is home to Project HEAVY West, Latino Resource Organization,
      Venice Arts Mecca, Tech Team Computer Learning Center and the L.A. Department of Aging,
      with a variety of other agencies and programs utilizing the center for classes, events and community meetings.

      Through Lead Agency OK Today, the L.A. Bridges Mark Twain Collaborative is headquartered there
      and many of its programs and field trips use the Vera Davis "Family Resource Center" as its focal point.
      Wired for the New Millennium, the Center has its own bank of community-access computers
      as well as the state-of-the-art education and maintenance programs of the Tech Team computer lab
      and the graphic arts computers of Venice Arts Mecca.
      Stop by any summer afternoon, and see the range of people who frequent the site; from toddlers creating crayon-art
      to teens creating computer-generated music to seniors meeting for social groups.

      In January 2000, a "Peace Wall" was built from donated materials
      and decorated with community-painted tiles abutting the west wall of the building.
      Soon there will be still more improvements, all initiated by local residents
      committed to furthering peace and community in Venice.
      There are still problems, but the "Vera Davis Center" and those who support it, are part of the solution.

      Please click on the envelope below to send an email

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