Youth Support Services | Jackson County Combat, MO

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COMBAT-Supported Youth Support Servcies

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ArtsTech has secured funding to upgrade and expand our technology offerings. Youth pod casting, 3-D printing, CAD, Graphic Design using industry standard software, and other new in-demand studio experiences will be available to engage at-risk youth. In addition, ArtsTech is exploring ways to use the gallery space for youth development, anti-violence and healthy lifestyles training, as well as events to support the larger community, including COMBAT-funded agencies and youth throughout Jackson County. ArtsTech is proposing a multipronged approach to reducing-eliminating violence and substance abuse among our most troubled, at-risk youth. Using the evidence-based techniques identified by the CDC, ArtsTech seeks to prevent violence and accompanying substance abuse by providing strength-based strategies of youth development.
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The Bridge Youth Violence Prevention Program (The Bridge YVP) is designed to prevent and reduce factors that put youth at risk of witnessing a violent crime, being a victim of violence and/or making unhealthy choices. The program consists of a series of life skills and leadership development workshops designed to help students develop and employ healthy strategies when dealing with conflicts in everyday life. Workshops topics include communication strategies, goal setting, healthy relationships, positive self-talk, basic self-care and healthy coping mechanisms. The Bridge also provides on-site psychologists who facilitate counseling sessions to address trauma, anxiety and stress, empowering youth to develop behaviors that foster safe and healthy environments for themselves.
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The Calvary Community Outreach Network will expand the Helping Youth Plan for Excellence (HYPE) program to provide trauma assessment and treatment/referral services aimed at improving the wellbeing of youth. HYPE will provide additional after-school and evening classes that integrate STEM, Visual & Performing Arts, Nutrition and Healthy Living practice. Through this COMBAT funding we will add a Crisis Intervention Counselor and skilled program instructors to our staff. These staff members will be able to provide increased service delivery, including assessment, screening, referrals and follow-up. Youth will have constructive free-time activity and outlets for positive expression. We will also be able to recruit and mobilize community leaders whose voices resonate in the hearts of their congregations.
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CWCKC will provide services to children ages 5-13 impacted by trauma: 1) reducing time out of school for all students by lowering the rate of in and out of school suspensions; 2) reducing disruptions in the classroom due to trauma-related behaviors and incidents; 3) increasing the consistent use of school-selected strategies by classroom teachers to serve students impacted by trauma; 4) increasing student achievement among students impacted by trauma; and 5) improving the awareness and understanding of the parent community about the impact of trauma and our schools' approaches to serving students impacted by trauma. A majority of students at CWCKC are living in poverty from across the KCPS district boundaries. Some students live with trauma in their home or neighborhood; experience food insecurity routinely; have little or no quality early childhood education before entering kindergarten.
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In 2023, EarlystART anticipates serving up to 230 students (age six weeks to 5 years) and their families through its early childhood educational centers in the urban core of Kansas City. EarlystART provides a child-centered, play-based curriculum taught by highly credentialed teachers in an arts-infused environment. EarlystART's wrap-around services also enhance family stability, encourage strong parent-child relationships, and contribute to the children's overall development and education. The primary purpose of the program is to engage families and young children with healthy social-emotional regulation and coping techniques to reduce and prevent violence. EarlystART provides an environment in which children and their families feel secure, and is committed to providing a safe and stable place for all students to learn and grow.
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DeLaSalle's Block37 program offers 220 at-risk high school students a safe space, positive adult role models and access to activities that promote positive social, emotional and educational outcomes for students. Our program gives students the protective factors they need to mitigate risky behaviors (e.g. violence,drug-alcohol use, cyber-bullying, etc.) and strengthens their engagement in school. Through internships provided on-site at DeLaSalle Education Center (DeLaSalle) and partner organizations, teens gain real work experience and learn new skills while earning an hourly stipend. Focus areas are arts; science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM); sports; communication; and entrepreneurship.
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The Eastern Jackson County Schools Collaborative of Greater Kansas City (EJCSC-GKC) is a joint effort among the school districts of Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove and Lone Jack create to address the prevention of violence among our youth and families in Eastern Jackson County. All school-aged children within our collaborative who are identified to be at-risk of violent, either to themselves or others, are eligible for services. All prevention services are guided by our district psychologist, who acts as our Prevention Services and Drug Abatement Coordinator (PSDAC). Services include the implementation of the SOS Signs of Suicide Prevention Program and the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.
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The high rate of juveniles involved in criminal activities in Jackson County creates an increased risk factor associated with violent behavior and drug use for teens. The Eastern Jackson County Youth Court exists to hold juvenile offenders accountable for delinquent behavior; to provide positive peer-led restorative justice, which promotes leadership and positive youth behavior; to increase juvenile offenders' knowledge and enhance refusal skills to avoid criminal behavior, including violent acts and drug use; and to reduce repeated criminal behavior and involvement in the criminal justice system. The Eastern Jackson County Youth Court (EJCYC) is a juvenile prevention peer court that provides immediate sanctions for juvenile offenders.
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Community Connections Youth Project (CCYP) was created out of a need to support youth who were at risk of aging-out of the foster care system without having been adopted or placed with a family. Studies have shown youth who age out of foster care have a higher risk of facing homelessness, abuse-neglect, lack of employment and low education obtainment, among other factors. CCYP is a voluntary case management program offered by FosterAdopt Connect to serve older foster youth and young adults who recently aged-out of foster care (ages 17-26). The overall goal of the program is to connect clients to services and resources they need to be successful as adults—and to mitigate many of the circumstances that lead to negative lifetime outcomes for people who have experienced significant childhood trauma. CCYP's overall goal is to assist these young people in achieving the short-term goals that pave the way for future success and a lifetime of positive outcomes.
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The Kansas City Workforce Development Board will continue to use “Career Systems of Support” or “Career SOS” to provide job training, employment, and support services managed through the Full Employment Council. Career SOS utilizes the support services offered through the various programs funded and managed through the Full Employment Council, as well as the supports services offered through the various COMBAT-funded programs. FEC established the “SOS Partnership Portal” to allow partners to refer job-ready clients. The SOS portal enables referring COMBAT agencies to refer clients to FEC that have been determined “ready for job training, support and employment services." This unique portal allows COMBAT agencies to refer clients who meet the criteria established for career readiness, training and employment support services without interruptions that could be caused through recurrence of trauma episodes that result from them being a victim of crime.
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The Girl Scouts Outreach Program brings the full Girl Scout experience to girls in underserved areas. We have traditionally partnered with afters-chool programs connected to schools in the lowest income areas with a weekly in-person program for each program level. Our program has emphasized the key program areas for Girl Scouts (STEM, Life Skills, Entrepreneurship, Civic Engagement and Outdoor Learning) and has included field trips and camp. The program will serve an estimated 800 girls in grades K to 12 living in the lowest-income neighborhoods of Kansas City, Missouri.
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The Heart of America Council's Scouting program, by emphasizing ethics and moral values, prepares youth to be leaders, to accept responsibility, and to care about causes beyond their own self-interest. Scouting provides a series of surmountable obstacles—and the necessary steps to overcoming the obstacles—in order to advance in rank. This approach, and the resiliency it helps develop, provides invaluable life lessons at an early age. In addition, Our ScoutsBSA program introduces the Crime Prevention Merit Badge where Scouts explore the role and value of laws in society with regard to crime and crime prevention. Each Scout will progress through the Crime Prevention Merit Badge requirements and participate in the "Drugs: A Deadly Game Choose to Refuse" booklet.
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High Aspirations (HA) is a Kansas City, Missouri, non-profit organization, providing a proactive mentoring program to address the social, emotional, academic and spiritual needs of Black males ages 8-18 in the city's urban core. Preventing negative behaviors including violence prevention continues is an essential organizational focus. A COMBAT funding supports key components of HA's leadership programming, delivering youth violence prevention messaging, supporting academic success, inspiring leadership and promoting service learning. HA's leadership program meets COMBAT's priorities: encouraging abstention from violence and negative influences. During 2023, HA will continue to grow in capacity by growing by one third and adding a Sunday 2-hour session raising its capacity to 210 mentees and adding additional interns, mentor's and mothers to encourage more men and young boys and literally strengthen their “High Aspirations.”
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The high rates of juveniles involved in criminal activities in Jackson County create an increased risk factor associated with violent behaviors and alcohol and drug use for teens. The Independence Youth Court (IYC) exists to hold juvenile offenders accountable for delinquent behaviors; to provide positive peer-led restorative justice, which promotes leadership and positive youth behavior; to increase juvenile offenders knowledge and enhance refusal skills to avoid criminal behavior, including drug use and violent activities; and to reduce repeated criminal behavior and involvement in the juvenile criminal justice system.
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The Ivanhoe Safety and Resilience Initiative seeks to increase neighborhood strengths through positive activities, life skills development and instilling pride in self, family and community. Our clients include youth, family and supporting neighborhood residents. Education and enrichment programs provide youth and families with life skills and tools that promote healthy habits and reduce incidence of violent behavior.
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Much more than dance programming, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey's (KCFAA) AC and ACTG programs help students, primarily underserved youth of color, develop their social-emotional and coping skills, strengthen relationships, deepen community engagement and improve related skills. AileyCamp is KCFAA's school-based program for middle school-age youth. The AileyCamp The Group is an after-school community-based program held at KCFAA in the historic 18th & Vine Jazz District of Kansas City. ACTG serves high school-aged graduates of AC. It supports these graduates as they continue their personal development through group discussion, forums and opportunities to explore local diverse cultural institutions, while also gaining dance experience year-round.
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The Kanas City Youth Court began operating in Kansas City in 1992 and is a Peer Diversion Program based on a national teen court model that has been proven to reduce recidivism in the referred youth who participate in the program. Our student-run court receives referrals from the Kansas City Police Department, Jackson County Family Court and the Hickman Mills School District. We are a diversion program of the Jackson County Family Court that seeks to provide young offenders an opportunity to be mentored by their peers as they accept responsibility and make amends for the harm they perpetrated to victims and the community.
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The purpose of the Kansas City Truancy Court is to ensure that children between the ages of 7 and 17 are in school as mandated by law. The Truancy Intervention Program (TIP) is designed to improve the school attendance of youths who are referred to the program by their school districts and to empower parents and guardians who were cited for their children not attending school. With COMBAT grant funding, Kansas City Municipal Court can contract with a community agency to provide needed case management services to Truancy Court parents-guardians and their children. The Case Manager provides case management services, linkages, resources and follow-up services to the families who choose to participate in the program rather than receive an imposed sanction by the Truancy Court Judge.
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Since 2010 MINDDRIVE has offered STEM project-based, experiential learning programs to over 1,000 underserved urban teens out of school and during the school day, providing pathways to post-secondary training, certification and/or education. Our students work with adult role models to acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Since 2018 MINDDRIVE has collaborated with public charter schools for school-day STEM classes at our facility, with credits toward graduation. The number of daytime students has increased sevenfold from 35 in 2018 to 250-plus today.
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The Northeast Community Center's (NECC) five-building campus has been an anchor in Kansas City's Historic Northeast District for over 80 years, supporting families with connections to safety net services throughout the community. In 2015, NECC launched its flagship program for students K-12: Harmony Project KC (HPKC), the fifth affiliate of the evidence-based Harmony Project in Los Angeles. Our program has grown from 33 students in 2015 to 300 today. The goal of HPKC is to harness the transformative power of music through year-round music lessons, orchestral participation and mentorship, increasing access to higher education for underserved students by removing systemic barriers to achievement through academic and social support.
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Whatsoever Youth Services is a violence prevention-substance abuse program that provides support and opportunities for participants to achieve academic success, while building a solid foundation for a productive future. The purpose of the program is to increase school success, self-esteem, social-life skills, leadership and peer resistance, and to build positive relationships with adults. These protective factors help reduce the amount of violence and drug-related crime, substance use and abuse. The Youth Services Program supports participants academically and socially by providing them with challenging and engaging cognitive activities. Critical thinking skills are developed by integrating multiple disciplines together through project-based learning.
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Project SAFE is Rose Brooks Center's school-based violence prevention program for children in Jackson County, reaching youth of all ages—from preschool through high school senior year. Project SAFE carries out the mission to end the cycle of domestic violence by reaching at-risk youth in grades pre-K through 12th before they make the life choices that can reproduce the cycle of violence. Project SAFE helps students identify and develop resiliency tools and emotional management skills necessary to build safety awareness, ultimately helping youth avoid future violence perpetration or victimization and other unhealthy, unsafe life experiences.
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The Urban Ranger Corps (URC) provides youth programming to boys and young men grades 7th-12th, ages 12 to 18, with a unique opportunity to develop the appropriate life skills necessary for them to become successful and contributing members of society. Since its inception, URC has worked to ensure that rangers are given the opportunity to become productive citizens by understanding the value of education, work and ethics. Enrichment classes have been held on drug and violence prevention, including alternative ways to deal with peer pressure relating to substance abuse, bullying and violence.
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Whatsoever Youth Services is a violence prevention-substance abuse program that provides support and opportunities for participants to achieve academic success, while building a solid foundation for a productive future. The purpose of the program is to increase school success, self-esteem, social-life skills, leadership and peer resistance, and to build positive relationships with adults. These protective factors help reduce the amount of violence and drug-related crime, substance use and abuse. The Youth Services Program supports participants academically and socially by providing them with challenging and engaging cognitive activities. Critical thinking skills are developed by integrating multiple disciplines together through project-based learning.
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Youth Ambassadors aims to prevent teen violence through specialized training courses in health and wellness, youth entrepreneurship, community development, life and job skills, and creative expression. Training courses occur in conjunction with an evidence-based social emotional learning curriculum, along with a specific focus on skills attainment and violence prevention. Ambassadors who master the curriculum are promoted to participate in community impact projects that include maintaining community gardens, leadership on community health projects such as the Teen Peace Summit, public art murals, and neighborhood clean-ups. Youth Ambassadors has two primary objectives that establish the framework for all services: 1) youth strengthen their cognitive coping and processing skills that promote social and emotional health and wellbeing; 2) youth become better prepared for future employment and educational opportunities through the development of skills that increase overall job readiness.
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