Comprehensive Education for Latinx Families in Washington County https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2021/comprehensive-education-for-latinx-families-in-washington-county https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

Comprehensive Education for Latinx Families in Washington County

Additional Information
Used for	Adelante Mujeres’ Education Department programmatic services address the educational disparities in the Latinx community which serve as toxic hindrances to a just society. We not only provide the tools of education to our families, but we combine them with proactive healing and leadership skills to ensure both the social-emotional health and educational well-being of our participants. With your support, this suite of education services will support 963 individuals across the family spectrum to access educational opportunities and build life skills and a love of learning.
Benefits	Adelante Mujeres acknowledges that many of our participants and staff have experienced some level of cultural and/or historical trauma as immigrants to the U.S and research shows that Latinx children are disproportionately experiencing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Experiencing ACEs during childhood can significantly harm a child’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development and in adulthood, trauma has been linked to alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, suicide, obesity, and other physical and mental health risks, additionally, adults who have experienced ACEs may struggle with unemployment, lower educational attainment, and poverty.  At Adelante Mujeres. we combat the negative effect of ACEs and trauma, by helping to build a thriving community of Latinx learners and leaders that have access to equitable education opportunities.
Proposal Description	In Washington County, where Adelante Mujeres provides services, 9.1% of total residents are impoverished with 29.5% of impoverished individuals identifying as Latino. This is significant given that Latinos/Hispanics comprise only 16.5% of the entire Washington County population (Data USA, 2019). Currently, over 50% who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Washington County identify as Latino. Adelante is seen as a trusted, safe community organization with 19 years of culturally specific expertise working in educational programming. To create a space in which individuals and families can thrive and where learning is encouraged, we focus, through a bicultural and intersectional lens, on engagement and interaction in a supportive and safe environment.  Our education programming includes: Adult Education: Our founding program serves over 50 adult learners, women of color, and their families annually, with GED instruction, English language development, Trauma-Informed Care, and leadership classes. We pair these services with our ECE program to offer a 2-generation (2Gen) approach. Early Childhood Education (ECE) Program provides quality culturally-specific services in 8 public classrooms to support over 100 immigrant children to address prevailing educational disparities in Washington County. Chicas Youth Development (Chicas) Program began in response to Latinx, immigrant mothers who expressed the need for a safe space to support the social, emotional, and academic development of their daughters in order to reduce teen pregnancy, high school drop-out, substance use, and domestic violence. We serve over 700 female and non-binary Latinx youth in grades 3-12 at 26 schools (27 sites) throughout Washington County, OR. Beyond Trauma supports the Latinx community of Washington County to heal and develop proactive strategies to address conflict compassionately. Beyond Trauma is a 32-hour workshop that helps people to develop proactive strategies to address and overcome conflict and personal and familial trauma. This program has just launched a mental health initiative to connect program participants to culturally-responsive, affordable and accessible mental health services and alternative healing modalities that include ancestral and indigenous practices. Family Engagement is part of our 2Gen approach that promotes healthy attachment, bonding, child development and learning for children and parents/caregivers within Adelante’s culturally-responsive educational programs. To prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) with preschoolers and school-age children, culturally-responsive parent education series are offered to help families expand their knowledge about child development, build effective parenting skills and strengthen parent-child relationships to enhance a child’s health, development, and school readiness. We served 164 families last year. Education Objective: Our Education Department objective is to build a thriving community of Latinx learners and leaders that have access to equitable education opportunities. Activities: Serve approximately 50 women in 3 AE classrooms (25hrs/week, 36 weeks) with Parenting Education, Beyond Trauma, GED, English, and Leadership. Serve approximately 100 children in 8 ECE classrooms: 4 preschools and 5 Early Head Start (year-round). Afterschool programming for 700 Latinx girls at 26 schools. Provide Beyond Trauma, trauma-informed, workshops to the participants across our Education programs. Support 113 families through Family Engagement services. Outcomes: Early Childhood Education: 90% of preschool students will successfully transition and graduate by meeting or exceeding the nine developmental areas needed for kindergarten readiness. 85% of ECE children will increase at least one level in all developmental areas according to Teaching Strategies Gold assessment.    Adult Education: 80% of our Adult Education students meet or exceed the English-Language Benchmark on the CASAS reading exam. 85% of participants will understand the behavior of their children and their development as they grow.    Chicas Youth Development: 90% of Chicas participants will be promoted to the next grade. 85% of Chicas participants will report positive changes in overall well-being, confidence, and college aspirations as measured by end of the year survey. Beyond Trauma: 80% of Beyond Trauma participants will report that the amount of stress and anger in their lives has significantly decreased and they can now manage daily challenges with increased serenity.  90% of all participants will report gaining a broader understanding of the link between past events and the way they manage current conflict with individuals. Family Engagement: 85% of all participants will report improved behavior in their children after completing the Parenting series.  85% of participants will report improvement in their own parenting skills, knowledge and behavior after completing the Parenting series. To measure our success, our strategies include:  Outcome-based measurements. Teacher observations that are recorded weekly for parent-child interactions and learning. Quarterly parent focus groups. Annual parent retrospectives. Parents complete surveys on how they feel the curriculum has impacted their family and their child and what tools they have gained, as well as any obstacles they encountered To create a space in which Chicas youth can thrive and where learning is encouraged, we focus, through a bicultural and intersectional lens, on four main benchmarks: engagement, interaction, supportive environment, and safe environment.