Bridging Community, Research, and Action: An Emerging Center on Latino Youth Development

• NCJ Number: 215825
• Author(s): Angela Gallegos-Castillo Ph.D.; Vanessa Patino MPA
• Date Published: August 2006
• Length: 6 pages
• Corporate Author: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Sale Source: National Council on Crime and Delinquency
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: From FOCUS, August 2006; downloaded October 5, 2006.

Annotation

This is an update on the community conversations held across California with Latino community stakeholders on the status of Latino youth and the creation of a Center on Latino Youth Development.

Abstract

On a given day, there are approximately 18,000 Latino adolescents incarcerated in the United States. In 2003, more than 8,000 of them were in California. In California, Latino children and youth are more likely to live in poverty than children of any other ethnic group. Latino adolescents drop out of school at rates as high as 50 percent in some districts or graduate from high school unprepared to go on to college. With the goal of creating a clearinghouse, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency convened California Latino community-based organizations, public officials, academics, policymakers, adolescents, and parents at three regional planning meetings to listen to their concerns, priorities, and recommendations on a Center on Latino Youth Development. Participants felt strongly that the Center's approach to youth development and violence prevention be guided by the principles of social and restorative justice. Strategies for supporting youth must integrate family and community, the spiritual, and the cultural, while acknowledging the diversity within Latino communities. Under these criteria, the Center on Latino Youth Development can function as a clearinghouse of information on best practices, evaluation, fund development, and community assessment tools. It can also convene individuals and organization that are working to improve outcome for Latino youth in the United States. Further, it can inform national foundations and government agencies about the needs of Latino youth, and it can be a community advocate for increased community participatory research. Community input regarding the needs of Latino youth and the development of the Center involved over 150 individuals, including youth, parents, and community-based organizations representing multiple fields.