From 2011 to 2012 and as part of the undocumented youth movement, Claudia participated in efforts in support of DACA and in local efforts helping undocumented youth learn about and apply for DACA. From 2012 to 2016, she co-organized annual Youth in Resistance Conferences engaging hundreds of youth each year. Between 2013-2014, Claudia became a trained RJ practitioner by CCEJ and Rita Alfred of the Restorative Justice Training Institute and was part of local efforts against the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline in Orange County. During the same period, she was part of a highly skilled and very effective local deportation defense team, which up to this day, has contributed to the stopping of over 20 deportations.

In 2014, she joined Santa Ana Boys and Men of Color (SABMoC) and launched the Santa Ana Girls and Womxn of Color (SAGWoC) project while becoming a Xinachtli Teaching Circles facilitator and while implementing restorative justice based alternatives to suspensions at Lorin Griset Academy as an RJ Implementation Specialist for the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD). In 2016, RAIZ, SABMoC and SAGWoC merged to form Resilience Orange County. That year, Claudia became the first Director of our Youth Organizing Department and Co-Coordinator of the Orange County Girls and Womxn of Color (OCGWoC) project. Claudia received her Bachelor’s in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine in 2017. She is also a key partner in the Latino-Muslim Unity partnership.

As Executive Director of Resilience O.C., Claudia will continue the organizational commitment to the vision of nurturing a transformative movement and the mission of supporting resilient youth leaders in creating a transformative youth leadership pipeline in Orange County aiming towards social-systemic transformation while promoting healing, trauma-informed and culturally relevant practices that are inclusive of all members of the community. As a team, we honor the commitment and hard work of this powerful and courageous womxn of color, throughout all these years, and look forward to growing as an organization under her leadership.

– The Resilience OC Team

The post Welcome our New Executive Director appeared first on Resilience OC.

Jesus Aguirre Jr. was only 16 years old when he was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison.

His parents had moved to Orange County from L.A. when he was 12 years old, hoping to find a better life for their child, but what they experienced instead was tragically the exact opposite.

His story is a classic composite of how Latino boys, especially those with learning disabilities, begin being over-punished in school and end up over-criminalized in the juvenile justice system.

Jesus Jr.’s parents would frequently plead with school principals to have their son evaluated for a learning disability and be provided the proper support, but instead,  school administrators would simply transfer him to another school and try to rid themselves of the professional responsibility.

Many schools in Orange County don’t know how to help students like Jesus Jr. and instead of developing the capacity to properly serve students with different needs, most schools push these students out into continuation schools.

Due to his learning disability, as a child, Jesus Jr. was frequently suspended for “willful defiance.”

His school records show that, in one school year alone, between October 2005 and October 2006, Jesus Jr. received 32 recorded disciplinary responses, of which 22 were for “willful defiance”, at Buena Park Jr. High School.

His school records also indicate that his in-house and out-of-school suspensions totaled 38 days for that one school year alone. This means that one fifth of his educational days were spent being suspended. Records also show that he was once unlawfully suspended for 14 days in-house for “willful defiance.”

This systemic problem of over-criminalization and over-punishment does not begin in the juvenile justice system. For many youth with learning disabilities like Jesus Jr., the over-criminalization and over-punishment begins in their own school.

Jesus Jr. was ultimately involuntarily transferred more than 10 times before he ended in juvenile hall where his constitutional rights were systematically violated.

Earlier this year, Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the UCI School of Law (a Voice of OC Board Member) and renowned legal scholar, along with the Orange County Public Defender’s Office and Judge Goethal, helped expose the unconstitutional use of jailhouse informants by the OCDA and OC Sheriff’s Department.

We have reason to believe that Jesus Jr.’s case is an example of these unlawful violations by the OCDA due to the fact that police met with a young man that was moved into a wired cell along with Jesus Jr., at juvenile hall, shortly before both young men were “surreptitiously recorded” (as stated by the police reports).

Throughout the four hours they were audio recorded, the young man attempts to make Jesus Jr. talk about a shooting incident in which Jesus Jr. was being incriminated. The police reports document that not only did police admit to meeting with the young man prior to the surreptitious recording, but that the “covert taping of the minors” was authorized by signature of the Director of Juvenile Hall at the time and carried out by several Deputy Juvenile Corrections Officers. The audio file was turned over by Juvenile Hall supervisors to police at the Orange County Probation Department and the police forwarded the file to the OCDA as stated by the police records. All of this was done without notification to the private attorney of Jesus Jr. This unlawful audio recording led to the unconstitutional (as found by an Appeals Court) sentencing of Jesus Jr. to life in prison.

A recent study by Georgetown University found that Latino boys and teens are over-punished, “overrepresented in DA referrals and are underrepresented when it comes to the benefit of having their case dismissed while White youth are experiencing the exact opposite of these situations and are benefitting from lighter outcomes (lighter punishments).”

A prior three-year study by the W. Haywood Burns Institute, conducted from 2010 to 2013, found that there is a problem of Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED) and Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) in Orange County. More specifically, the study found that Black and Latino youth are overrepresented in the Orange County Juvenile Justice system.

This year, the UCI School of Social Ecology released the preliminary key findings from their ongoing Crossroads study, which also focuses on the Orange County Juvenile Justice system. From their initial data, researchers found that informal and formal probation leads to over-monitoring of youth and therefore over-criminalization. The findings are quite shocking for they suggest that contacts with Probation, both informal and formal contacts, increases the risk of negative outcomes for youth; when compared to youth committing the same crimes but with no contact with the juvenile justice system.

The #BringJesusHome committee was formed last year and has worked for several months going through all of Jesus Jr.’s records. The committee has compiled his case study into a report about the school to prison pipeline in Orange County. The report has been made into a play and will be narrated by local youth on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at at Latino Health Access in downtown Santa Ana at 450 W. Fourth Street.

The goal of the event and the #BringJesusHome committee is to secure a pardon by Governor Jerry Brown for Jesus Aguirre Jr. before Christmas of this year.

The school-to-prison pipeline – fashioned together by a myriad of agencies under the same paradigm of punitive punishment – is something that is real to many parents and youth in Orange County, especially for youth and parents of color.

For years, desperate screams have fallen on the deaf ears of our elected officials and echoed in the cold and callous halls of court rooms.

But not anymore.

Families and organizations are coming together in Orange County with the goal to promote and spread the transformative seeds of restorative justice in hopes that one day the systems will shift from their paradigm of punitive punishment into a one that is more humane, practical and just.

Second chances matter and because they matter to our communities, we will rally together until Governor Brown pardons Jesus Aguirre Jr.

For more information about the story of Jesus Aguirre Jr. please read the case study report.

#SecondChancesMatter

#BringJesusHome

Abraham Medina is Director of Santa Ana Boys and Men of Color

“Overcriminalized and Overpunished: Jesus Aguirre Jr. A Case Study of the Orange County School to Prison Pipeline”:

Wednesday, Aug. 12th, 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.  at Latino Health Access, 450 W 4th St #130, Santa Ana;  RSVP,  Melody Gonzalez at melody.gonzalez@sa-bhc.org.

The post Medina: Latino Boys in Orange County are Over-Criminalized, Over-Punished appeared first on Resilience OC.

Contact: Jeff Okey, Communications Manager t. (213) 928-8622 e. jokey@calendow.org

New Fair School Funding Law Projected to Bring More Than $279 Million Funding Increase to Santa Ana Unified by 2021

Parents and Students to Meet with State and Local Education Leaders To Shape Law’s Impact on Santa Ana Schools

Santa Ana, CA – As part of The California Endowment’s 12-city School Success Express bus tour raising awareness about California’s historic new Fair School Funding law, parents and students in Santa Ana will hold a community forum on Tuesday to discuss the new law that will bring California schools more money, more local control and new priorities.

The Fair School Funding law, also known as the Local Control Funding Formula, will increase funding over the next eight years to school districts throughout California, directing the greatest funding increases to districts serving large numbers of low-income students, English learners and foster youth. For example, Santa Ana Unified is projected to receive a 78.9% per-student funding increase as a result of the new law. If student enrollment holds steady, that would result in a district budget increase of more than $279 million per year once the Fair School Funding law takes full effect in the 2020-2021 school year.

“Fair School Funding will make a big difference in Santa Ana,” said Virginia Mosqueda, Building Healthy Communities Santa Ana program manager. “Not only will it bring much needed funds to local school districts, but Fair School Funding will also increase parent involvement in each school district’s decision-making process.”

The forum will be held at Century High School, 1401 S. Grand Ave. in Santa Ana and the public is encouraged to attend. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and the forum will begin at 6:30 p.m. The event will start with a short video explaining the new law, after which students, parents and other community members will provide input to state and local education decision-makers.

“Local Control is a great opportunity for us parents to take a stronger leadership role in our children’s education,” said Guadalupe Celedón, a Santa Ana Unified School District parent. “We live with the ‘low-income students, the English Learners, and foster children’ — they are our children, and we, as parents, understand their needs.”

The Fair School Funding law was approved in July and makes these important changes in how schools are funded and how they plan for the future:

• More Money for Students with the Greatest Needs – Fair School Funding increases dollars to support the needs of students who are low-income, learning to speak English or living in foster homes. Research shows low-income students are five times more likely to drop out than their higher-income peers.

• A Broader Definition of School Success – With Fair School Funding, school districts won’t be judged by test scores alone. To help drive academic success, the law requires schools to develop plans to improve student engagement, increase parent involvement and create more positive learning environments on campus. Fair School Funding requires school district budgets to be aligned with these plans starting in July 2014.

• More Local Control – Fair School Funding gives school leaders and parents more control over spending. Under the new law, they will work together to create achievement plans and budgets to meet the unique needs of students in their communities.

The law helps reverse years of painful cuts in education spending. Local students are expected to be major beneficiaries of the Fair School Funding law, which is based on a complicated formula that includes the number of students enrolled, the number of high-needs students, requirements to reduce class sizes in certain grades and other factors.

The California Department of Finance has issued projections for how funding will increase, and the nonprofit group Education Trust-West used that data to estimate the funding impact for local districts:

School District

Average Daily Attendance (Enrollment)

Low Income, English Learner and Foster Youth Enrollment % (2012-13)

Per-Pupil Funding in 2013-14 School Year

Projected Per-Pupil Funding in 2020-21 School Year

Projected $ Increase in Per-Pupil Funding from 2012-13 to 2020-21

Projected % Increase in Per-Pupil Funding from 2012-13 to 2020-21

Projected $ Increase in Total Funding from 2012-13 to 2020-21

Santa Ana Unified

52,064

92%

$6,800

$12,167

$5,367

78.9%

$279,427,488

Anaheim City

18,815

92%

$6,589

$11,754

$5,165

75.7%

$97,179,475

The Fair School Funding law was approved quickly, and many details are yet to be defined by the California Board of Education. The Board will be making important decisions in early 2014 to give additional guidance to school districts for how money can be spent and how districts will be held accountable under the new law.

“Receiving information from the community is incredibly important to the work of the State Board of Education,” said Michael Kirst, President of the California State Board of Education. “We look forward to hearing from parents, students, administrators and caregivers as we develop regulations to implement the Local Control Funding Formula – an historic shift in how we fund California’s schools.”

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson added, “The core of the new Local Control Funding Formula is just that: local control. Parental and community involvement remains key to student success, perhaps now more than ever. We all need to look closely, together, at the outcomes we want for our students and make sure that all students – no matter where they come from, where they live, or what challenges or opportunities they have – receive a world-class education and graduate ready to contribute.”

The Santa Ana forum is one of 12 School Success Express events planned this fall, with support from The California Endowment. Through its Building Healthy Communities Initiative, The Endowment works with parents, students and community leaders to improve health in underserved neighborhoods across the state. Student health and wellness is an important part of the foundation’s strategy.

“Children can’t learn when they come to school hungry, struggling to breathe because of asthma, or traumatized by violence in their homes or communities,” said Dr. Robert K. Ross, President and CEO of The California Endowment. “We want to give parents and students the opportunity to speak with education policymakers directly about these and other issues that affect student wellness and their ability to stay on track for college and future careers.”

The School Success Express is supported by a wide range of local and statewide community organizations. Local organizations include The Center OC; CLUE Orange County; Kidworks; Latino Health Access; Orange County Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO); Orange County Labor Federation; Santa Ana Boys and Men of Color; Santa Ana College; and Santa Ana Unified School District. Other supporting organizations include ACLU of California; Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles; Bay Area Parent Leadership Action Network (PLAN); Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition; California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc; California State PTA; Californians for Justice; Children Now; Education Trust-West; Families in Schools; Fight Crime Invest in Kids California; Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC); Los Angeles Urban League; MALDEF; PICO California; Public Advocate; and Public Counsel among others.

• For more information on the Local Control Funding Formula, California’s new Fair School Funding law, read the following brief prepared by the California Department of Education (CDE): http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/lc/lcffoverview.asp.

• Learn more about Central Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities athttp://www.bhcconnect.org/health-happens-here/central-santa-ana.

FULL SCHEDULE OF SCHOOL SUCCESS EXPRESS COMMUNITY FORUMS Date                 Community Sept. 30            South Kern Oct. 7               Eastern Coachella Valley Oct. 9               South Sacramento Oct. 22             Richmond Oct. 24             Southwest Merced/East Merced County Oct. 28             Los Angeles Oct. 29             Central Santa Ana *Tonight* Oct. 30             Oakland Nov. 4               East Salinas (Alisal) Nov. 7               Fresno Nov. 9               City Heights (San Diego) Nov. 13             Del Norte & Adjacent Tribal Lands

                                                                                         ###

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