Hilary Sohcot-Bass is currently youth development coordinator for the Alameda County Associated Community Action Program (ACAP). ACAP is one of over 1,000 Community Action Agencies (CAA) across the United States providing assistance to low-income families and individuals to help them become stable and self-sufficient. ACAP's service area is greater Alameda County outside of Berkeley and Oakland.
[This article describes the development and goals of the Youth Leadership Council of Alameda County, a youth service delivery system for the neglected, unincorporated communities of Ashland and Cherryland in Northern California.]
Why focus on Communities like Ashland and Cherryland?
Ashland and Cherryland are some of the most ethnically diverse low-income neighborhoods in Alameda County. Although these communities are adjacent to the cities of San Leandro and Hayward, the cities refuse to incorporate them due to their inability to generate substantial tax revenue. Therefore, Ashland and Cherryland are left as "unincorporated areas" that do not have many of the benefits possessed by city neighborhoods.
In 2005 approximately 35,000 people lived in the unincorporated communities of Ashland and Cherryland (Alameda County Public Health Department, Community Assessment, Planning, and Education Unit, 2001). Twenty-five percent of these residents were under the age of 14, and more than 10,000 between ages 15 to 24 (Id.). Forty percent of the 12,574 households had incomes below $30,000 and five percent of adults over 25 are unemployed; both of these statistics are significantly higher than the overall county rates (Id.). Most residents are Latino (35%), followed by White (31%), African American (16%) and Asian/ Pacific Islander (13%)(Id.).
The very diverse local youth population faces multiple health and cultural issues due to major inequities in health care, teen pregnancy, and street violence. According to a 2001 report published by Alameda County Public Health Department, Ashland/Cherryland has one of the highest teen birth rates in Alameda County (51 births to teen mothers for every 1,000 live births) and an overall mortality rate that is seventy percent higher than it is countywide (Id.). Based on a recent 1-page survey of middle and high school students, sixty-one percent of youth say they don't feel their community is safe, forty percent don't feel valued by adults, and the majority see gangs, drugs and alcohol as the leading causes of violence amongst youth (Id.).
Why is Being Unincorporated a Problem?
Despite the magnitude and cost of the youth violence and health issues faced by the Ashland/Cherryland neighborhoods, only limited community capacity building activities have been underway. The community, being unincorporated, lacks adequate public funding, county resources, businesses, after-school activities and structured opportunities. Most of the teens and young adults are not involved in after-school activities due to lack of options such as internships, jobs, sports, community centers or mentoring programs. The academic literature on social disorganization theory and the asset development model has consistently shown that a lack of social cohesion and trust among residents is linked to inadequate external assets, such as structured opportunities for youth, and leads to a higher risk of deviancy and crime. The Boys and Girls Clubs recently reported the importance of caring relationships for youth, in line with abundant research that identifies supportive relationships in youth's lives as a key factor in promoting resilience and healthy development. Since young people aged 13-24 are both the most likely to commit and fall victim to violence, it is vital to provide opportunities, relationships and support for adolescents early on.
Empowering Youth as One Solution
One group that does exist in the Ashland/Cherryland community is the Youth Leadership Council (YLC). The council is based out of the Eden House Apartments, a low-income housing development in Ashland. The YLC's mission is to encourage youth to discover their personal values and goals in order to become positive leaders in their personal lives as well as agents promoting beneficial change within their community. Started in September 2004, the YLC currently consists of approximately twenty middle and high-school students from various schools in the San Lorenzo Unified School district that meets twice a week. At these meetings the youth participate in discussions, activities, and projects focused on youth empowerment, leadership development, conflict resolution, public speaking, communication skills, and mentorship. Recently the YLC, under the guidance of the Alameda County Youth Development Coordinator, Hilary Sohcot-Bass, presented a youth-driven community safety strategy to the Ashland/ Cherryland Violence Prevention committee. This work was spearheaded by County Supervisor Nate Miley's office. The YLC laid out three priorities that they would like to implement in partnership with existing community and county partners (Alameda County Public Health Department, Community Assessment, Planning, and Education Unit, 2004):
- Create a youth center to provide kids age 13-24 with a local space to hang out in after school.
- Find ways to encourage parents to get more involved with their youth, particularly through the schools.
- Assist schools, particularly high schools, in developing more well rounded after school programs to encourage all youth to get more involved in the community.
In addition to these recommendations, the YLC also conducted a survey of approximately two hundred of their peers. Almost eighty percent of the youth surveyed stated that they think having a teen center in their community would help to reduce violence and crime, as well as decreasing other types unhealthy youth decision making. Ashland/Cherryland youth would like to see more positive activities exist at this future center, such as a dance studio, computer lab, game room, and gym (Id.).
To meet this goal the YLC has been presenting their survey findings to many key community members, agencies, and leaders. They have been told that their teen center is now officially in the works. This space may take up to five years to be developed, so the YLC is working on figuring out how to partner with other agencies to bring some temporary activities to the one local community center that does exist. This resource, the Ashland Community Center (ACC), has been primarily used to serve the needs of seniors, ESL families, and elementary school students. The YLC is planning ways to hold more teen-oriented activities at the ACC on Friday nights, such as dance classes, SAT and GED tutoring, music production classes, and lounge-time, The YLC and ACC will be working with the Hayward Area Recreation Department (HARD) and other non-profits to help make this a reality. HARD wants to do what they can to bring options to the youth in their community to deal with issues of violence, crime and teenage pregnancy.
What is the Most Important Goal Needed for Change to Happen?
The YLC's work demonstrates the need for a paradigm shift in how the unincorporated communities exist within the county. Residents of unincorporated areas should not have to suffer the consequences of living within certain boundary lines that cut them off from city services. Youth should not be faced with unkempt streets and inadequate facilities due to the lack of Public Works employees assigned to manage their area. Youth should not have to pay to access the nearest library because it is out of their district. Families should not have to drive their children to Oakland, Berkeley and Castro Valley simply to find childcare, youth programs, and summer activities.
Alameda County needs to design a fully coordinated youth service delivery system so that no child gets left behind in these areas. Problems faced by the schools, the communities they serve, and all of the potential service providers do not respect the borders between incorporated and unincorporated communities. If there was a County service delivery system that provided after school programs and other extended day activities where the teachers were paid to run extra enrichment programs and designated the future teen center as the location where all of the above could happen, it would create a one stop shop where teens could go to access health care, supportive services, referrals and educational assistance. Such a system could resolve many of these problems that exist in these unincorporated communities.
References
Alameda County Public Health Department, Community Assessment, Planning, and Education Unit (2001). Ashland/Cherryland Community Information Book 2001, Oakland, CA: County of Alameda.
Alameda County Public Health Department, Community Assessment, Planning, and Education Unit and Ashland/Cherryland Youth Leadership Council (2004). Ashland/Cherryland Community Survey, Oakland, CA: County of Alameda.