Through this project, interface children & family services (interface) will implement its comprehensive violence prevention and intervention program, learn, engage, advocate & partner (leap), at the…

Through this $1,000,000 Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Interface Children & Family Services will implement its comprehensive Learn, Engage, Advocate & Partner (LEAP) violence prevention and intervention program in seven high-need middle and high schools in Oxnard, California. The LEAP program will help equip students, parents, and school personnel with tools to develop healthy communication, coping, and conflict resolution skills, as well as strengthen protective factors to increase overall well-being and school safety. Key activities include facilitating a multi-disciplinary youth violence prevention partnership, conducting community engagement events, and providing 6-month follow-up support for student and parent participants. The project aims to increase school capacity to minimize violence risk, establish clear communication channels among stakeholders, build meaningful youth and family partnerships, and improve overall school climate. This award is made under the STOP School Violence program (CFDA 16.839), which supports school-based violence prevention and intervention efforts across the country.

Through this project, interface children & family services (interface) will implement its comprehensive violence prevention and intervention program, learn, engage, advocate & partner (leap), at the highest need middle and high schools in the city of oxnard, california. Leap will help equip students and parents with the tools needed to develop healthy communication, coping and conflict resolution skills and protective factors aimed at increasing their overall well-being and safety, as well as improve each school's ability to prevent and intervene early concerning incidents of school violence. Leap activities include facilitating quarterly meetings of the multi-disciplinary youth violence prevention partnership advisory committee (including student/parent representatives, interface staff members, representatives from the oxnard police department, ventura county behavioral health, ventura county probation agency, the district attorney's office and school staff); coordinating meet and greet presentations/events on campus for parents, teachers and administrators to begin to create trust among participants; and conducting 6-month follow-UPS with student and parents to not only ascertain the student's current needs, but to also emphasize the partnerships that exists between schools and families. Interface will serve seven schools located in oxnard, california that have the highest numbers of suspensions due to incidents of violence with and without injury, socioeconomically disadvantage students, and english language learners. Interface will measure the progress of student participants via data gathered through adverse childhood experiences (aces)/ pediatric aces and related life-events screener, community assessment tool, and the rosenburg self esteem scale. Expected outcomes include increased capacity of participating schools to minimize risk of violence; clear communication channels established among all stakeholders/committee members, including law enforcement agencies, school personnel/administrators; development of meaningful youth and family partnerships that evolve and inform the project plan and budget; and an improved school climate that supports and respects all students, faculty, staff, and administrators.