The Centro’s current initiatives include protecting the educational rights and improving the educational attainment of Latino students, working to promote just immigration and refugee policies and practices, and conducting health education and research to address health problems experienced by Idaho Hispanics, by documenting factors contributing to these health issues, and to recommend culturally appropriate interventions for eliminating and/or reducing Idaho Hispanic’s health risks.
Education
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT – PARENTS AS PARTNERS PROJECT
2005-2006 - Major Accomplishments
DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION CHARTER SCHOOL
EDUCATION POLICY PROJECT
LATINO INTERCOLLEGIATE LEADERS OF IDAHO (LILI)
LATINO PARENT INVOLVEMENT – PARENTS AS PARTNERS PROJECT
This project is based on the Mexican American Legal Defense Education Fund’s (MALDEF)
The program offers a 16-session curriculum in English and Spanish that includes procedures, forms, and best practices to successfully implement and sustain a parent leadership program. The curriculum includes components on parent rights and responsibilities; structure and function of school; the parent / teacher partnerships; understanding group processes; principles of leadership; and information that prepares parents to help their children prepare for postsecondary educational opportunities.
Idaho
In February of 2004, Mr. Frank Molina a trainer from MALDEF was invited to facilitate a train-the-trainer session on the Parents as Partners curriculum for five members of our Board of Directors, five representatives from the Idaho Migrant Council, a bilingual teacher from the
In May, 2004 over 55 school districts with a significant number of Latino/ELL, were invited to attend a statewide conference to discuss becoming a project partner. Districts were requested to help in identifying at least 4 to 6 parents to attend our inaugural conference that took place on September 17, 2004, as part of the Hispanic Issues Training Conference, in
Each participating districts sponsored said parents to attend the conference by agreeing to pay travel costs and a $100 registration fee for parents. The Center for Community and Justice provided a stipend for parents to attend, and copies of all project materials, including training manuals in English/Spanish for all parent participants.
Approximately 75 parents and 14 school liaisons from 10 different school districts attended the September 2004 conference. At the conclusion of the conference each parent group and their respective district liaison representative, agreed to meet with their school liaisons to determine their willingness/interest in participating in the project, decide on a tentative implementation schedule, and to recruit additional Latino families to participate in local parent involvement groups.
Between October of 2004 and May of 2005, the Center worked with parent groups in the
2005-2006 - Major Accomplishments
In September of 2005, the Center once again invited districts to attend a statewide conference focusing on issues important to Latino parents. On September 29th & 30th 2005 the second Latino Parent involvement conference hosted by CCJ took place on the campus of the
The conference was sponsored in collaboration with: the
Between October of 2005 and June of 2006, the Center provided over 75 two-hour sessions of parent involvement training for approximately 500 Latino parents in 10 school districts. Parent groups were organized in
Partnership Process
Centro makes direct contact with interested school administrators and Latino parents in interested school district. Community meetings are organized and presentations made regarding the Parents as Partners Project. If parents and school administrators are interested they are asked to help determine dates, and times for meetings. School staff notify and invite parents, arrange meeting space in schools, and make copies of training materials in Spanish/English. CCJ provides at no cost, certified bilingual (Spanish/English) parent educator, curriculum & ongoing technical assistance to district & Latino parent group.
DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION CHARTER SCHOOL
The Center for Community and Justice (CCJ), has been working with a group of parents, educators, and community members to establish a bilingual, dual language immersion, English and Spanish, charter school in
The goals of the proposed school are to achieve bilingual proficiency & bi-literacy at or above grade level, develop multicultural awareness and knowledge, and to promote social justice.
This project proposes to develop a new approach for English speaking children who do not have opportunities to become proficient in a second language at school. In addition the proposed school hopes to recruit half its population from families where Spanish is spoken and children are losing their first language and culture. Maintaining both will help them learn English and achieve higher levels of academic literacy in two languages. Historically English language learners have lower achievement of English literacy.
Statistically, students who participate in dual language immersion programs show high academic achievement in all academic subjects and greater performance on tasks of divergent thinking (creativity). Students will broaden their understanding of other cultural groups and be better prepared for the global economy.
The school will offer dual immersion program that integrates academic instruction presented in two languages. Instruction will be provided in Spanish for 50-90% of the day, with only one language used at one time. The school will enroll Kindergarten and 1st graders the first year it opens. As students progress, an additional grade will be added until 8th grade.
EDUCATION POLICY PROJECT
The Center has for several years been active in promoting policy efforts to address the academic and English language acquisition needs of Latinos, and other students that have traditionally struggled to achieve academically and to succeed in
Since the mid-1970’s, our staff and board members have played a part in almost every educational policy decision affecting Latino and English language learner students (ELL’s) in the state.
Our accomplishments include:
- Successful efforts to convince state education agencies to disaggregate student data by ethnicity
- Efforts to gain legislative approval and funding for the Idaho Minority and At-Risk Scholarship
- Efforts to establish the State Limited English Proficient (LEP) Supplemental Appropriation to fund programs for ELL students in
- Creation and funding for the “Grow Our Own Teachers Program” a program that offers scholarships for individuals interested in obtaining a English as a Second Language or Bilingual Education teaching certification; and
- Partnership with
In addition, our members have been involved in almost every major study and task force appointed to address the needs of these students, and responsible for promoting stricter legislative oversight and accountability of state and federal programs that fund local services for Latino and ELL students.
Current Policy Concerns
- Gap between Hispanic and ELL students and White students on ISAT
- Quality of educational instruction being provided to Hispanic and ELL students
- Lack of ethnic and linguistically diverse students in Charter Schools
- Lack of needs based scholarships in
- Persistently high dropout rate
- Retention rates of Latinos in
- Assessing non-resident tuition rates on immigrant students who meet instate residency requirements.
LATINO INTERCOLLEGIATE LEADERS OF IDAHO
Beginning in October of this year, the Center for Community and Justice supported the reestablishment of a statewide Latino/a collegiate organization. Such an organization had previously been organized by the Center in the mid-1990’s however, during the past few years the organization had ceased meeting/functioning. Latino students from all institutions private and public colleges and universities in
The mission of LILI, is to promote and improve opportunities for Latinas/Latinos and other underrepresented individuals and communities, in higher education. Their vision is to create a sense of unity among Latina/Latino collegiate students that encourages their sustained involvement with efforts to empower, advocate, and increase resources for the recruitment and retention of underrepresented students into colleges and universities.
The purpose of the group includes:
- Increasing the number of Latinos involved in student government
- Helping/mentoring younger Latino youth to start making college an expectation;
- Working with respective colleges/universities regarding retention of Latino student in postsecondary institutions;
- Addressing the issue of college and university over reliance on federal dollars for support for Latino students;
- Working with business and industry in
- Increasing the number of Latino students who enter and complete graduate programs.
The Center Community and Justice has been requested to provide administrative staff support, training, facilitation of meetings, and funding assistance to LILI.
IMMIGRANT RIGHTS
In the spring/summer of 2004 Centro began Proyecto Vecinos an Immigrant Rights Project in collaboration with the
The Center for Community and Justice in collaboration with the Idaho Human Rights Education Center are the co-publishers of the Idaho Immigrant Orientation Guide, a resource that provides important community information, and other types of resource information for immigrants and refugees.
CCJ continues to provide family based immigration counseling services, at no cost to families, and to defend the human rights of all immigrants and refugees.
In addition, the Center collaborates with other community-based nonprofit groups to work for and to promote just immigration and refugee policies and practices at all levels.
The Centro’s recent initiatives include protecting the educational rights of Latino immigrant students, publication and dissemination of Immigrant Orientation Guide and working to promote just immigration reform at the national level.
In addition, the Centro de Comunidad y Justicia was an integral co-organizer of the immigrant march for justice held in
Health Education & Research
The Preliminary Analysis
HIV-Related Risk Factors
Medical Interpreter Focus Groups
The Center is the community-based partner for the Idaho Partnership for Hispanic Health Project, a three –year health research project in southwest
The Center is responsible for conducting community outreach, partnership building, assessment planning, and materials development for participative research health disparities project for Hispanics in
The purpose of the IPHH is to identify key health concerns in
During the first three years, three major phases are planned and include: assessment/data gathering, analysis/education, and intervention/evaluation. IPHH started the second year of the project July 1, 2006 in the midst of conducting individual interviews with Hispanics in southwest
Under the direction of the Centro de Comunidad y Justicia, five hundred nineteen (519) individual interviews were completed in an 8-county area in southwest
All survey instruments and questionnaires and our research process were approved by the
The Preliminary Analysis
The 519 interviews included 320 women and 199 men with most (70%) reporting being born in
Of those that did complete the questions related to monthly income (451), 24% reported a monthly income of $1,000 to $1,499, 18% reported monthly incomes of under $1,000, and 3% reported incomes greater than $5,000 a month.
Sixty two percent don’t have health coverage or insurance primarily because they don’t have the money to pay for it; 72% don’t have dental coverage or insurance; and 22% reported difficulty getting health services.
Sixty (60) or 11.6% reported they have diabetes. Of those who reported to have diabetes, 22% reported taking insulin; 52% reported taking pills while 16 don’t do either; roughly 47% don’t check their blood sugar at all; 23% had Hgb A1C tests done within the past 12 months; 43% had a dilated eye exam in the past year; 55% have taken a course in self-management; but 35% never checked their feet for sores.
A thorough analysis of all this data is currently being completed and when completed ad reviewed by project partners, will be posted to http://www2.state.id.us/icha/iphh/.
The Centro de Comunidad y Justicia is also in the process of completing an additional 25 to 40 key informant interviews which will conclude the data gathering stage.
Assessment of HIV-Related Risk Factors, Knowledge, and Attitudes in Idaho Hispanic Communities
Centro is also currently serving as the community-based partner with the Idaho State University/Boise (ISU/Boise) HIV Education Program, for a research project in partnership with the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho, Center for Health Policy at Boise State University, and the NW AIDS Education and Training Center at Idaho State University.
The purpose of the project is to identify HIV-related risk factors, knowledge and attitudes in Idaho Hispanic communities. CCJ is responsible for overall project coordination, community liaison duties associated with hiring and managing field workers for the project; translation services associated with the needs of the project; Field Research and data reporting and submission.
Medical Interpreter Focus Groups
In the spring of 2007, CCJ was contracted by the State Office of Rural Health and Primary Care to conduct two medical language interpreter focus groups with Hispanic past patients in two communities within southwest Idaho. The purpose of this collaboration was to collect information about language issues from the perspective of Spanish speaking individuals who have accessed health services where an interpreter was used, and to identify the extent to which Spanish-speaking users of healthcare service identified language as a barrier in receiving care.
To accomplish the goals of this project the Center developed draft focus group questions, selected sites & secured meeting locations, determined participant selection process, recruited, identified focus group participants, conducted the focus group sessions, transcribed information from tapes & notes, produced a focus group report in Spanish, and translated the focus group reports into English.