Days of Dialogue hosted the discussion entitled “From Wreckage and Ruin… The Road to Rebirth: A Day of Dialogue on the Economic Crisis and Community Health.” A special leadership dialogue took place on Wednesday, February 29 at The Galen Center on the University of Southern California campus focusing on the issues of joblessness, home foreclosures, debt, poverty and the loss of access healthcare and their impact on individuals and families in L.A.’s diverse communities. In addition to city and county officials, Art Ochoa, Cedars Sinai; Arnie Berghoff, Arnie Berghoff & Associates; Charisse Bremond Weaver, Brotherhood Crusade; Bob Blake, Bob Blake & Associates; Derek Smith, Diamond Contract Services; Bettye Dixon, Concourse Concessions; Karen Earl, Jenesse Center Domestic Violence Intervention Program; Laphonza Butler, SEIU Long Term Care Workers Union; Cynthia McClain Hill, Strategic Counsel; and Elise Buik, United Way participated in the citywide dialogue event. Community residents and neighborhood leaders convened at sites throughout Los Angeles for the two-hour dialogue event designed to gauge the effect of the recession on the health of men, women and families throughout the city, and assess the economic downturn’s impact on the health of their communities.
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On March 3, you may qualify for a free helping hand with your taxes this year. Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and the Office of State Controller are offering free tax preparation services, which provide service for filing your State and Federal tax return free of charge to low-income and moderate-income residents with household incomes of $50,000 or less. This services will be provided on Saturday, March 3rd, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Santee Education Complex (1921 S. Maple Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90011). Please RSVP at (213) 620-4646 to schedule a required appointment to receive free tax preparation services. Bring a photo ID, social security card or individual taxpayer identification number for all family members, all earnings statements (W-2’s, 1099’s, Social Security Income), a copy of prior-year tax return, bank account & routing number for direct deposit, tuition fees & expenses, expenses paid for child/day care, and landlord’s name, address and phone number for the CA Renter’s Credit.
Taxpayers should bring the following items:
· Valid Photo ID
· Social Security Card or Individual Taxpayer Identification for all family members
· All W-2’s, 1098’s, and 1099’s (if any)
· Copy of Prior-Year Tax Return
· Bank Account and Routing Number for Direct Deposit of your refund of Direct Debit of your balance due
· Other income/expense information
· Total Tuition Fees & Expenses
· Day Care Providers Identifying Number
· Landlord’s name, address and phone number for the CA Renter’s Credit
If you would like to take advantage of this service please contact (213) 620-4646 for an appointment time.
Los Angeles County Office of Education Superintendent Arturo Delgado and Supervisor Ridley-Thomas in a classroom at the Harris County Youth Village.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) Superintendent Arturo Delgado visited classrooms in Houston, Texas’ juvenile detention facilities Thursday (Feb.16) in an ongoing effort to study innovative programs that may be models for reforming education in Los Angeles’ youth camps and halls.
Los Angeles County’s youth probation system is currently being monitored by the U.S. Dept. of Justice due to dangerous conditions in the camps, and the county in 2010 settled a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union alleging the failure to provide a constitutionally adequate education to youths at the Challenger Camp in Lancaster. Under the settlement terms, LACOE and the Probation Dept. are now working to improve education at Challenger Camp.
Supervisor Ridley-Thomas, however, believes schooling in the county’s youth probation facilities is in urgent need of an overhaul. “There are bright spots in our camps due to the above-and-beyond effort of many dedicated Probation and LACOE staffers; but as a whole our system needs to look and act more like a school system than a prison system,” Ridley-Thomas said, “we have a long way to go.”
A math teacher in the Harris County Youth Village uses a multimedia “smart board” to instruct a student preparing for the GED exam.
In Houston, Delgado and Ridley-Thomas visited the Harris County Youth Village, where boys and girls in custody attend classes in a dedicated school building. Along with class sizes typically smaller than ten students, youths in custody are taught using contemporary technology – students use laptop computers in the classrooms and each room features a “smart board” multimedia blackboard.
More than 80% of students who take the GED high school equivalency exam in custody pass the test and move on to a local community college. The Youth Village also uses a computer-guided reading program being studied for use in Los Angeles County. Along with academic innovations, youths in custody participate in a student government that meets weekly to manage their residential life.
Supervisor Ridley-Thomas had previously visited the Maya Angelou Academy at New Beginnings, a revolutionary school program serving Washington, D.C.’s juveniles in custody.
Both the Harris County probation schools and Washington, D.C.’s probation schools teach students using the “Freedom Schools” model developed by the Children’s Defense Fund. Freedom Schools promote reading and self-esteem through an academically rigorous curriculum that also stresses civic engagement and social action. Outside of probation camps, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas has brought Freedom Schools summer programs to churches and community centers in the Second District, serving more than 500 students to date.
“The best practices in classrooms outside the locked gates of probation camps need to be brought inside,” Ridley-Thomas said. “A new LACOE superintendent, Arturo Delgado, and a new Chief Probation Officer, Jerry Powers, are on board, and they are eager to make the changes we need to make sure our youths use their time in custody to move ahead as students, not fall behind as prisoners,” he said.
February 29, 2012
8February 2, 2012
February 8, 2012
Recent news reports on the County’s beach ordinance largely have been either misleading or inaccurate.
No, the Board has not cracked down on Frisbee-throwing and beach balls. No, we are not trying to outlaw fun. Rather, we lifted a long-standing ban on those items to facilitate their use. To that end, the County Department of Beaches and Harbors came up with a sensible policy to give lifeguards some leeway in keeping the public safe during our busiest seasons.
Click here for the release from the Department of Beaches and Harbors, and click here for a news report by the L.A. Times, which gets the story right.
