ASIAN YOUTH CENTER
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Mission Statement
The Asian Youth Center (AYC) was founded in 1989 to meet the social service and health needs of Asian immigrant youth and families in the San Gabriel Valley. Over the years the agency grown from a small annual budget of $160,000, serving less than 100 youth in a small geographic area, to the organization it is today, with an annual budget of more than $4 million, serving more than 3,000 youth and their families over almost a third of Los Angeles County. Along the way, AYC expanded its scope and services to include youth and families of all ethnicities, while still retaining its core cultural and linguistic competence with Asian immigrants. Today, AYC provides services in Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish and English. AYC's core competencies are in Educational Enrichment Services, Employment Services for Youth, Youth Development, Parent Education, and Community Outreach & Education.
About This Cause
AYCs programs and services are primarily divided into four departments: Educational Enrichment Services; Youth & Family Services; Employment Services; and Community Education & Outreach. Education and Enrichment Services (EES) AYC's Education and Enrichment Services (EES) department provides supplemental instruction in English Language Arts and Math, as well as programming in Science, Health and Arts. Participating youth also receive homework assistance in all other academic subjects. EES also offers college and career exploration and guidance, SAT preparation, one-on-one tutoring, Chinese language class, parent education and open recreation. Last year, AYC served 1,126 youth and parents through Educational Enrichment Services. Many students come to AYC facing significant English language barriers and academic struggles. Through individual tutoring, after-school, weekend, and summer school programs, AYC tutors help students improve academically, gain confidence in and outside of the classroom, and encourage an enthusiasm for learning. Youth and Family Services (YFS) Los Angeles County is home to the largest probation department in the nation, serving over 10,000 at-risk youth and 16,000 juvenile probationers annually (RAND, 2014). It is also home to over 1,000 gangs and over 87,000 active gang members, making it the undisputed gang and juvenile crimes capital of California. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, gangs commit a disproportionate level of violent crimes in the greater L.A. area -- 80% of all homicides, 40% of all robberies, and 40% of all aggravated assaults are committed by juveniles and young adults with known gang affiliation (Guilfoyle, 2013). AYC's Youth & Family Services (YFS) Department exists to make positive, powerful impact in the lives of at-risk and high-risk probation youth and families. AYC takes a strength based approach to our work. We partner with each youth and parent to empower, educate, and support the youth and families to overcome the various barriers, disadvantages, and injustices they experience. In 2014, AYC served 1,219 youth and parents in this department through home-based case management, Gang Intervention, Gender Specific Services in the Community (for female delinquents), Parent Education, Community Mobilization, and an Emergency Food Program. Employment Services (ES) The purpose of the Employment Services department is to increase public safety through reduced recidivism and increased employment success among youth. Services provide participating youth with access to and support for the completion of educational and vocational assessment, exploration, job skills development, training completion and job placement. ES supports youth in obtaining gainful employment and achieving long-term success in the workplace by removing barriers and providing opportunities. AYC's Employment Services programs successfully served 700 youth in 2014 in the First and Fifth supervisorial districts of Los Angeles County including the Antelope Valley, San Gabriel Valley and East Los Angeles areas. Our Employment Services offices are co-located with the State of California Employment Development Department office in Lancaster and Huntington Park and include: Educational Pathways & Vocational Opportunities (a re-entry program for probation youth); Workforce Initiative Act Employment Services for Out of School Youth; and the Summery Youth Employment Program. Community Education & Outreach AYC has a long history of providing community education and outreach programs to ensure that low-income and immigrant youth and families are receiving up-to-date information about the issues that affect them. In 2014, AYC continued to empower the community through education about the hazards of second hand smoke and smoke-free outdoor areas, which include public parks, outdoor patio areas, and public transit stops. Also in 2014, AYC was engaged in several small community outreach and education programs connected to voter registration/education and disaster preparedness. Last year, AYC reached 1,968 people (not included in the total number of clients served) through community education and outreach.