La Plaza Beacon - Delinquency PreventionC.O.D.E.S (Community Outreach and Development Efforts Save)

Alianza Dominicana will continue to implement the prevention and intervention program, La Plaza Beacon to at-risk youth, and participation with the Community Outreach and Development Efforts Save (C.O.D.E.S.) coalition in the Washington Heights and Inwood areas of Northern Manhattan. The primary goals of La Plaza Beacon are to 1) increase high school graduation rates; 2) increase job readiness skills and job placement; 3) increase positive physical fitness; 4) decrease incidence of teenage pregnancy; and 5) decrease truancy, substance abuse and gang activity of participating youth. The primary goals of C.O.D.E.S. are to 1) increase coordination and number of services targeted to youth; 2) increase parent participation in schools; 3) increase awareness educational and training opportunities for youth that have dropped out of school; 4) increase use of and understanding about wraparound services; 5) improve coordination and dialogue with law enforcement officials regarding gang activity and inter-block rivalry; and 6) improve communications between institutions and residents of Washington Heights regarding drug use, sales, and deaths in the community. The primary activities for La Plaza Beacon are 1) academic support; 2) career awareness/school to work transition; 3) life skills training; 4) community building activities; and 5) recreation activities. The primary activities for C.O.D.E.S. are 1) networking and information sharing; 2) technical assistance; 3) research and evaluation; 4) service coordination and support; and 5) collaborative resource development, grant writing, and fundraising activities. Both programs have performance measures in place to collect data and to report on their progress.NCA/NCF