Through this grant, Roca's Central American Youth (CAY) program in partnership with Chelsea Public Schools (CPS), will engage over 100 young people per year through prevention services and provide intensive intervention to 50 of Chelsea's highest risk 15–18-year-old young people who are at the center of youth violence and gang activity.
Roca's model for reducing violence among CAY and other extremely high-risk youth centers on delivering targeted services grounded in CBT, because it is key to addressing trauma, and includes a combination of tools designed to help young people feel safe and develop the tools they need to manage their own trauma and make more positive decisions. Roca will use these tools to not only to directly serve young people, but we will also work to build the capacity of CPS to more effectively manage student and teacher trauma and reduce violence within its schools. Specifically, through this project, Roca and CPS seek to form and regularly convene an Advisory Committee and work with CPS to create and annually update a School Safety Strategic Plan.