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 Operation Bright Future
Protecting Children - Opportunities through Education
The Challenge
Middle school is a tumultuous time for many young people.
Students in the sixth, seventh and eight grades are most
likely to be enticed by delinquent behaviors, including
gang membership. One of the most powerful predictors
of juvenile delinquent behavior and future gang membership
is chronic absenteeism from school.
The Response
In 2002, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo created Operation
Bright Future (OBF), a middle school gang and truancy
prevention program.
- The program teaches parents about their legal responsibility
to ensure that their children attend school through informational
letters, brochures, general assemblies and hearings. If
all previous intervention fails, OBF attorneys can file
charges against parents who do not send their children
to school.
- OBF has now expanded to 30 LAUSD middle schools with
over 90,000 families served.
- During its first 3 years
of operation, OBF has increased revenue to LAUSD by over
$750,000 due to improved school attendance.
- 71% of the
children first served by OBF - students who were chronically
truant and failing school in the sixth grade - graduated
from Adams Middle School with good attendance and passing
grades in 2005.
- A young person is
three times more likely to join a gang when he or she
has low school attachment, low academic achievement
or learning disabilities.
- Forty-four percent
of juvenile crime takes place during school hours. In
some areas of Los Angeles, over 25% of the crimes that
occur during school hours are committed by juveniles.
- Veteran prosecutors
have observed that they have never seen a gang member
who wasn’t
a truant first.
- Truancy has an enormous fiscal impact
on our school system and takes millions of dollars in
funding away from the Los Angeles Unified School District
(LAUSD) due to unexcused absences.
Combating Child Abuse
The Challenge
Child abuse and neglect victimizes the most vulnerable
members of our community, leaving our children with long-term
emotional, psychological, and often physical damage.
In 2004, an estimated 3 million children were reported
to have been abused or neglected nationally (United States
Department of Health and Human Services). Moreover, children
who experience child abuse and neglect are 59% more likely
to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested
as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violent crimes
(United States Department of Justice).
The Response
The City Attorney’s Office is committed to combating
all forms of child abuse and neglect, helping victims of
abuse, and aggressively prosecuting the perpetrators. In
addition, the Office is committed to giving parents, teachers
and schools additional tools to help protect our children
through its No Secrets and Project PARENT programs and
by working to strengthen school based child abuse investigations.
Project P.A.R.E.N.T.
A Child Abuse Prevention Curriculum and Guide
Project P.A.R.E.N.T. (Prevent Abuse through Respect, Education,
Non-Violence, and Training) is a child abuse prevention
curriculum which raises awareness about the signs, causes,
and effects of child physical, sexual, and emotional abuse
and neglect. The goal of Project P.A.R.E.N.T. is to give
parents the skills to appropriately recognize and effectively
handle child rearing challenges. By addressing the root
problems of abuse and neglect, the City Attorney’s
Office provides parents with the tools necessary to protect
their children before they become victims.
To date, Project P.A.R.E.N.T. has been incorporated into
the curriculum of Los Angeles Unified School District’s
Early Education Centers, as well as into the Volunteers
of America Head Start and Early Head Start locations. Trainings
occur regularly for Los Angeles community-based organizations
interested in providing child abuse prevention awareness
to the families they serve.
Curriculum
The Project P.A.R.E.N.T. curriculum is organized into five sessions
addressing the following topics:
- What is Child Abuse and What are the Different Types
of Child Abuse
- What are the Causes of Child Abuse and What are its
Effects
- How Might I Know Whether a Child is a Victim of Abuse?
- Ways to Prevent Child Abuse
- What to Do If You Know of Suspect That Your Child
Has Been Abused
Resource Guide
Project P.A.R.E.N.T. also includes a comprehensive Resource
Directory to provide individuals with additional learning
materials and contact information of support services.
School Based Child Abuse Investigations
Best Practices Task Force Report
Every day our teachers encounter young victims of physical,
sexual, and emotional abuse who attend our schools. As
mandated reporters (those required by law to report abuse
or neglect to either the police or child welfare services),
teachers are frequently the first to recognize signs of
abuse and neglect. As a result, teachers make more
reports of child abuse and neglect than any other category
of mandated reporter. Despite this reality, there has been
a failure to coordinate the resources of schools, law enforcement
agencies, and child protective services when reports arise.
Any delayed, uncoordinated or incomplete investigation
may have a serious impact on the successful prosecution
of a child abuser. Following the 2003 City Attorney Summit
on Best Practices for Child Abuse Investigations, the City
Attorney convened a Task Force to discuss child abuse investigations. Representatives
from law enforcement agencies, the Los Angeles County District
Attorney’s Office, the Los Angeles Unified School
District, and the Los Angeles Department of Children and
Family Services met to discuss problems encountered by
their agencies and to brainstorm on best practices for
resolving these issues.
The result of this collaborative effort was the release,
in February 2006, of the
Task Force Recommendations for Investigating Child Abuse Reported by Schools. Over 1,200
school districts and law enforcement agencies statewide
received copies of the Task Force Report.
The 5 topics addressed in the Task Force Report include:
- Accurate Reporting of Child Abuse
- Who to Call – Law Enforcement or Child Welfare
Services
- Timeliness of Making the Report
- Utilizing the School Police for Child Abuse Investigations
- Consistent Communication and Feedback Among Law Enforcement,
School Personnel, and Child Welfare Services
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