Child and Youth Development
Children and Youth Development
In 1980, a California Youth Authority grant funded the Indochinese Urban Youth Corporation providing juvenile delinquency prevention activities. In 1997, a grant from County Department of Health Services established Critical Hours After School Program which provided academic assistance, life skills training and education to high risk youth and their families in East San Diego. Over the past 31 years, UPAC has continued to provide children and youth development services to culturally and linguistically diverse immigrant and refugee populations. Currently funded programs include:
Primetime Program
Funded by San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), 170 Mason Elementary School students are engaged in positive, safe after-school activities including: literacy and academic assistance, arts and crafts, science labs, dance classes, first aid and nutrition education, cultural activities, and sports activities involving community college and university students. The program a) links at risk youth with positive role models, b) improves academic performance through home work assistance, and c) strengthens parent-child relationship and home-school partnership through increased parent involvement.
San Diego Asian Youth Organization (SDAYO)
In partnership with the Pan Pacific Law Enforcement Association of the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), UPAC serves as a fiscal agent and advisory board member for SDAYO which provides at risk youth with leadership skill development, volunteer community service, and mentorship opportunities. Increased knowledge, skills, and community involvement have contributed to reduced incidences of violence and engagement in illegal behaviors
AAPI High Risk Youth Mentorship Program
Funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency prevention, the program assists Asian and Pacific Islander at-risk youth, ages 13 to 18 who are involved in gangs, at risk of gang-related activity, failing in school, or suffer from a wide-range of problems related to social competency. Our mentors work one-on-one and in group sessions to help at-risk API youth develop coping strategies for everyday challenges to open doors for a successful future. Our philosophy is to emphasize alternatives to delinquent behavior through increasing self-empowering decision-making. We also work closely with parents and educators to help strengthen relationships with their youth. Academic tutoring, behavioral health counseling, career and vocational education, college campus field trips, and life skills development are provided to students residing in the Mira Mesa, Mid-City, Linda Vista and Paradise Hills neighborhoods.
Verizon “Reading Rocks” Literacy Program
Literacy tutoring and mentorship are provided for underachieving students at Mason Elementary in Mira Mesa throughout the academic year. Using a combination of Verizon’s Thinkfinity on-line software as well as reading strategies developed in collaboration with educators from Mason Elementary, our tutors work with individual students for a minimum of four hours a week, three days a week after school. Through our personalized tutoring, we are helping students elevate their reading comprehension to appropriate grade-level proficiencies and standards.
1031 25th Street
San Diego, CA 92102
Phone: 619 232-6454 x848 Fax: 619 235-9002
Program Supervisor: Children Youth Development Programs
James Diokno, M.A.
Volunteers should contact Ludy Baclig-Passons, Human Resources Administrator, regarding programs volunteering at lpassons@upacsd.com for more information.