Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

For Advocates, Raquel Magadan-Sanchez Dec 2020

For Advocates, Raquel Magadan-Sanchez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The mission of the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Santa Cruz (CASA) program is to provide children in the foster care system a volunteer advocate who spends time with the child to ensure they are receiving the services they need (CASA of Santa Cruz County, 2019). The problem addressed is the high volume of foster children in Santa Cruz county and the three causes of the problem are substance abuse, poverty, and abuse and neglect. The consequences are how abuse affects a foster child’s mental health, what it means to be a dual-status youth (a child involved in the welfare …


Attendance Rates, Jamila Teal Dec 2020

Attendance Rates, Jamila Teal

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Absence is a normal part of childhood for kids going to school because sometimes life happens. Kids get sick, have family emergencies, the family might have to move, or lack consistent transportation to get to school. The Early Learning Program (ELP) is a non-profit organization that provides education for preschool aged children and focuses on making preschool easily accessible, primarily for low-income families. It is not uncommon for some families to take advantage of the ELP by not prioritizing taking their kids to school and getting them there on time. Now that the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the lives of …


Mental Health And Latinx Empowerment Workshop For Youth, Rachel Mejia Dec 2020

Mental Health And Latinx Empowerment Workshop For Youth, Rachel Mejia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Juvenile delinquency is a serious threat in at-risk cities such as Watsonville, California. Watsonville Police Activities League is a non-profit organization committed to preventing youth criminality. Poor mental health can lead to risk-taking and bad decision making in developing teens and pre-teens. The project was a week-long mental health workshop focused on advocating for the normalization of mental health and Latinx empowerment discussion among youth. The workshop took place throughout five days and reached eight middle school and high school students. The workshop focused on self care, stress management, mood disorders, self image, self esteem, and ethnic identity among other …


Supporting Survivors Coming Forward, Samanta Herrera Dec 2020

Supporting Survivors Coming Forward, Samanta Herrera

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

As an intern at Survivors Healing Center an issue that was identified was child sexual abuse cases are too common. The contributing factors that have a correlation to the community problem that was mentioned is denial, emotional maltreatment, and family characteristics. The consequence of the contributing factors led to depression, suicidal and a potential reacurrence of sexual abuse. The purpose of the project was to educate participants on how to support survivors who are coming forward. By educating them the expected outcome was to have some participants leaving with knowledge towards the issue. As a result of addressing the contributing …


Stigma Reduction Programming In Monterey County, Don Heading Dec 2020

Stigma Reduction Programming In Monterey County, Don Heading

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Mental illness-related stigma is a barrier to societal inclusion and productivity. With nearly one in five individuals being impacted by mental illness in the United States (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2019), there is a greater need for understanding through education to support those affected by mental illness. Stigma impacts those with mental illness in the realms of employment, housing, and incarceration. The Success Over Stigma Program located within the OMNI Resource Center in Salinas, California addresses the lack of education by offering contact-based community education delivered by those affected by mental illness. The project addressed the need …


Volunteer Engagement, Ken Townend Dec 2020

Volunteer Engagement, Ken Townend

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

When Covid-19 hit and caused a pandemic, volunteering and not for profits in Monterey County was severely impacted. Using new application forms, surveys, and a presentation, a program was created to engage volunteers when volunteering became almost nonexistent. The presentation was the centerpiece of the engagement program. The presentation will inform volunteers how to stay engaged, learn new skills, and find gainful employment through volunteering.


Financial Literacy For Justice-Involved Women, Melisande Holingue May 2020

Financial Literacy For Justice-Involved Women, Melisande Holingue

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Financial literacy workshops taught to justice-involved women in Santa Cruz County in the jail setting and the transitional reentry setting


Restorative Justice Practices: Addressing The Eleven Percent, Marshal Galvan Jr. May 2020

Restorative Justice Practices: Addressing The Eleven Percent, Marshal Galvan Jr.

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper analyzes, assesses, and introduces the importance of a “Needs Assessment” that can potentially record the effectiveness of the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP) practices with its youth offenders. VORP is a program within the purview of the Restorative Justice Partners, INC. organization. The functions of this program works closely with the probation department of Monterey County, along with various community partners; its practices are funneled through a restorative justice lens. Current data will show that 89% of youth offenders who have successfully completed the VORP program and are closed compliant do not reoffend, meanwhile the other 11% recidivates …


Honoring Our Community Heroes, Juan C. Ruiz Jr May 2020

Honoring Our Community Heroes, Juan C. Ruiz Jr

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The financially disenfranchised population of Santa Cruz County constantly face the challenges of being taken advantage of by employers when it comes to being allotted the appropriate wages, illegal evictions, as well as discrimination and health care access. California Rural Legal Assistance is a non-profit legal aid agency that provides the citizens of Santa Cruz County with legal aid and court representation at no cost. Currently, CRLA is facing a visibility dilemma with some contributing factors being citizens don't know about them or are too scared to attend because of their legal status, not enough donors or discretionary funding and …


What Kind Of Resources Are There For Caregivers Of Patients With Mental Illness?, Candice Robertson May 2020

What Kind Of Resources Are There For Caregivers Of Patients With Mental Illness?, Candice Robertson

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The capstone was implemented at Telecare, an agency that serves individuals who are on a psychiatric hold. The capstone’s macro-level problem is that caregivers are not receiving the support they need to adequately help their patients. The micro-level was that my agency works with the family so the social workers should be giving out appropriate resources for the caregivers. The capstone consisted of conducting research to assess the different resources that were available for caregivers online. I implemented this by conducting systematic GOOGLE searches and organizing top results by common themes that were in the articles found in the top …


Central Coast High School Student Scholarship Fundraiser, Alex Beamer May 2020

Central Coast High School Student Scholarship Fundraiser, Alex Beamer

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Central Coast Continuation High School (CCCHS or CCHS) is designed around the philosophy of giving students in danger of not graduating a second chance at a diploma with alternative education strategies. The problem this Capstone aims to remedy is that many of these students cannot access college for a variety of reasons after graduating high school. These students are stigmatized for attending a continuation school, are in low socio-economic (SES) brackets, and lack scholarship access - these issues prevent college access. Consequences of this problem include future lack of access to higher paying jobs, loss of societal potential, and continuing …