Program Overview
The Cacique Youth Learning Center provides low-income youth, particularly Latinos, with the necessary resources, skills, and supports to enable them to succeed in school and in their personal lives. Cacique emphasizes project-based, experiential, interdisciplinary learning to help youth develop their capacity to think critically, solve problems creatively, excel in school, and become civically engaged. All components of the CYLC support a curriculum that emphasizes activities in the following areas:

• Academic: homework help, tutoring, college prep, career awareness, MCAS preparation, mentoring.
• Health, Safety and Recreation: non-violence education, substance abuse prevention, healthy behavior, field trips, movies, games, sporting events, parties.
• Technology: software skills development, research, presentations, multi-media production.
• Arts and Culture: community celebrations, art projects, dance performances, festivals, and cultural events.
• Civic Involvement: community service, leadership building, and community organizing.

Program Components
The program consists of:

1. The Cacique After-School Program for children ages 5-13 includes homework assistance, literacy development, recreation, and field trips. This formal after-school program comprises two store front spaces one serving 15 five-nine year olds and the second serving an additional 15 youth ages 10-13.
   
2. The Cacique Youth Learning Center for Teens (Teen Center) focuses on providing at-risk, multicultural youth ages 14-19, with positive, alternative, educational and culturally enriching youth development activities during out-of-school hours. Since its opening in November of 2003, this third store-front space has served an average of 15 youth on a daily basis Monday through Thursday and an additional 30 participants for the Friday night “Teen Night.” Throughout the year, we also reach out to an additional 200-300 youth who participate in special workshops, field trips, community service events, and community celebrations such as our annual Festival Betances’ Youth Day and Three Kings’ Day Celebration. The Teen Center is currently staffed by the Youth Development Coordinator, the Social Services Coordinator who is available one afternoon per week for short-term crisis intervention and referrals for youth and their families, and the Community Organizer who assists with the coordination of girls’ program activities. In addition, staff from the Patriots’ Trail Girls Scouts Council and the Boy Scouts are available one day per week to assist us in coordinating and implementing gender-specific club activities.
   
3. The Cacique 4-H Peer Leadership Training for youth ages 13-17 is implemented in partnership with the 4-H/UMass Extension Program. This component provides an eight-month training program that prepares Villa Victoria youth to implement the 4-H Experiential Model, a curriculum that guides youth to “unlock their leadership potential” through activities designed to help them: better understand self; improve communication and public speaking skills; value teamwork and cooperation; develop project management and organization skills; and respect diversity. The objective of this training is to fully prepare youth to be employed as Peer Leaders or Summer Camp Counselors. The program will also assist youth with job placement in the summer. This component serves 12 youth, 4 each from participating housing developments—Mandela, Villa Victoria and Lenox-Camden.
   
4. The Cacique Summer Internship Program for 15 -17 year-olds, is a paid summer internship program that combines career-building workshop, technology-based job training, life skills workshops, financial literacy classes, and community service. The youth also participate in leadership skills workshops so they can be active members in the content of community programs. This program is made possible by a grant from the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program, Boston Youth Fund, and benefits 15 Villa Victoria youth. It is our long-term goal to expand this component in the future to include year-round paid internships through partnerships with local businesses.
   
5. The Girls’ MAC (Making A Change) Project is a holistic empowerment project in its pilot phase that will promote the healthy development of twenty underserved multicultural girls through the power of: sports participation; life-skills training and mentorship; and technology education with a focus on developing a web magazine for girls. Focussing on the needs of 11-16 year old girls, the main goal of this project is to empower girls to develop a more positive self-concept by providing activities that will allow them to express themselves, realize the true power of their bodies, develop technology skills, explore career options, understand the importance of exercise and proper nutrition to healthy development, and develop leadership skills.
   
6. Arts and Technology Project-based Learning Programs
   In addition, youth participate in cultural activities and events at the Center for Latino Arts, and have access to technology training and Internet services through IBA’s own “El Batey” Technology Center.

• Technology:
  Cacique has partnered with our Batey Technology Center to expand its project-based learning programs to improve computer literacy among the low-income families and youth in Villa Victoria. ScienceQuest, is designed to promote excitement about science in a safe, after school environment, while fostering technological skills that will be applicable for school and work. Through a partnership with WiredWoods an innovative, educational program we empower underserved youth through the teaching of multimedia skills. In collaboration with El Batey, 20 Villa Victoria youth completed 5 or more hours on Jobs for Youth’s Plato software in El Batey Technology Center to use the practice tests and tutorials to prepare them for their MCAS (Massachusetts standardized test which is now a graduation requirement).
  
• Arts:
  • In the fall we will initiate a pilot music education program, Music Inspires Visionaries Investing in the Dream of the Arts (MI VIDA) which will provide 155 Villa Victoria youth instruction in folkloric Latino arts, including: Latin Percussion, Bomba & Plena, Cuatro and Guitar Instruction, and Flamenco.
    
  • The Cacique Youth Arts Initiative will provide 20 multi-cultural Villa Victoria youth, ages 14-18, with a comprehensive and holistic arts program that integrates leadership and life-skills development into the goal of completing two major public arts projects in Villa Victoria: A Rotating Mural Project and A Recycled Lamppost Banner Art Project. A collaboration between our Cacique Youth Learning Center and our Center for Latino Arts, this initiative has the support of community partners the Massachusetts College of Art’s Center for Community Partnerships and the Urban Arts Institute, MY Town, UMASS-Extension and Professor Luis Aponte-Pares of UMASS-Boston.
    
  • Emerson College and IBA have established a three-year partnership to teach a multidisciplinary arts course in Villa Victoria entitled, "Moving Out, Moving In: A Multidisciplinary Exploration of the Immigrant Experience." During the course of the project, Emerson College students will work with three groups of 20 residents: children (aged 9-12: Fall 2004); adolescents and young adults (Fall 2005) and 20 mature adults and the elderly (Fall 2006) to explore the study of ethnogenesis, the process of "becoming American". The project will be conducted by Argentinian Visual Artist and Emerson College Professor Mirta Tocci in collaboration with the Center for Latino Arts and IBA’s youth development program, the Cacique Youth Learning Center.

Target Population, Assets and Needs
Our target population is the underserved multicultural Villa Victoria youth who are 14-19 years old. This group generally reflects the overall demographics for Villa Victoria—an affordable housing community in the South End of Boston—where 72% of residents are Latino, 15% are African-American and 10% are Asian-American. In our community, 80% of residents live at or below the national poverty level ($16,286 average gross family income) and 50% of residents are 22 years old or younger. Females head Seventy-seven percent of households and many youth are raised by foster parents or grandparents. These difficult socio-economic conditions confronting our youth place them at-risk for a variety of social ills, but one of the most pressing issues confronting youth in Villa Victoria is the low level of literacy and academic achievement.

Assets:
Our multicultural youth are talented, energetic and looking for ways to grow personally. Curious and creative, they benefit from key assets from which the program will build upon. These include: a passion for the arts; pride in the Villa Victoria community; extended family networks; trusting relationships with IBA staff; and experience working on civic projects. In these projects, they have demonstrated their talent and their ability to set and meet goals, which demonstrates their responsibility. Furthermore, through their participation in the Cacique program, youth have become more involved in the civic life of the community and are beginning to express more interest in having input into the various beautification projects taking place in Villa Victoria. One example of this process, is their active participation in community meetings currently taking place with the Parks Department about re-design and renovation of O’Day Park—a neighborhood gathering place that the youth care deeply about.

Needs:
In Villa Victoria, the educational needs are pronounced with stark statistics showing that:

• 47% of Villa Victoria residents over the age of twenty-four, lack a high school diploma
• One out of every three residents has severely limited English language skills
• 2003 MCAS (statewide comprehensive assessment test) scores show that Latino youth continue to seriously lag academically behind black and white students statewide with only 44% passing the test on the first try, compared to 52% and 84% for black and white students respectively.

High incidence of academic failure lead to school dropouts and poor prospects for the higher paying jobs of the new economy. This is clearly spelled out in a Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC) 2002 report which indicates that: “The average annual pay of workers at the highest literacy level…is $46, 650 compared to $16,500 for workers at the lowest literacy level.”

Furthermore, given the emphasis on requiring students to pass high stake tests in order to graduate, we fear that the number of Latino youth completing high school will decrease even more. In Massachusetts, for instance, all 10th graders are now required to pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Test in order to graduate. The possibility of failing this high-stakes test increases the likelihood that Latino youth will opt to drop out of school before the tenth grade. This situation is alarming given the strong correlation between education and future income levels.

The need for comprehensive, culturally-appropriate, after school and prevention-related programming for low-income Latino youth—the population this program targets—is further demonstrated by statistics that show that while drug use and other “risk taking” behaviors have declined among most teenagers in recent years, the number of Latino youth involved in high-risk behaviors—including the use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs—actually increased. Dropping out of school only increases the likelihood that Latino youth will engage in these negative behaviors.

Poverty, linguistic barriers, academic failure, and lack of access to and awareness of existing resources often prevent Latino children and youth from reaching personal goals and attaining economic stability. Research demonstrates that participation in after school programs and extra curricular activities can help to reduce high-risk behaviors. Community-based after school and out of school programs are often the best equipped to meet the needs of low-income, linguistic minorities by providing programs that are culturally sensitive, affordable and easily accessible to these youth. Our CYLC has become a home away from home—a safe place where there are rules, structured activities, and opportunities for positive interactions with caring adults.

The community supports Cacique as demonstrated through interviews conducted in Villa Victoria—over the past year—as part of a process to complete a strategic plan for the agency. Interviews were done with residents, including children and youth, and other South End neighbors, as well as with other members of the Latino community. Without exception, the number one topic of concern and priority for those interviewed was the need to provide after-school and out-of-school programming for children and youth in Villa Victoria to prevent them from engaging in the high-risk behaviors mentioned above. Furthermore, IBA’s Board of Directors, comprised of community residents, has repeatedly voiced these concerns and has cited the need to provide out-of-school programming for the children in our community as the number one priority for them. In addition, the Youth Development Coordinator requires youth to fill out a survey/intake when they first come to the Teen Center that asks them to identify the areas that they would like assistance with.

Collaborations

1. 4H/UMass Extension Program for peer leader training;
2. Patriots’ Trail Girls Scouts Council for girls’ programming;
3. Boy Scouts for boys’ programming;
4. Cornu Property Management Company for social services;
5. Northeastern, Harvard, and Mass. College of Art for interns and tutors;
6. Wired Woods for technology and multi-media training;
7. Boston Center for the Arts and City Stage for theatre workshops;
8. South End Youth Workers’ Alliance for networking and support;
9. Critical Breakdown, a program of the American Friends Service Committee for performance poetry workshops;
10. Blackstone Community Center for swimming and gym facilities, and
11. Bunker Hill Community College for academic support.
12. Emerson College for visual arts workshops:
    See Pictures and read more about the Moving out Moving In program through the link above.