The Youth Empowerment Program is intended to reduce high risk behaviors by providing students with programs that are specifically designed to show them the way to a healthier lifestyle.

Plan of Operation

A broad spectrum of program activities will be made available to the student cohort through the Youth Empowerment Program.  It is expected that each student will not participate in every activity; rather, in consultation with the Academic Advisor, Program Counselor and undergraduate mentors, students will tailor their participation according to their needs and schedule, as long as a minimum of five hours per week are spent on at least two different activities. In order to ensure the success of each student the Youth Empowerment Program forms partnerships with the following community and educational organizations.

Roles and Responsibilities of Partner Organizations

Lopez High School will host program activities and meetings and designate a counselor to serve as the liaison for the grant. This counselor will recruit students and assist in the selection of 40 participants and 10 alternates, work with cohort students and their parents through the life of the grant, coordinate and attend all Lopez campus activities including seminars, workshops, and classroom presentations for students and parents, attend special events sponsored for participants, provide ongoing information and data for the program and grant reporting, and attend periodic meetings relative to grant planning and related activities.

The Southmost Community Network Center will provide on-site building space on a scheduled basis to conduct training for the participating students, parent meetings and Advisory Board committee meetings. Officers will provide training at four, four-hour sessions (two fall term and two spring term) each year of the grant and at one ten-day summer academy each of the three consecutive summers. These sessions will focus on changing the attitudes of participants toward violence, lack of exercise, and abuse of alcohol and drugs. Each year, the officers' Athletic League will host a sporting event for the students.  The Brownsville Police Department will appoint one representative to serve on the program's Advisory Board.

Healthy Communities of Brownsville (HCB) will provide personnel on a scheduled basis to conduct ten, two-hour mentoring sessions, where responsible professionals from the community will serve as mentors for cohort students. These mentoring sessions will focus on the Search Institute "40 Developmental Assets" framework, which provides a structured focus on personal development. HCB will host an annual Health Symposium, open to parents of participating students in years two and three of the program. HCB will appoint one representative to serve on the program's Advisory Board.
In order to ensure continual success and improvement of the Youth Empowerment Program objectives, an Advisory Board will be formed. The Advisory Board will consist of one representative from each of the partner organizations (LHS, HCB, and SCNC), one undergraduate mentor, one HCB mentor, the Program Evaluator, and two parents of program participants. The Advisory Board will meet quarterly with the Program Director to review the program status, identify action items, resolve unexpected issues, and review best practice.