LBCC: LBCC & USC Receive Nearly $1 Million For New Innovative Education Program For Gang-Associated Youth

Press release from Long Beach City College:

January 25, 2022

Long Beach City College (LBCC) and
the University of Southern
California (USC) Rossier School of Education’s Pullias Center for
Higher Education will receive $990,000 over the next
three years from the Fund
for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, U.S.
Department of Education (DOE) to collaborate on a new program
that will promote and support higher education efforts for
gang-associated youth in the greater Long Beach area for the next
three years.

The new program, dubbed the LBCC Phoenix Scholars, is the only
recipient across the U.S. of the competitive DOE grant,
whose purpose is to help gang-involved youth to pursue
higher education opportunities.

“Together, LBCC and USC will change the narrative for
gang-affiliated youth who otherwise hadn’t considered a college
education as part of their future,” said Long Beach
Community College District (LBCCD) Board of Trustees President
Uduak-Joe Ntuk. “Studies indicate bleak numbers for gang youth to
attend college — often due to high school experiences that foster
a school-to-prison-pipeline. This new program is going to expand
the high school-to-college mentality across Long Beach.”

This is the first time that LBCC and USC will partner to initiate
a higher education program, which will include a series of
support systems within LBCC and the community that will foster
successful post-gang life for youth and adults ages 16 to 24.

LBCC will work directly with Dr. Adrian Huerta of USC’s Pullias
Center, who will serve as co-Principal Investigator. Huerta is a
nationally-recognized expert on college access, equity and
gang-associated and system-impacted youth.  “Dr. Huerta is
the exact scholar to conduct this study” said Dr. Adrianna Kezar,
Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education. “His
experience studying youth impacted by gangs, track record with
research-practitioner partnerships, and commitment to change
educational systems and communities are the exact expertise
to make this project successful.” 

“This is a holistic, asset-based approach to gang-involved
youth,” said Dr. Huerta. “LBCC Phoenix Scholars aims to
contribute to dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, provide
a pathway for jobs and a college education, and support for
families of the youth impacted by gangs.”

“The LBCC Phoenix Scholars program will not only provide
educational access to young people in the Long Beach area, it has
the potential to extend beyond the community,” said Pedro
Noguera, dean of the USC Rossier School of
Education and Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean’s
Chair in Education. “This is an exciting opportunity to
contribute and provide a new horizon for youth, who did not
initially have college in their sight. I look forward to this USC
Rossier and LBCC initiative.”

Participants will be referred to the LBCC Phoenix Scholars
program by local education and nonprofit agencies.

“It is time to create positive opportunities and trustful
relationships for those youth who have been ignored and
marginalized in the past by our systems,” said LBCCD
Superintendent-President Dr. Mike Muñoz. “There are young people
out there who have been criminalized and stigmatized prematurely.
The Phoenix Scholars program will create an experience that will
establish a college-going identity for those that didn’t think
their future was safe, all the way to them obtaining employment.”

The program will establish numerous student services and support
systems for LBCC Phoenix Scholars including early college
experiences, LBCC enrollment assistance, mentorships,
internships, and specialized counseling and other supports
specially designed to meet the needs of gang-associated youth.
Other future components include the introduction of a community
advisory council, assistance with university transfer and
post-graduate employment.

The LBCC Phoenix Program will be entirely funded by the DOE
grant.

This press release was produced by Long Beach City College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.