| 2012 Community Partnership Award | |
| HONORABLE MENTION RECIPIENT | |
| 360° Model | |
 | |
| Every year, violence takes a grim toll on many communities across the country. One example is that childhood exposure to violence has a devastating impact on children, affecting their emotional growth, cognitive development, physical health and school achievement. | |
| |
| Recognizing that experiences of trauma underlie the behavioral and life challenges of many of our youth growing up in dangerous city neighborhoods, Chicago-based social services agency UCAN introduced its 360° Model in 2009 to promote safety and healing for children in schools. | |
| |
| UCAN’s 360° Model provides a comprehensive and therapeutic approach to violence prevention by pairing youth development programming with clinical counseling. Components of the 360° Model include Project Visible Man and Phenomenal Women, two group mentoring programs aimed at encouraging self-respect among young men and women of color, and Hands Without Guns, a classroom-led workshop intended to increase nonviolent problem solving strategies. Since 2009, nearly 1,400 students have participated in culturally relevant individual counseling and therapy, violence prevention and/or youth development programming. In addition, more than 3,700 students have benefited from clinical consultation with teachers and administrators designed to empower students to prevent future violence, help strengthen their communities, succeed in school and become future leaders. | |
| |
| The program was launched four years ago when UCAN partnered with the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) to provide its 360° Model to three AUSL schools in the North Lawndale community of Chicago. Encouraged by its success of instituting best practices in the field of violence prevention, youth development and urban education, the 360° Model expanded its reach to include two non-AUSL schools in 2011. New schools continue to reach out to UCAN to access these services. | |
| |
| “UCAN’s success lays the foundation for its upcoming move to a state-of-the-art campus in North Lawndale,” said Tom Vanden Berk, UCAN’s CEO. “The new CITY (Chicagoland Institute for Transforming Youth) campus reflects UCAN’s approach to youth development and violence prevention and is expected to reach 100,000 youth in its first five years. None of this would be possible without the expertise and knowledge gained from the UCAN/AUSL partnership.” | |
| |
|
Organization UCAN Program 360° Model Partner Academy of Urban School Leadership (AUSL) |
|
| |