Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti at Leland Street Elementary. (Credit: Twitter @LAMayorsOffice)
Mayor of Los Angles Eric Garcetti today announced a new program that will help identify LA Unified students whose parents are veterans or active duty members so they can receive additional resources available to them.
Joining Garcetti at Leland Elementary School in San Pedro, where he announced the new curriculum, was a member of the LA Unified School Board Richard Vladovic and LA City Councilman Joe Buscaino.
“For too long, our city has been unable to strategically target resources in a way that directly and effectively supports our military community,” Garcetti said in a statement. “This small change will dramatically increase our ability to support veterans and their families as they adjust to life during and after military service.
The program, announced the day after Veterans Day, represents a collaboration between the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs, LA Unified, the University of Southern California Capacity Building Project and the Los Angeles Veterans Collaborative, according to a press release from the mayor’s office.
As part of the program, the school district will identify students from military families by adding questions to the district’s mandatory student emergency information forms, which “will then help district and school officials school to run essential services and seek new federal funding for high-enrollment campuses. among military and veteran families,” the statement said.
According to the mayor’s office, children of veterans experience high levels of stress and are at increased risk for substance abuse, weapon carrying, peer victimization and suicidal thoughts, and the new forms will help these students have more recreational opportunities, tutoring resources and advocacy support.
“As a veteran, I have witnessed the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform. Their families are also paying a price, ”said the unified superintendent of LA Ramon Cortines mentioned in a report. “Due to frequent moves, their children are often the ‘newest in the class’, trying to fit in months after school starts. At LA Unified, we want to do everything we can to help these students and their families, who deserve our sincere appreciation for their service.
Vladovic posted a photo on his Facebook page from the event which featured him on stage showing off his old campaign jacket from his army days to students gathered in the school auditorium.
“It is very important that we not only honor the brave men and women who have served this nation, but that we educate the next generation on how to honor those who serve and inspire them to become future leaders and defenders. of our nation,” Vladovic said. in a report. “We must remember their service, as well as their sacrifices; time spent struggling, away from home; and, on occasion, the sacrifice of their very lives to protect us.
As part of the program, 5,000 resource guides written by the Capacity Building and Welcoming Practices team will be distributed throughout the district “to help schools develop school-based interventions for children of military families.” , guard, reserve and veterans”, according to the Liberation.
The collaboration “has been remarkable”, Ron Avi Astor, the USC School of Social Work professor, who co-authored the guides, said in a statement. “Being able to provide services and resources to these schools with a high concentration of military and veteran students will be a model for other mega urban school districts like Chicago and New York, where a large portion of veteran families live and of soldiers.”
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