SCCF 2021-2022 GRANT RECIPIENTS

AFFCF’s mission is to promote self-esteem and enrich the lives of AZ children in foster care by funding social, athletic and educational activities and events that provide quality experiences while living through very difficult circumstances. AFFCF serves children from infancy to age 21.

AFFCF has a long history of improving the educational success of students in foster care in Pima County by funding educational support activities and items to enhance the school experiences, including tutoring, school program fees and school field trips. Any child currently in foster care in Pima County is eligible to apply for an award through AFFCF. Applications are reviewed by a Board, funds are paid to appropriate vendors and the organization undergoes an audit to ensure every award is in compliance with required documentation.

• 75% of children will demonstrate improvement in academic performance
• 80% of children demonstrate increased self-esteem
• 80% of children will demonstrate improvement in behavior

www.affcf.org

The goal of Aviva Children’s Services is family stabilization. They work with families to create healthy environments to help children flourish, leading to greater family stability, wellness and academic success and preventing future trauma and homelessness.

The Family Stabilization Program focuses on the needs of children in foster care, providing children with food, shelter and security in traumatic situations. Within 72 hours of being removed from a home, Aviva Behavioral Rapid Response team visits the new home and provide a variety of services and items for the child and caregivers, adding immediate stability in an emergency. SCCF funding will provide 15 tablets and 15 laptops for children in foster care.

The program’s ever evolving needs for children and families in the foster care are met through:

• Internal evaluation procedures
• Review of behavioral health case notes
• Participant satisfaction surveys
• Audits by government contracts

www.avivatucson.org

The mission of Big Brother’s Big Sister’s is to create and support one to one mentoring relationships igniting the power and promise of youth, so all youth achieve their full potential. In 2022, BBBS will serve 400 youth and families. They’ll continue efforts to recover from the pandemic and recruit new children and volunteers into the program. In 2021, 70% of youth lived in a single parent home, 28% had an incarcerated parent and 75% came from low-income homes.

Once matched, the Big and Little’s spend 2-3 hours at least 2 times a month at outings designed especially for kids. Bigs are encouraged to offer experiences Little’s are not otherwise exposed to – free or low-cost educational outings to local museums, parks, walk in nature and other experiences where a Little can begin to trust in their Big. BBBS also organizes and hosts group outings each month for these Bigs and Littles. There has been a substantial increase in referrals because of the past issue of social isolation as a result of the pandemic. SCCF funds will help support the cost of recruiting new volunteers, matching mentors with youth, catch youth up in school and provide effective ways to stay connected to their mentors.

BBBST evaluates services and impact using the Youth Outcome Survey. Youth are evaluated in seven indicator areas. The following percentage of youth met or exceeded respective goals:

• Scholastic Competency 66%
• Educational Expectations 70%
• Grades 69%
• Social Acceptance 59%
• Parental Trust 81%
• Risk Avoidance 82%
• Special Adult Relationship 97%

www.soazbigs.org

Casa de los Ninos offers services supporting at-risk, low-income families of all ages, races and genders by providing child abuse prevention programs, assisting families in crisis and offering treatment through therapeutic services.

The Kelly Early Education Center provides high quality early education to prepare students for success in kindergarten and with social and developmental preparedness. About 80% of households attending the Early Education Center use DES subsides. The EEC has dedicated a specific focus to families who live in poverty whose children may exhibit disruptive or challenging behaviors leading to expulsion from other early education programs.

The Kelly Early Education Center uses the Ages and Stages Questionnaires to access social-emotional and developmental well-being of each child and identifies delays, disorders, or issues needing to be addressed. Questionnaires are completed every six months and establish a consistent baseline for behavior and progress tracking.

www.casadelosninos.org

A youth development organization with a mission to empower youth through bicycles and values on and off the bike.

The El Grupo cycling program focuses on helping youth translate bike skills into life skills, by providing meaningful structure and harmony that integrates practices, academic support and opportunity for community activities. El Grupo works to continue it’s 100% high school graduation rate and 90% post-high school education.

• 100% high school graduation rate
• Over 90% of alumni pursuing post-high school education
• 100% of alumni have the skill to address life challenges
• 100% of alumni report setting personal goals
• 90% of alumni report resiliency
• 90% feel that they are successful

www.elgrupocycling.org

Higher Ground works to empower one life at a time to reach, transform and elevate the community through building character. Higher Ground specializes in providing comprehensive support to critically at-risk students suffering from the effects of childhood trauma and poverty.

The goal of Family Stabilization and Support is to offer services to keep families functioning after destabilizing crises, ensuring children are safe, thriving and continuing to stay in school. Higher Ground applies strict criteria to families in need of short-term financial support to help them stabilize after an emergency. The Family Stabilization program also offers the services of the Family Engagement Team (FET). FET helps the family in crisis providing translation in the work place, attending parent teacher conferences at school or helping with placing students in special educational programs as needed. SCCF funding helps ensure unexpected events and poverty barriers do not determine a child’s opportunities to succeed academically life.

The primary measurable outcome is to reduce student absenteeism in our community school sites below 10%. Students and families participate in activities that teach social-emotional learning, one-on-one behavioral coaching and clinical social work. Activities are guided by six core goals:

• Students improve their grit/resilience skills
• Students improve their self-control skills
• Students improve their physical health
• Students improve their emotional coping skills
• Students build social skills
• Students strengthen their academic ability and critical thinking skills

www.higherground.me

Imago Dei Middle School’s mission is to break cycles of poverty through education, by giving children a quality, private school education during critical middle school years. They serve up to 80 Tucson boys and girls in grades 5-8 from low-income families, without regard to race, faith or perceived academic potential.

Significant issues have surfaced for many students which are interfering with their academic learning. IDMS partners with Playformance to help students overcome effects isolation, uncertainty and loneliness. IDMS provides students with safe places to engage in social interaction.

IDMS staff are working with child wellness experts and child psychologists to develop a survey of both children and parents to identify current levels of confidence and social anxiety, and to compare them after the completion of the program.

www.imagodeischool.org

ICS is a social service organization focused on helping people achieve stable, healthy, and independent lives. ICS programs and services meet essential needs for some of the most vulnerable people in our community. They provide children of low-income families with opportunities to access educational support and enrichment activities.

ICS is seeking funding to provide low-income children and parents with access to academic tutoring, technology, after school enrichment programs and music lessons to help students improve academically and stay on track for graduation. Many children have fallen behind academically due to the pandemic crisis. ICS is taking a pro-active approach, through the YES program, to help children recover academically and not fall farther behind.

Utilizes the Self-Sufficiency Matrix to gauge a child’s involvement in academic support activities. The matrix is used as an annual pre and post assessment. ICS is also working with Social Venture Partners to develop an assessment tool to measure increased school attendance, participation and overall academic success.

www.icstucson.org

Focus on inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy, giving students knowledge and skills needed to manage money, plan and make academic, career and economic choices. SCCF’s 2021 funding helped provide Pueblo High School students with JA lessons as they transitioned back into the classroom.

Support two programs: JA Inspire Program for 300 students and JA Stock Market Challenge for 100 students. The JA Inspire Program includes a series of classroom lessons in writing resumes, practice interviewing, networking and workplace communication. JA’s Stock Market Challenge educates high school students about investing and trading in the stock market. This program culminates with the JA Stock Market Challenge virtual event – a live simulation where teams of AZ students compete to build and manage a portfolio.

JA’s primary objective at Pueblo High School is to prepare students for the workforce, while motivating them to graduate from high school, minimize drop-out rates and maximize lifelong financial security.

• 85% of participating students will demonstrate increased knowledge of work readiness skills and/or financial literacy
• 85% of teacher, volunteer and student evaluations will indicate the programming is effective
• 95% of participating students will graduate high school

www.jaaz.org

Literacy Connects programs focus on coaching children in reading skillsm so they don’t fall behind in school. Other programs teach parents the importance of reading to their children, help young people experience the power of words and ideas through the arts and put books in the hands of people who need them. 121 children participated in online programs and 113 children participated in family programs.

The program is for kindergarten through fifth grade students. Volunteer reading coaches are recruited and trained to work with students at high need schools who are reading below grade level. The Reading Seed program improves children’s reading skill, but also positively changes important attitudes that have a profound effect on children’s literacy.

Children in the Reading Seed program consistently demonstrate an average of 30% greater gains in assessed literacy skills than the general student population.

www.literacyconnects.org

LSS-SW’s mission is to stabilize people during crisis and transition, build a foundation where people can thrive and preserve dignity and respect. A variety of services are provided.

SCCF support will help LSS-SW build the capacity of the Refugee Youth Mentorship Program, setting refugee students in Tucson up for success through their education and beyond.

Effectiveness of RYMP will include tracking attendance for life skills, afterschool and coordinated activities and community events. Pre and post surveys to assess learning retention, along with exit surveys to measure improvement in social skills, and emotional and mental health.

www.lss-sw.org

MWFB’s mission is to promote early literacy in limited resource areas of southern Arizona by providing children (birth-5 years) with an opportunity to fall in love with books and reading.

The Virtual Story School program focuses on early literacy, language and social emotional skills. The program is a two-generation approach, where children and parents learn together and both gain skills.

• 100% of children will gain access to high quality age appropriate books and resources at home
• At least 90% of children will gain skills in the areas of emergent literacy and language
• At least 90% of parents will gain skills, confidence and tools to support their young children’s emergent literacy and language development
• At least 90% of parents will share books more effectively to foster their children’s literacy development

www.makewayforbooks.org

Our Family Services works to eliminate youth and family homelessness and strengthen our community. They provide stability in times of crisis, linking people to supportive programs and resources. Support from SCCF provided life changing housing, shelter and case management for 540 youth last year. SCCF’s funding allowed Family Services to leverage additional government match funds to broaden impact.

This program provides services offering homeless teenagers a path from the streets to long term stability, including street and community outreach, emergency shelter, case management, counseling and support services. Funding also supports Reunion House, which is a 20 bed temporary crisis shelter for children ages 12-17.

• 100% of the sheltered teens will have basic food, clothing and health care needs met
• 85% of teens will be enrolled in school during their stay at Reunion House
• 80% of teens will transition to safe and stable living arrangements

www.ourfamilyservices.org

Painted Sky PTO’s purpose is to promote positive relationships and partnerships with parents, students, staff and the community. The PTO organizes programs and raises funds otherwise not provided by the Amphitheater School district. The Thunderbird Resource Center (TRC) functions as a program of the PTO.

The Thunderbird Resource Center provides one on one instructional support to Painted Sky students from kindergarten through fifth grade.

Students are assessed upon entrance into the tutoring program and again at the end of the school year.

www.amphi.com/Domain/1213

Project Access’s mission is provide onsite health, education and employment services to families, children and seniors living in affordable and workforce housing communities. They operate family resource centers in low to moderate-income communities.

Project Access’s programs work to combat effects of poverty on youth education, by increasing the likelihood of high school graduation. After school programs increase salary potential and earning power for low-income youth. Programming is free and available year-round.

• Increased social and emotional competencies
• Increased access to STEM learning opportunities
• Increased knowledge of college/trade school, eligibility requirement, and financial aid options
• 70% of youth will report that Project Access programming helped them achieve an increased sense of self-esteem

www.project-access.org

San Miguel High School is a learning community where students from limited financial means have the opportunity to develop to their full potential, regardless of religious affiliation. At San Miguel, students take a full college preparatory course load while simultaneously holding internships, working in corporations and earning nearly 35% of their school tuition.

This program helps low-income students set and achieve post-secondary education goals. Students are aided in completing college applications, organizing college visit trips, filling out financial aid and scholarship forms and researching various college and summer enrichment programs. SCCF funding will be used for the following activities:

• Access to Naviance software, used by both students and staff for researching colleges, applying to colleges and applying for scholarships
• Financial aid nights for Seniors
• Standardized test preparation and testing
• Financial assistance with advanced placement testing
• Provision of emergency funds to assist students with application fees

• Every senior student will complete and submit a minimum of 13 college applications, including applications to all 3 in-state public universities and Pima Community College.
• Collectively the senior class will receive a minimum of 3 college acceptances per student and 100% of graduating seniors will be accepted to college.
• Every senior student will complete and apply for at least 5 scholarship applications and collectively earn a minimum of $2.5 million in financial aid in the form of grants and scholarships.
• Every student will attend a minimum of one in-state college visit per year.
• All counseling staff members will attend a minimum of 2 workshops during the 2021-2022 academic school year.

www.sanmiguelcristorey.org

SAAVI promotes determination, accountability, commitment to success and self-reliance for blind individuals in their communities. The program ensures expectations of students are maintained at a high level and increases the number of blind youth that achieve higher education and employment.

Funding will support SAAVI’s signature program REAL, which is a highly interactive and participatory program providing education and hands on experiences for blind children in grades K-12 and their parents/families (200 in total).

Clients are tracked from kindergarten through high school graduation/post-secondary education until they move into their careers. Success is evaluated by pre and post program surveys, monthly evaluations, staff observations and feedback.

www.saavi.us

SARSEF works in classrooms and online providing hands-on activities challenging students to investigate real-life problems, building critical thinking and problem-solving skills in K-12 grade levels. SARSEF also works directly with teachers, modeling how to integrate student led inquiry-based learning into lesson planning, activities and direct instruction.

The What Do You Wonder program provides workshops at PreK-12 schools. Students are engaged through hands-on activities as they take something that they wonder about in this world and use their STEM-thinking skills and scientific process to solve the problem.

• Comparison of the AZ Department of Education’s adopted test of state standards
• Data is gathered for each school: number of students, number of Title 1 schools, demographics, whether the participant school received education outreach and the number of teachers and parents participating in each school
• Self-reported teacher professional development impact

www.sarsef.org

STEP educates and empowers low-income students with knowledge, confidence, and leadership skills to successfully transition to college and attain a 4-year degree. Since 2011, STEP has grown and developed into a full-service College Prep Program. 2021 SCCF funding was used to help guide Tucson high school students through the process of preparing for, applying to, and transitioning to college.

The College Prep Program gives students from low income and underrepresented communities the tools needed to close Arizona’s postsecondary educational attainment gap. Students enter the program in their sophomore year of high school and receive one-on-one advising throughout their sophomore, junior and senior years of high school.

• Percentage of STEP students who enroll in college directly after high school
• Percentage of STEP alumni with a college degree
• The amount of scholarship and gift aid received by program participants

www.stepexpedition.org

YOTO exists to help address barriers and mitigate impact of homelessness on students’ education. Operating in 100+ middle and high schools across Pima County, YOTO supports high school graduation and continued success of homeless youth by providing financial assistance, basic human needs and guidance. YOTO serves youth in grades 6-12.

The program provides accountability-based financial assistance, basic human needs and guidance to Pima County’s homeless students working towards their high school graduation. SCCF funding will provide direct student support via monthly stipends, bill assistance, mini-mall material items, transportation assistance and/or gift cards for approximately 91 YOTO students enrolled.

YOTO is measuring outcomes by monthly online stipend requests. Active YOTO students are exceeding program outcomes.

• <25% of enrolled YOTO students have dropped out due to non attendance
• 65% report passing grades in most of their classes
• 65% report meeting their school’s monthly attendance requirement

www.yoto.org