$1.5 Million in Grants Includes Funding to Support Middle School Teachers, Preteens

PALO ALTO – The board of directors of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health on Nov. 8 approved more than $1.5 million in grants to 14 nonprofit organizations that serve children in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

The grants include $165,000 for a program that is designed to help local teachers address the emotional and behavioral issues that shape preteens’ experience at school. The aim of the pilot program, run by the Cleo Eulau Center, is to encourage teachers, other school staff, and parents to support preteens’ healthy emotional development, in addition to their academic achievement. The program ultimately could serve as a model for how educators can build healthy student- teacher relationships in a classroom setting.

“The role schools can play in supporting our kids’ emotional and behavioral health is pivotal, and Cleo Eulau has developed some sound strategies to help teachers tackle these issues in the classroom,” said Sharon Keating-Beauregard, vice president and director of community programs and grants at the foundation. “This program shows much promise for increasing students’ engagement in school life and decreasing their risk-taking behaviors.”

The foundation, which makes grants twice each year, supports programs in two focus areas: protecting children ages 0-5 from injury, with an emphasis on preventing abuse and neglect; and promoting behavioral and emotional health in preteens, ages 9-13.

This cycle’s grants range from $70,350 to $200,000 over one to two years. Of the 14 grantees, 11 previously have received funding from the foundation.

Grants in Santa Clara County

Four of the grants, totaling $434,000, were awarded to organizations in Santa Clara County, which has a child population of about 440,000.

Boys and Girls Club of Silicon Valley: $80,000 for the Youth Life Skills and Leadership Program, which helps preteens develop leadership skills and learn how to make positive choices regarding their physical and emotional health.

Friends Outside in Santa Clara County: $171,000 over two years for Project Step Out, a year-round after-school program geared toward preteens whose family members are incarcerated.

Via Rehabilitation Services: $83,000 for Via Injury Prevention Program, to provide parents of disabled or developmentally delayed children ages 0 to 3 with education training sessions, home visits, counseling and supervised parent-child interaction opportunities, to reduce the likelihood of intentional injury to their children.

The Cornerstone Project, YMCA of Santa Clara Valley: $100,000 for a pilot project at six Santa Clara County middle schools in which students will produce oral and film histories of community elders. An evaluation tool to measure changes in how participating preteens view themselves and their communities also will be a key part of the program.

Grants in San Mateo County

Four of the grants, totaling $492,350, were awarded to organizations in San Mateo County, which has a child population of about 165,000.

Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula: $100,000 for the Preteen Program, a combination of several projects that help preteens make healthful choices, engage in community service projects and strive for academic achievement.

Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo County: $122,000 over two years to expand its Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect: Community Response program. This program works with families at risk for abuse or neglect that face critical child care needs.

North Street Community Resource Center, Coastside Children’s Program: $70,350 for Protecting the South Coast’s Children 0 to 5, a program that includes home visiting, parent education and mental health counseling, and case management services for families at risk for abuse or neglect of their children.

San Mateo County Health Services Agency: $200,000 over two years for Prenatal to Three Strategic Plan: Risk Assessment and Service Coordination, to develop an assessment instrument to screen for child abuse and neglect and to enhance coordination of services among county agencies and community-based organizations.

Grants in Both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties

Six grants, totaling $620,000 were awarded to programs serving children in both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Alameda County Office of Education: $100,000 for the After School Leadership Institute, a pilot project to provide professional development, leadership training and coaching to after-school program staff in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Cleo Eulau Center for Children and Adolescents: $165,000 over two years for the School Connectedness Component, a two-year pilot that will promote preteens’ social and emotional wellness and resiliency by strengthening connectedness among teachers, students and families.

Citizen Schools: $80,000 to A Vibrant Citizen Schools California Network, to support salary of two new positions that will manage the network’s growth as its preteen after school program expands from two to five schools.

Girls For a Change: $75,000 for Girls For a Change, Girls Action Teams, a program in which teams of preteen girls identify challenges their communities face, and then design and implement solutions.

InnVision, The Way Home: $150,000 for Healthy Families Project, a program to provide support services for homeless and very low-income families and protect their children ages 0-5 from child abuse and neglect.

Youth Community Service, Bay Area Community Resources: $50,000 to help strengthen Youth Community Services in its efforts to become an independent nonprofit and bolster a program in which teams of youth in East Palo Alto, East Menlo Park and Palo Alto develop leadership and team-building skills by working on projects within their communities.

Funds for the grants program come from the foundation’s endowment and a partnership grant from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Since December 2000, the foundation has awarded 332 grants, totaling $28,803,470 to 167 different nonprofit organizations.

The foundation is a public charity whose mission is to “promote, protect, and sustain the physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral health of children.” For more information about the foundation’s community grantmaking program, call (650) 736-0676, or visit http://www.lpfch.org/grantmaking