Korean American Community Services Wins Grant to Aid Children, Families

PALO ALTO – Korean American Community Services (KACS), located in San Jose, has received a grant for $36,000 from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health to renew its child abuse prevention program, foundation President and CEO Stephen Peeps announced today.

The program, called Children’s Health Project, provides counseling to encourage positive communication and safe home environments and offers weekly workshops on effective parenting, conflict management, coping skills, and U.S. child protective laws.

KACS is the only agency in Santa Clara County serving Koreans who are monolingual or speak limited English. According to Hwaja Choi, KACS executive director, the lack of social supports for newly arrived Korean immigrants, along with feelings of isolation and limited language skills, are stress factors that can result in children becoming victims of child abuse and neglect. Research points to social isolation as a key factor in the incidence of child abuse and neglect. The weekly meetings and peer support groups alleviate isolation as well as provide education and practice in effective parenting.

KACS is among 32 child and youth nonprofit organizations in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties to receive $2.1 million in the first-ever round of grants from the 4-year-old foundation. The foundation’s two funding areas are protecting children (ages 0-5) from injury with emphasis on preventing child abuse, and promoting emotional, mental and behavioral health in pre-teens (ages 9-13).

“在历时18个月的规划和与社区领袖的磋商中，我们对圣马特奥县和圣克拉拉县儿童的健康状况有了更深入的了解，并发现了巨大的需求，”皮普斯说道。“该地区的大多数儿童出生时都很健康，损害或威胁他们健康的因素主要与行为有关，因此是可以预防的。这就是为什么我们选择在我们关注的两个领域内重点开展预防工作的原因。”

例如，1998年圣马特奥县报告了5006起虐待和忽视儿童案件，其中绝大多数为忽视案件。1999年，圣克拉拉县报告了19565起虐待和忽视儿童案件。青少年药物滥用、性风险行为和自杀倾向是各县持续面临的挑战。

在获得资助的32个项目中，只有6个是新项目。“我们了解到，最需要的是加强现有项目，”皮普斯说。

Other organizations funded include countywide projects such as Santa Clara Valley’s YMCA Cornerstone Project, which focuses on youth development, as well as smaller rural-based programs. Individual grants range from $36,000 to $300,000 over the course of one, two and three years.

“In a relatively short time, the foundation’s community grantmaking program has gone from a concept to a reality,” said Sharon Keating Beauregard, the foundation’s director of Programs and Grants. “It is rewarding to see resources getting out to the communities to strengthen the health and well-being of children.”

如需了解基金会社区资助计划的更多信息，并查看所有受助机构名单，请访问基金会网站： www.lpfch.org或致电 (650) 736-0676。