Advocates for Children and Youth (ACY)
$60,000 / 2008 / Health and Human Services
Toward continued support of programming designed to improve quality of life for Baltimore City children. As part of the “Maryland Can Do Better for Children” campaign, ACY provides research-based recommendations for strategies to meet the needs of Maryland’s children, including the implementation of the Family Team Decision Making model to help reduce the number of foster care placements; the promotion of bonuses to attract strong school principals; support for community-based programs such as Multi-Systemic Therapy and Functional Family Therapy, which have been shown to reduce recidivism; and expansion of oral health care for children on Medicaid.
University of Maryland Baltimore County
$18,151 / 2008 / Education
In continuing support of an evaluation of the Core Knowledge Preschool Program at St. Vincent de Paul Southeast Head Start centers. The evaluation measures the effectiveness of the Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence in the areas of language development and early literacy, math reasoning and number sense, social skills, visual arts, music, and readiness to learn. The sample of Southeast Head Start Center children, 70 percent of whom are Spanish speaking, will be compared with a control group, half of whom are Hispanic. Once the children enter kindergarten, follow-up studies will track the academic progress of the two groups.
University of Baltimore/ Center for Community Technology Services
$40,000 / 2008 / Education
For the purchase of computers, training, and support of the LATCH (Let’s All Take Computers Home) technology program in five Baltimore City public schools: Baltimore Freedom Academy, Collington Square, Southwest Baltimore Charter, City Springs, and General Wolfe. Each school will identify 25 families to receive a computer, printer, software, Internet access, and computer maintenance service. Parents attend workshops to learn basic skills and how to help students with computer-based homework.
Teach For America-Baltimore
$125,000 / 2008 / Education
For continuation of an initiative to recruit and train 85 Teach For America Corps members, and work with 75 second-year corps members committed to teaching in Baltimore City public schools. These recent college graduates, who commit to work in classrooms for two years, are offered the opportunity to earn a Master of Arts in teaching at The Johns Hopkins University.
Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
$91,280 / 2008 / Education
Toward support of the Vocational Rehabilitation Services’ Youth Achieving Potential program. The program offers career assessment, paid work experiences, and placement services for 80 high school seniors with special needs from four Baltimore City public schools. After being placed in jobs, participants receive six months of counseling to help ensure appropriate on-the-job performance.
