Latin American Youth Center Essay

Introduction In 1968, the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) was founded to address the absence of services for the emerging Latino community. LAYC offered educational and vocational activities after school and in the summer at several locations in the community. With overwhelming support from community youth, volunteers and parents, the LAYC began a multicultural youth and family development center in the District of Columbia serving Latino youth, while serving as a bridge to the wider youth community (“Latin American Youth Center”, 2017). Today, we work with over 4,000 youth and families in Washington, DC, and Maryland’s Prince George’s Counties at four sites and dozens of service points through partner schools and organizations. I am working in the LAYC Foster Care program, which places some of the District’s most vulnerable youth in a safe and loving home. Some children in the Washington, DC area are removed from their home out of necessity for their safety; others are removed because their biological parents are not able to care for them; and other youth and children come to this country unaccompanied, without close ties to other family members (“Latin American

It provides grants and legal protections so children and youth in homeless situations can enroll in, attend, and succeed in school and preschool programs. Per the National Center on Homeless Education, students who switch schools frequently score lower on standardized tests. Furthermore, it takes children an average of 4-6 months to recover academically after changing schools. The McKinney Vento Act requires all public schools to immediately enroll students experiencing homelessness, even when lacking: proof of residency, guardianship, birth certificates, school records, medical records, and required dress code