Madrina-Padrino Public Safety Project
Local Partners: Tucson, Arizona
Introduction
HAPCOA national staff conducted research followed by a site visit (March 28-April 2, 2004) to consider law enforcement organizations and community-based organizations with whom to partner in order to implement the Madrina-Padrino Public Safety Project (MPPSP). After careful consideration, the following partners were selected: Tucson Police Department, Luz Social Services, Inc., Catholic Community Services and the Tucson Urban League.
Geographic Region
Although the Hispanic/Latino community spans the entire city of Tucson as well as Pima County, the Project will focus on southern Tucson. Its predominantly Hispanic population, approximately 80%, and the existence of established, viable neighborhood associations and a sophisticated community-based organizational infrastructure, make south Tucson an ideal location to implement the Project's goals and objectives. Southern Tucson is bounded by Country Club Boulevard to the east, the Santa Cruz River to the west, Speedway Boulevard to the north and Valencia Road/Los Reales to the south. Most important to the Project is that this geographic area allows for intermediaries within the selected CBOs and a select group of recently arrived immigrants to carry the Project's messages within and well beyond the community's borders to include targeted audiences and stakeholders and, indirectly, the wider Hispanic/Latino community.
Individual Work of the CBOs
- Tucson Police Department
Tucson Police Department's (TPD) motto-"Ready to Protect, Proud to Serve"-has been its guiding force since the department was founded in 1871. Under the leadership of Chief Richard Miranda, a Tucson native, it is currently authorized 994 commissioned and 359 civilian employee positions. The Tucson Police Department works in a city that covers more than 200 square miles and is home to 475,000 citizens. Four assistant chiefs head up the administrative, investigative, field and support services bureaus. TPD responds to an average of 775 calls for service every 24 hours. The TPD website includes youth pages, prevention, employment and crime statistics. Crime data can be accessed through areas devoted to traffic collisions/accidents, neighborhood searches, crime search and calls for service.
- Luz Social Services, Inc.
Luz Social Services, Inc. is a private, nonprofit community-based corporation founded in 1971 whose mission is to provide health and human services to the Hispanic communities as well as the general population of Tucson. The community it serves has a high percentage of single female-headed households (23.5%) with children under eighteen; almost half of such families (42.3%) live in poverty. Nearly half (47.3%) of the Southside Coalition's clients over the age of 25 have not graduated from high school. Among Pima County 8th graders in the 2002 Arizona Youth Survey, almost 70 percent (69.7%) had used alcohol, 41 percent reported smoking cigarettes, and 37 percent had used marijuana.
Luz currently manages the Southside Coalition, a five-year program funded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), and which is dedicated to addressing community substance abuse prevention and its consequences and associated problems, such as juvenile crime, school dropouts, teen pregnancy and alcohol and drug use. Critical to the success of MPPSP is the Southside Coalition's infrastructural strength, grassroots approach and wide reach into Tucson's Latino community. It uses coalition building, capacity building, community development and organization, information sharing and public awareness and advocacy to strengthen community.
- Catholic Community Services/Pio Decimo Center
The Pio Decimo Center of Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, Inc. is a multipurpose neighborhood center serving all age groups. Some services it offers include adult services, case management; children and youth services, including childcare and after-school activities; an employment assistance program; and health services, such as nutrition classes, wellness clinics and referrals for adults. Its work with immigrant families specifically through financial management classes provides an excellent focal point for MPPSP's goals. In these classes, adults learn about budgeting for vehicle repairs, insurance and registration. MPPSP's central public safety goals of increased seat belt and child safety seat use, as well as the reduction of drinking and driving, would find an excellent home in such classes as well as captive audiences to receive the messages.
- Tucson Urban League, Inc.
Tucson Urban League, Inc., among the top three affiliates of The National Urban League, Inc., administers through its education department the Tucson Urban League Academy, a charter school for grades 6-12, and The Oasis, an alternative high school, which empowers students to set personal educational goals that will help them complete high school. Also provided are juvenile services for adjudicated youth and a summer program for middle and high school students. For HAPCOA's purposes, two childcare learning centers, Henry Quinto Center and Henry Ryan Center, which serve infants, pre-schoolers and school-age children, are well suited to meet all the Project's stated goals. In addition, a Parent Network can be mobilized in disseminating Project messages.
Collective work of the CBOs
All CBOs participating in the Madrina-Padrino Public Safety Project are active members of the Southside Coalition with longstanding relationships among themselves and within the Hispanic community. Such coalition-building efforts can only enrich the MPPSP Alliance and the already excellent work performed by each organization individually.
Benefits of the Southside Coalition's community mobilization model
A community mobilization model offers distinct advantages. First and foremost, it is based on an empowerment philosophy, which stresses the importance of collectivity, self-determination and critical thinking in solving community problems. Community activists are developed and trained to mobilize their own communities, build strong community relationships, and effect social change. Secondly, as demonstrated by the three community-based organizations identified for the MPPSP, established relationships between organizations have benefited the community through enhanced levels of cooperation, partnering and outcomes. Finally, long-term development of trust and credibility within the community reaches into the numerous Southside neighborhood associations. Each president and other contributing members enjoy excellent working relationships with the Southside Coalition and can be mobilized at a moment's notice.
For more information regarding the Madrina-Padrino Public Safety Project,
contact Catalina Bartlett, Project Manager, at Bartlett@hapcoa.org.