barrios unidos

Camino Nuevo

Funded by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, a collaboration of the Santa Cruz Probation Department, Barrios Unidos, the Community Action Board, and Youth Services is developing a culturally responsive evening center for youth living in the northern portion of Santa Cruz County.  The goal of this program is to provide mental health and job development services to youth with non-violent offenses.  Each youth is assigned to a Probation Officer and Youth Services counselor.  Youth will also be referred to support groups, job development services, and leadership development activities located at Barrios Unidos and the Community Action Board.

Needs Assessment of Low-Income Latinos Living in Mid-to North Santa Cruz County

Funded by the California Endowment, Barrios Unidos hired Ceres Policy Research to collaborate on a needs assessment of low-income Latinos in Santa Cruz County. We designed the research project to address the possibility that immigrant families may distrust researchers from outside the community. For this reason, we trained Barrios Unidos staff to work as data collectors. These staff members have extensive experience in the Latino community as advocates and residents. The results provide an unusually accurate and valuable description of the needs of low-income Latinos living in the Live Oak and Beach Flats neighborhoods of Santa Cruz County.

Download the PDF of the needs assessment.

Program Evaluation of the Multimedia Program for Youth

Ceres Policy Research conducted a program evaluation of the Barrios Unidos Multimedia Program for Youth. This program is designed to accommodate individual students' needs and interests. This flexibility helps students learn new technical skills at their own speed. Our research design relied on interviews with student participants.

Download the PDF of the evaluation