Children's Trust Grant Awarded to CAU Professor

MIAMI - Dr. Laura Alfonso, assistant professor in CAU's doctoral program, has been awarded a one year grant of $75, 000 from the Children's Trust.  The grant will allow for the establishment of the Hialeah Albizu Partnership Program for Youth (HAPPY), a school-based selected prevention program providing services for impoverished, at risk, 7th grade students struggling with delinquency and school-failure problems.

The program will use a multi-faceted approach that will simultaneously aim to decrease risk factors and increase protective factors specific to the targeted audience.  These targeted 7th graders are at risk due to a lack of English proficiency and poverty.  HAPPY will provide services to this group at a critical stage in their development - shortly before entering high school, when academic failure, delinquency, drop-out rates, and substance abuse will potentially increase.  The focus of HAPPY will both be on the child and their families.

The schools in Hialeah that will participate in the program and receive the prevention services are Henry Filer Middle School, Jose Marti Middle School, and Palm Springs Middle School.  The Goodman Psychological Center, and post-doctoral and doctoral students from CAU will be involved first-hand with the program, rendering much-needed services in the community.

The Children's Trust funds only a handful of programs each year.