Introduction

Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children in school in the US if often carried out by people they are familiar with and occurs primarily in their schools or homes. There have been significant incidences in the media reporting acts of male teachers sexually abusing their female students.[1] Female students are often skeptical about reporting such occurrences because social pressure prevents them from going to their parents or authorities. In 2013, a survey conducted in a school in Los Angeles showed that 27% of the female students interviewed stated that they had received pressure for sex from their teachers, 25% reported knowing at least one teacher who has an affair with a student, and 79% reported that their male classmates had sexually harassed them.[2] Authorities and researchers in education have concluded that the gap between sexual harassment and reporting is linked to the education of the girl child. Research argues that access to education, positive academic achievements, and successful completion of education by female students will increase the rate of achieving education as well as other national development objectives.[3] These objectives can only be achieved if the children perceive schools as enabling and safe environments.

Company Overview

The primary goal of the CARE Center is to enhance the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of school-going children. Established in Bell Community, Los Angeles, the organization will aim to cater to survivors of violence including women and girls. Services offered by the center will include medical, psychological, as well as legal counseling among other support services to victims of abuse. Through the provision of confidential, centralized, and holistic support services,[4]It is expected that victims will have positive and direct effects on their well-being and education.

Project goal

Psychological counseling and training are the core purposes of Care. Advice is the process of assisting people to realize their abilities and potentials that can help them solve problems. It is crucial that CARE seeks the well-being of its clients and make school going children understand that they have a voice and that they are heard, taken seriously, and essentially believed.

The primary goal of CARE is to develop a safe and confidential platform for school boys and girls to talk about their experiences and feelings with a counselor. The counselor will be well equipped with skills and knowledge to help children be able to cope with their situation through group and individual counseling. Through participation in counseling, victims will be able to realize that they are not alone in their struggle against abuse and they will be able to learn new methods of taking control over their lives.

Project Objectives

• To create opportunities that will build a platform for sharing experiences, ideas, and knowledge about School-Related Gender-based Violence (SRGBV) among community members such as parents, teachers, and other community stakeholders.

• To provide support and referrals for psychological counseling, medical assistance, and other essential services for victims and their families.

• To provide counseling to teachers, peer counselors, and community volunteers.

Project Activities

CARE will empower students on their rights and responsibilities in the society, enable students who have been abused through counseling and developing long-lasting safety strategies for them. The organization will also train and sensitize school attendants and teachers on the proper control strategies to ensure high levels of discipline in schools. The organization will further encourage students to break the silence, raise their voices, and get help when they are abused, or to find their peers who are also being abused. Finally, the organization will provide specific training modules to school counselors, parents, peer counselors, and community volunteers.

Staffing plan

CARE will include the services of counselors, coordinators, and training coordinators. The counselors will be tasked with offering and monitoring counseling services on site. They will be recruited based on their psychology backgrounds, and training in all counseling areas such as human rights, intervention skills, and legal matters concerning abuse, gender equality, and facilitating skills.

The coordinator will facilitate the coordination of activities between the training coordinator and the counselors. They will also oversee the effective and smooth running of the program in compliance with the laws and regulations of the Safe Schools Project. The coordinator will further serve as a communication point between CARE and safe school project.

The training coordinator will be tasked with the responsibility of handling all activities related to planning, training, implementing, evaluating, and monitoring. The training coordinator will be recruited based on experience in conducting training, choosing training topics, selecting training participants, assessing the specific needs of participants, monitoring and evaluation of all aspects of practice.

The team will also include a financial assistant who will oversee the financial aspect of the organization. Case managers will also be hired to handle cases and to assist counselors on any legal matters. Lastly, we will need volunteers to help in special occasion fundraising activities and programming. We will recruit and train volunteers for positions such as reception, information, and also referral. We are also looking in to local programs that may provide us with interns at no cost.

Space Plan

The company plans to rent out two adjoining offices in the Anniversary Towers Building (540 Main Street, Suite B). This is an ideal location because of its central focal point. This way, counselors can be able to access any school within the region from a central point. The area is also relatively quiet with very little noise. This will be effective for situations where our clients come to the office for counseling. Henry Davis- an agency that owns and manages the property will charge a monthly rent of $250 for space. We will also be allowed to use the additional office as a storage unit when it is vacant. The agents will also let us use their conference rooms for meetings and conferences. Group or individual counseling will take place in the schools’ premises as will be designated by the schools’ administration.

Financial Plan

This financial plan is for controlled but rapid growth. Our initial capital is pegged at $255,000 with cash streaming in from recommendations and referrals over six months. At the moment, CARE has a capital of about $120, 000 dollars gathered from grants attached to the program and other supportive associations. The total amount that will be requested for the program is $135,000. The organization has come up with prospective plans to raise the remaining amount as will be seen. The association plans to build a program that is valuable and visible in the community that will make capital raising and endowment from community organizations possible. Besides, the organization plans to find a board member who will be dedicated to donation as well as capital fundraising.

Similarly, the management team employed the use of various sources to identify potential funding sources for our program. The search was narrowed down by comparing the program’s goals, target population, and budget to each foundation’s interests and grant application requirements. After reviewing prospective funders, The Ridgeway Foundation was among the selected foundations. We also plan to borrow $20,000 from The Commercial Bank to help with our initial capital needs. This loan is expected to be paid back within ten years.  We plan to repay this loan by increasing our clientele, and our cash flow will be increased through networking. The budget for the company startup includes four full-time mental health counselors, office equipment, office space, mileage, staff training, session materials, supervision hours, and staff fees.

Bibliography

Hébert, Martine, Jude Mary Cénat, Martin Blais, Francine Lavoie, and Mireille Guerrier. “Child sexual abuse, bullying, cyberbullying, and mental health problems among high schools students: a moderated mediated model.” Depression and anxiety 33, no. 7 (2016): 623-629.

Lundberg, Aaron, and Richard F. Dangel. “Using Root Cause Analysis and Occupational Safety Research to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse in Schools.” Journal of child sexual abuse (2018): 1-13.

Wang, Kenneth T. Research design in counseling.Nelson Education, 2015.

[1]Hébert, Martine, Jude Mary Cénat, Martin Blais, Francine Lavoie, and Mireille Guerrier. “Child sexual abuse, bullying, cyberbullying, and mental health problems among high schools students: a moderated mediated model.” Depression and anxiety 33, no. 7 (2016): 623

[2] Ibid 625

[3]Lundberg, Aaron, and Richard F. Dangel. “Using Root Cause Analysis and Occupational Safety Research to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse in Schools.” Journal of child sexual abuse (2018): 1

[4]Wang, Kenneth T. Research design in counseling.Nelson Education, 2015.

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