Kevin Albarran

Homelessness in Los Angeles

Research
Around the beginning of the year in 2019 thousands of volunteers gathered around the city of Los Angeles for three days to locate how many people are homeless which served as a barometer in order to determine how well the government efforts to curb the population are working. This count helped quantify the homeless crisis. About 8,000 volunteers who were involved in the count from Tuesday through Thursday, inspected the regions 2,160 census tracts. Although improvements have been made where homelessness decreased to 5% in Los Angeles, tents, vehicles, and makeshift shelters have continued to increase. Majority of homeless people are living on the streets with no help whatsoever. A homeless man who was living near a lady's building in West Hollywood was approached by Shannon Peace. As she approached him she noticed that he was muttering and suspected that he had a mental illness. From this, she decided to call the police but the man regardless still returns because he believes that is a safe place for him. On the other hand, this has caused Shannon to interact less with homeless people, she states, "I've interrogated my feelings on this to make sure that this is not judgment, to make sure this is not me being disdainful," she says. "It's a fear issue. When it comes to your own feelings of safety, suddenly it influences the way you view the entire issue."(

Facts and Statistics 

• Between July 2017 and December 2018, the Los Angeles "continuum care" moved more than 27,000 people into permanent housing. 
• About 10,900 people are estimated to fall into homelessness in the Los Angeles County about each month. 
• Rising Housing Costs: 

• Homelessness affects everyone but mostly affects Black people, about 33% of them are homeless.
• As well Latinos tend to fall into homelessness and about 36% of them are on the street. 
• About 25% of Caucasians tend to be homeless and live on the street.
• About 1% of Los Angeles homeless populations are of Asian descent and 3% are of another race or multi-ethnic.

Personal Impact

To grow up in Los Angeles and always observing people who live on the street, I have always thought to myself how did they end up in that situation in the first place. As I got older I realized that not everyone is privileged enough to have a job or a house to live in where they can spend time with their family. Yes growing up I never had the new things, toys, or videogames other kids had, which made think I was poor. On the contrary, I had clothes, food, and parents who worked hard to sustain my brother and me. It took longer to notice that others were less fortunate than I was and it showed me that we should be grateful for what we have and don't have. Seeing homeless people made realize that they need more and are affected the most when no one pays attention to them, all they need is a home and sometimes just someone to talk to. Every time my parents would notice a homeless person asking for money, my parents would at least give them a dollar even though it may not have been much but was something they could use. From then on now when I see a homeless person I give them some change or dollar because it makes me feel good to know that I am helping them out and allows them to understand that there are still good people who are willing to help others. So yeah homelessness is a big problem in Los Angeles and can be confronted if everyone unites with each other. 

Community

"Make shower rooms for the homeless who don't have access to homeless shelters to maintain good hygiene."- Antonio Revelez 


Works Cited 

Oreskes, B. (2019, January 25). Scenes from the 2019 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count. Retrieved July 05, 2019, from https://www.latimes.com/visuals/la-me-2019-homeless-count-unfurled-2019-htmlstory.html

Scott, A. (2019, January 01). Homelessness Strains Compassion For Some Los Angeles Residents. Retrieved July 05, 2019, from https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681208503/homelessness-strains-compassion-for-some-los-angeles-residents

Tinoco, M. (n.d.). LA County Homelessness Is Getting Worse. Here Are The Numbers. Retrieved July 05, 2019, from https://laist.com/2019/06/04/los_angeles_homeless_rate_increase.php

Tinoco, M. (n.d.). Homelessness Is Getting Worse In Southern California. Here's Why. Retrieved July 05, 2019, from https://laist.com/2019/05/10/homelessness_increase_los_angeles_inequality.php

Ocean Pollution

Ocean Pollution by PETER MA

image by nrdc

The majority of pollutants going into the ocean come from activities on land. Natural processes and human activities along the coastlines and far inland affect the health of our ocean. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "the biggest source of pollution is called non-point source pollution which comes from cars, trucks, tanks, boats, farms, livestock ranches, and timber harvest areas." (noaa.gov)  Covering more than 70 percent of our planet, oceans are among the earth’s most valuable natural resources. "They govern the weather, clean the air, help feed the world, and provide a living for millions. They also are home to most of the life on earth, from microscopic algae to the blue whale, the largest animal on the planet."(nrdc.org) Yet we’re bombarding them with pollution.

Facts and Statistics

image by noaa

- Ocean covers more than 70 percent of Earth (nrdc.org)
- 80 percent of marine pollution comes from land (nrdc.org)
-Depletion of oxygen content in the water
-Effect of toxic waste on marine animal (failure in the reproductive system of marine animals)
- Contaminates food chain (noaa.gov)
-Effect human health
-Plastics are the most common element found in the ocean today. Plastic in particular is harmful to the environment as it does not break down easily and is often mistaken as food by marine animals. (marineconservation.org) 
-18 billion pounds of trash winds up in our ocean (rubiconglobal)
-fishes and marine animal can not tell the difference between plastic and food
- China and Indonesia are the world's biggest contributor to plastic pollution (nrdc.org)

The Importance of Cleaning our Oceans

image by marine conservation

The ocean is the largest ecosystem on Earth, it is the planet’s life support system. Oceans generate half of the oxygen we breathe and, at any given moment, they contain more than 97% of the world’s water. Oceans provide at least a sixth of the animal protein people eat. Living oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reduce climate change impacts. The diversity and productivity of the world’s oceans is a vital interest for humankind. Our security, our economy, our very survival all require healthy oceans. 

Personal Impaction 

me with a nice yellowtail!

Ocean pollution is a social issue that will impact everyone. I chose this issue because my hobby is to go fishing with my family and friends. Fishing has been my therapy and to see the beauty of nature. Also most of my protein comes from the ocean as well. If the ocean gets even more polluted than how it is now, all the fishes in the ocean will be contaminated, therefore, there will not be the opportunity to go fishing and harvest food. 

Community Member's Viewpoint
Dan Thai (fishing buddy)- "It angers me when I see people not cleaning after themselves at the beach and just littering, how hard is it to just clean up."
Vo Ma (Dad)- "Soon or later, I do not want to eat anything that comes out of our ocean. The water is too dirty." 
Jennifer (Fishing friend)- "I hope people can take care of the ocean, so future generation can experience the greatness of our ocean." 

Resources
-https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts-education-resources/ocean-pollution
- https://www.nrdc.org/stories/ocean-pollution-dirty-facts
- https://marine-conservation.org/what-we-do/advocate/why-we-protect-our-oceans/

Lack of service on kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder

 Lack of service on kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder

                                               

The Lack of service on children with Autism spectrum disorder is currently an issue that goes unnoticed due to lack of knowledge. This term is used to describe a constellation of early appearing social communication deficits and repetitive sensory-monitor behaviours associated with strong genetic component as well as other causes. It is a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior. “The prevalence of ASD in the United States is currently estimated to affect 1 in 68 children with higher rates among males and non- hispanic whites”( Liem T, 2018) It is one of the most common developmental disabilities going on today.

As a result, people on the autism spectrum face significant communication, social, and behavior challenges. They vary enormously from each other but they all have impaired social skills of one kind or another.

                                  

Children under the spectrum

• Delayed speech and communication skills
• Are upset by relatively minor changes

                             

• Are unaware of social convention/appropriate social behavior. 
• They express inappropriate emotions such as laughing at the wrong time and place
• Social interaction such as sharing interests with other people
• They may not understand the importance of taking turns during a conversation, or during an activity.
• The use of non-verbal communication like making eye contact 
• The development and maintenance of relationships like making friends. 
• Unexpected reactions to certain sounds, taste, touch and smell
• Find it difficult to understand other people’s emotions.

                         

        

                 

        Making it difficult to be out in public for both the child and family members.

Personal experience 

From my own experience, having a sibling who does not respond warmly and reciprocally to expressions of interest and love on the part of family members can create a sense of profound loss and humiliation. I get told “Your brother is cute” but deep down I know I’m being told that because they don’t know how to approach him or us about his disorder. I get sad when my friends siblings make the decision to leave him out of certain activities like soccer, or tag. I hate having to tell people that he has autism because I’m afraid they're going to look at him differently after, I’m afraid they’re afraid. “Children comment on their anger regarding peer reactions, difficulty explaining their sibling to peers” (Wright, Bridget M, and Joann P Benigno., 2019) These perspective illustrates how the experiences of one family member affects not only their actions and perspectives but also those of other family members.

                                 

Why this issue is important

I think this issue is important because in today’s society, we are quick to assume that the child throwing a tantrum at the store, or park is simply a spoiled child, who lack self discipline from the parents. Affecting their everyday lives and limited the activities the family could do together. “Parents of children with ASD were at increased risk of poor mental health, not because of others stressors engendered or exacerbated by their child's disability.” (Meadan, Hedda, 2010) This stress could have a negative impact on parents, leading to depression, anger, anxiety, and even marital discord.

                            

Interviews

“It’s hard going out as a family, yea. As a mother, it hurts to be looked at when your child is crying and hitting you when asked to get down from there or when reinforcing rules. I already know what half of the people are thinking of me. I think what hurts more is having to restrain your own child in public when you know he’s in danger to himself and those around him. The last thing I want is for people to think I’m a bad more or worse hitting my child.” 

-Rosa Duarte

“It’s tough. It’s really tough. I wish more people understood that ASD isn’t contagious but something extremely unique and beautiful. As a big sister I’m always afraid of the thought that my brother is getting bullied at school. He’s 8 and he’s pretty tall for an 8 year old. He still carries his chewing throughout his day. Knowing that kids his age refuse to play with him and laugh at him when chewing on his chewy or other objects kills me. Jacob is such a sweet kid. He’s funny, he’s charming. But people refuse to see what a beautiful kid he is.”

-Michelle Santos

“Ideen is a high functioning kid. Uhm, He gets mad a lot. Every time he loses at a game, or doesn’t have it his way he throws a tantrum. He becomes very violent too. He puts his hands on his sister a lot at home and at school. And although we try convincing jaimy that he’s still a kid, that he doesn’t know any better, she refuses to play with him most of the time. I think jaimy is hitting that point in life where she no longer wants to be around her own little brother. Some days, jaimy comes home and tells us “Ideen embarrassed me at school today. I hate him.” She has no idea that Ideen has autism, she’s only 8. We know that sooner or later were going to have to tell her but, we don’t really know how. I’m constantly getting calls at work about my children getting sent to the office for fighting. We get threats from other parents saying that if Ideen keeps hitting their kid, they're calling the police on him and us. I come home tired from work and I can’t really rest because Ideen is either throwing a tantrum or making loud noises. We get new nannies almost every 7 months because they find it difficult to care for him.”

-Ricky Ortiz 

Reference 

Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) : Recent Advances and Innovations in Assessment, Education, and Intervention, edited by James K. Luiselli, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csla/detail.action?docID=1630627.

Chistol, Liem, T. Bandini, Linda Must, G. Phillips, Aviva Cermak, and Sarah Curtin. "Sensory Sensitivity and Food Selectivity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder." Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 48.2 (2018): 583-91. Web.

Meadan, Hedda, James Halle, and Aaron Ebata. "Families With Children Who Have Autism Spectrum Disorders: Stress and Support." Exceptional Children 77.1 (2010): 7-36. Web.

Wright, Bridget M, and Joann P Benigno. "Autism Spectrum Disorder and Sibling Relationships: Exploring Implications for Intervention Using a Family Systems Framework." American Journal of Speech-language Pathology 28.2 (2019): 759-67. Web. 

Public Education in Los Angeles is Underfunded

 Underfunded Public Education in Los Angeles

Problem Definition:


A social issue that previously and still present to this day is the quality of public education in Los Angeles. The K-12 education system is important to help students to be successful adults. In California, we are ranked below the national average. In Los Angeles school district, there is a high number of disadvantaged students that do not get the help they need in school.

Research:
Public education is great right? Yes, it is for the most part. In California primarily focusing on Los Angeles city, has been a target for being the not the best funded and resourceful for its students.  There are major gaps in funding amongst school districts. The school districts with low economic families suffer the most. According to my findings of how California funds public education, "Just 3 percent of California students attended school in a district that was spending enough money on education, which researchers estimated to be $16,800 per student." (Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union Tribune). In this article, Kristen speaks with Jennifer Imazeki of San Diego State University, who wrote about the project called Getting Down to Facts II. This project shows the real side of California’s education system. In Getting Down to Facts II, is addresses that California needs to enhance the way students can succeed. The funds for underrepresented students, such as Special Education is another issue.
This means that disadvantaged students do not receive the adequate amount of resources for their education. Therefore, the schools in Los Angeles Unified School District has less teachers, overcrowded classrooms, little counselors on site, and less support for special education. There is a need to hire more teachers in Los Angeles Unified School District, but this issue has not been fixed yet. The increase in funding for education is there since California has a high cost of living. The way that California funding k-12 is through parcel tax and student attendance. This type of tax is form of property tax represented in Proposition 13 passed in. The property tax would help fund schools within range of high property. It turns out that not all districts have passed a parcel tax since not everyone wants to be taxed every year. As a result, the funding from parcel taxes are shown to be ineffective for school districts who have struggling students in their schools.
Student attendance is low on average in low-income neighborhoods. The other issue that public schools are facing is new charter schools are taking away students from their local public school. Charter schools receive extra money for every student enrolled and aim to help low-income students and English learners. The other problem which I touched on before is the funding that goes to Special Education. The state and government funding are mandated for special education students. This funding is taking some of the funding for students with non-disabilities. Charter schools have a low representation of students with disabilities. 

On June 4, there was a vote to increase for LAUSD proposed to get $500 million per year parcel tax. The big question is “Will raising taxes improve the district’s education?” The fact that California is low in test scores and performance levels are low compared to other districts in other state brings up concern.

Facts:
California spent $47.3 billion on its schools
1 in 4 students who have serious attendance problems are enrolled in just 14 school districts, including, as expected, the largest school district in the state – Los Angeles Unified (12.7 percent chronic absenteeism rate) – as well as the relatively small Antelope Valley Union High district (28.1 percent) north of Los Angeles.

 Personal:
Public education is important to me since I am a product of LAUSD and MUSD. I started kindergarten of age 5 at Robert Hill Lane Elementary in East Los Angeles, CA. I did well in kindergarten, but when I went into the 1^st and 2^nd grade. I was having trouble with reading and math. At the time I did not know why I had a problem concentrating on my reading and math. I would not focus on what I was reading at hand. My teachers advised my parents to get tested and create an IEP. In the middle of first grade, I was tested on my reading level. I was placed in Integrated class with students with disabilities and English learning students. This class was for one period and then I would go back to my home room after play time. This took place until the end of 2^nd grade. At the time, my parents were separated. My father would help me with my math with flash cards. By this time, the principle and current teachers’ advice my parents to be tested for a disability. My father did not want me to be tested since he did not want me to be tracked or stereotyped. The refusal of my father resulted in transferring to a different district. I moved to Bella Vista Elementary in Montebello, CA. I had extra tutoring in my reading in 3rd and 4^th grade. At entering middle school, I had learned that a couple of my friends from my homeroom back at Robert Hill Lane had been held back one grade. As I had reflected on this in the past, I think I could have been held back as well. This instance personally and those around reflects a percentage of the way LAUSD affects student’s education.

Community Concerns

“Public education definitely needs to be changed. The changes that need to be made is by getting rid of Common Core, which is an education standard for teaching and testing English and Math for K-12 grades. Students are not learning as much with Common Core, especially ESL students who fall behind in learning. The fine and performing arts need to be brought back in the school district.”

-Linda Ortiz

“In special education, the teachers are giving the assistants more of the classroom management roles. The current curriculum is not helping the students in the class I have supervised in the past. We have low to moderate students with disabilities in our classroom. There is no limit of number of students in the classroom. I do think the roles need to change in public education.”

-Nicole Montes

“Public education is funded unfairly. There needs to be more funding. The government spends more money on military forces, such as the Prison Industrial Complex and War Industrial Complex. If there was more focus on schools, then we would have better public education.” 

-Claudia Blauser

Sources
Taketa Kristen, California has under-funded schools by $25.6 billion, report says, San Diego Union Tribune, Sep 26, 2018.
 https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/sd-me-school-research-20180920-story.html

Freedberg Louis, California’s school funding flaws make it difficult for districts to meet teacher demands, EduSource, Feb 19, 2019.

https://edsource.org/2019/californias-school-funding-flaws-make-it-more-difficult-for-districts-to-meet-teacher-demands/608824

 Video

Warren Paul, Hill Laura, Revisiting Finance and Governance Issues in Special Education, Getting Down to Facts II, Sep 2018.

https://gettingdowntofacts.com/publications/revisiting-finance-and-governance-issues-special-education-0