September 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 22

Who, What, Where & hoW around the Parks

yO U t H d e V e LO P M e N t

Turning Teens Around
hialeah's early Prevention and intervention program
By elizabeth Beard

orty teenagers rustle and squirm in a
crowded classroom
at Mi la nder Park
in Hialeah, Florida.
They warily eye the Metro-Dade
police officer who is speaking at
the lectern. Officer Frank Mendieta breaks off from his presentation on traffic safety to ask the kids
to introduce themselves.
" And what do you like to do? "
he asks three boys in the back row.
" I like to play basketball, " the first
one says. The other two nod their heads
and repeat the exact same thing, causing
Mendieta to laugh out loud, " I knew you
were going to say that! " And slowly everyone starts to relax a little.
Educational experiences like this are
what set Hialeah's Early Prevention and
Intervention Youth Program (EPI) apart
from other park service programs for
teens. The eight-week program combines community service in the park
system with classes, field trips, and other
educational experiences. Troubled teens
and those potentially headed for trouble are referred to the program by their
schools, while a few others are there by
court order. Students are assigned to a
park or pool where they help answer the
phones, keep score at games, tidy up the
facility, set up fields for games, or even do
some painting for three days each week.
The community service hours count toward the local school system's volunteer
service requirements for graduation. Two
evenings a week the students gather at
Milander Park for educational sessions
presented by a variety of partners.

20 Parks & Recreation

SEPTEMBER 2011

Build personal responsibility.
Activities on the agenda for
a recent eight-week session included educational presentations
on homelessness, abstinence,
gangs, narcotics, and decision
making, self esteem, and anger
management. Potential career
options after high school were
explored through tours of Florida International University and
the George T. Baker Aviation
School, as well as in presentations by the U.S. Army and Le Cordon Bleu
College of Culinary Arts. The final mandatory activity in every session is a tour of the
Dade County Jail.
" The program works, " says Willie
Sanchez, EPI program coordinator with
the Hialeah Department of Parks and Recreation. " The kids are learning and getting a great experience here. "
Even among the teens who have been
in previous trouble with the law, 65-70
percent have had no further contact with
law enforcement within 90 days of graduation. Thanks to a new partnership with
Nova Southeastern University, Sanchez
hopes to soon track graduates of the program for up to 18 months. Students and
parents who agree to participate in the
tracking survey will both receive gift
cards donated by Walmart.
This type of small donation is typical of
how the program has been sustained for
the past several years. The EPI program
was established with one-time grants
from Miami-Dade County, the state of
Florida, and the federal government in
1992, and since then has been supported
by city funds as well as by small grants
■

Hialeah is a low-rise but densely populated city of 233,500 just outside Miami.
More than 92 percent of residents speak
Spanish as their fi rst language. In Dade
County as whole, the high school graduation rate is just 64 percent. Some of the
issues that get kids referred to EPI include
petty theft, fighting in school, drug possession, and graffiti. Since 1992, more
than 2,000 students have participated in
the EPI program and there is currently
a waiting list of more than 80 kids. The
goals of the program are to:
■■ ■Provide accurate information on the dangers of drugs, gangs, breaking the law,
and dropping out of school.
■■ ■Develop necessary life skills, such as
communication, decision-making, resisting peer pressure, and controlling anger.
■■ ■Reduce the likelihood of criminal
involvement.
■■ ■Improve school performa nce a nd
attendance.
■■ ■Heighten self-esteem.
■■ ■Increase exposure to positive role
models.
■ Develop empathy and respect for the
rights of others.

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September 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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