Creating a positive learning environment in school can be challenging when students routinely see classmates suspended or expelled for minor infractions. That has been the case at Bobby Duke Middle School in Coachella, where the suspension rate last year was more than double the state average.

The situation prompted a group of parents and community organizers in the eastern Coachella Valley to launch a restorative justice pilot program they say will begin to reverse the trend.

“At the beginning I felt a little frustrated because I wanted things to go at a faster pace,” said Sandra Ramirez, a mother of four, in Spanish. “But now I understand that it is all part of how the process works.”

Ramirez sees a big need for programs like restorative justice in her community and thinks that more parents should be involved.

“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, it isn’t my kid, I don’t have to worry about it,” but the truth is that everyone in the community feels the negative effects when our kids start to go down the wrong path,” she said.

Bobby Duke’s suspension rate in 2014-2015 was 9 percent, compared to an average of 4.1 percent for the Coachella Valley Unified School District and 3.8 percent statewide.

There is an abundance of data showing a strong connection between high suspension and expulsion rates with poor academic performance, with black and Latino students experiencing rates that far surpass whites and Asians.

The idea to bring the restorative justice program to the Bobby Duke came from two parent leaders at the advocacy group Council of Mexican Federations (COFEM) who learned about the program and wanted to bring it to their children’s school.

Restorative justice focuses on rehabilitation and reconciliation. The practice has been used in schools from coast to coast in place of more punitive disciplinary measures to keep students in the classroom and off the streets.

The 12-week pilot at Bobby Duke began the week of February 15th and will end in late April. Ten teachers at the school have already committed to the program.

“I think the success of this has been due to parent involvement,” said Leoda Valenzuela of COFEM. “ They have the best ideas, things that really connect to people. It is a really positive environment that is being built.”

She added that implementing the program was made easier because parents “already had an established relationship with the school principal.”

COFEM, along with the community-based organizations TODEC legal center and Raices Cultura are part of the Building Healthy Communities (BHC) Eastern Coachella Valley Schools Action Team, which is working together with parents on the pilot program.

“[The pilot program] is going to be stronger because of the resources that BHC ECV are providing and the internal value that each person brings,” said BHC-ECV Project Coordinator Sahara Huazano.

Before the pilot took off the Schools Action Team held a series of meetings and forums beginning in the summer of 2015 to rally support and inform the community about restorative justice.

The most common way that RJ is implemented at schools is through circles. There are three common kinds of circles that occur depending on the situation that is being presented.

There are community-building circles that focus on relationship building. Conflict or healing circles seek to address a specific problem and reentry circles are used to welcome back students that have been suspended or expelled.

“It really strives to create that space where people can feel supported, where they can share and learn about one another and explore shared values,” Valenzuela said. “It is harder to harm someone that you know.”

Another aspect of RJ is a more effective and positive use of language. Feedback will be collected from six sessions of circles at Bobby Duke.

According to Huazano parents have been very receptive and satisfied with the program.

“They are very satisfied with it,” Huazano said. “Some of them are already practicing restorative justice, a term that describes many of the needs that they are trying to address.”

BHC will be a hiring a youth organizer to focus specifically on brining more students into the program at Bobby Duke Middle School.

At the core of restorative justice is the idea of community building and bonding.

“It is a very simple concept but you would be surprised at the need that there is for it,” Valenzuela said.

About the author:

Paulina Rojas joined Coachella Uninc. as a beat reporter in February 2016 after working as a city reporter in the eastern Coachella Valley for more than a year. Although born and raised in New York City, Paulina feels right at home in the eastern Coachella Valley. She loves the warmth of the people and buying fresh bread from her favorite bakery in downtown Coachella. Paulina is a graduate of the University of Houston, and her work has appeared in The Las Vegas Review – Journal, The Houston Chronicle, HelloGiggles and Vivala. View her author page here.

By Paulina Rojas

Being a teenager can be hard, but being a teenager who is questioning their sexual identity can be even harder. That is especially the case in communities where such topics are rarely discussed openly.

This is why Building Healthy Communities Eastern Coachella Valley partnered with the Gay Straight Alliance to host a leadership summit on Saturday, February 27 at Coachella Valley High School. The event focused on opening up conversations with the aim of fostering greater understanding of LGBTQI issues among community members.

“It is a little difficult because not many people are open,” said Alejandro Mesa Aguilar, a senior at Coachella Valley High School. He said being an LGBTQI youth in the east valley is challenging because not many people openly discuss issues of identity.

Aguilar is also part of BHC’s Youth Participatory Action Research group. He added that for many east valley youth, questions go beyond simply deciding whether or not to come out.

“There’s not many people here that are different, in the sense that they are not out or they are in the closet. It is more than just two sides,” he said. “It takes time, some people find out who they are after high school, sometimes people actually find out before.”

During the summit, which was open to all members of the community, youth were able to share their coming-out stories, while adults learned about proper gender pronouns, the gender spectrum and how to be an adult ally.

Alyssia Parks, advisor for Coachella Valley High School’s Gay Straight Alliance, also attended the summit.

“I wanted an event like this to invite my students who may be straight or who may be questioning (their sexuality) or may just not have come out yet to come and learn more about the community,” Parks said.

Parks also said it is vital for LGBTQI youth to have consistent support as they enter spaces that might be hostile towards them.

“Support, they need support in a society that is not fully accepting of them,” she said.

Saturday’s forum comes after several incidents, including the killing of Juan Ceballos in 2014. Ceballos, a 20-year-old Mecca resident and College of the Desert student, was allegedly killed by a coworker because he was gay.

For BHC-ECV, the summit presents a unique opportunity to help support a conversation about the issues facing LGBTQI youth in the eastern Coachella Valley and to provide a safe place for those youth to share their struggles.

“I think that this is an opportunity to acknowledge what an LGBTQ student is going through,” said Sahara Huazano, project coordinator at BHC-ECV. Huazano also said BHC-ECV plans to host similar events in the future.

Having conversations like these will hopefully not only encourage more community members get involved but also help LGBTQI youth feel more comfortable in their own skin.

“We want to help people know that it is okay to come out right now,” Aguilar said. “It is okay to be yourself either now or later on.”

About the author:

Paulina Rojas joined Coachella Uninc. as a beat reporter in February 2016 after working as a city reporter in the eastern Coachella Valley for more than a year. Although born and raised in New York City, Paulina feels right at home in the eastern Coachella Valley. She loves the warmth of the people and buying fresh bread from her favorite bakery in downtown Coachella. Paulina is a graduate of the University of Houston, and her work has appeared in The Las Vegas Review – Journal, The Houston Chronicle, HelloGiggles and Vivala. View her author page here.

Ivan Valenzuela/COACHELLA UNINC

INDIO — The Coachella Valley is eclectic in its array of residents and lifestyles. An Eastern Coachella Valley resident can work his entire life in the fields, but chances are he will never enjoy the retirement havens of nearby Palm Springs. It is also unlikely that he and his family have health insurance.

Path to Health, a new public information campaign funded by The California Endowment (TCE) and Desert Healthcare District, is aiming to break down barriers and help residents enroll in the Covered California health insurance exchange.

“Sometimes there is a language barrier, and many times it’s the person behind the counter that’s trying to help you that produces those barriers,” says Efren Tenorio, who attended the Path to Health enrollment event January 23 at JFK Memorial Hospital.

Ynez Canela, Path to Health liaison for Desert Regional Medical Center and JFK Memorial Hospital, helped organize the event by reaching out to the community.

“There’s really no one place to go to target these folks,” says Canela, when asked about finding  locations to find uninsured residents. “Part of it is where to go, but a lot of it is also always making sure you’re asking the questions. ‘Are you already insured? Do you know someone who’s not insured? Let’s get them here today.’ If you miss that part, you’re going to miss out on a large audience.”

California is using a large part of their marketing resources to target two distinct groups; one of these is young adults.

Canela hopes to host a larger enrollment event in Palm Desert in the near future to reach the younger residents from across the region. Although Palm Desert seems far from the Eastern Coachella Valley, many young people come to this city to attend College of the Desert and the local campuses of University of California at Riverside and California State University San Bernardino.

“There’s a big push to target the younger people,” says Canela.

Younger people carry a lot of the weight in the health care system. Statistically they are less likely to need services, balancing out the more sick-prone elderly residents.

The Other Group: Latinos 

Latinos are the other group that California is having a difficult time reaching. California Simulation of Insurance Markets predicts Latinos are will make up two thirds (66 percent) of the remaining uninsured in California by 2019. Of those who are eligible but remain uninsured, they will make up 64 percent.

Latinos make up about 38 percent of California’s total population. In Indio, Latinos account for 67 percent; In Coachella and Thermal, they are 96 and 97 percent, respectively.

Much of the struggle is due to English often being their second language. It’s the same struggle that steered many away from programs like Medicaid. UC Berkley Labor Center reports that “nearly three out of five adults who are predicted to remain uninsured are limited English proficient.”

Undocumented = Uninsured

Undocumented residents are not eligible for health coverage. Their only options are non-profit clinics, mobile clinics such as Flying Doctors, or forgoing medical attention altogether.

Although some can receive help from Medi-Cal in emergencies, the majority of this group is being left out of the Affordable Care Act.

TCE, a private statewide foundation, is leading a campaign to ensure that all Californians have access to affordable health services. TCE is also the funder of Building Healthy Communities which is focused on improving the health in 14 communities across the state, including the Eastern Coachella Valley.

On the TCE website, Daniel Zingale, senior vice president, says, “Improving health care for the remaining uninsured, including undocumented immigrants, is a win-win for all Californians… when it comes to public health, the public health facts are clear: a state is healthier when we’re all in it together. Threats to public health don’t know or distinguish according to immigration status.

“I’m Glad I Came in Today”

Path to Health is funding 25 certified enrollment counselors, or “navigators,” at six agencies throughout the Coachella Valley: Borrego Community Health Foundation, Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo, Hope to Health, Planned Parenthood, Catholic Charities and FIND Food Bank.

Residents can access the assistance of one of these counselors by calling (800) 343-4535 or (866) 893-8446.

Canela is working with these partner agencies to break through language barriers, poverty, and misconceptions to make people see the benefits of having reliable health insurance.

“I’m glad I came in today,” says Tenorio, as he was walking out of the enrollment fair at JFK Memorial Hospital. “It made me feel at ease.”

When asked about the misconceptions of health insurance, he says, “When you see what it’s going to produce and what the results will be, it doesn’t compare with what is said about it.”