A dozen Los Angeles Campus students shared a calling this summer to help L.A.'s homeless population. Led by Dr. Debra Warner, lead faculty for the Southern California Department of Forensic Psychology, the group participated in a series of monthly citation clinics conceived to provide new options for indigent, mentally ill, or addicted adults facing fines for minor infractions such as littering, loitering, and jaywalking. The clinics are a part of City Attorneys Office's HALO program (Homeless Alternatives to Living on the Streets).

The students' work began on May 28 at the Midnight Mission in downtown L.A. A month later, on June 25, their efforts continued at the Music Box on Hollywood Boulevard where they assisted more than 140 people with their HALO Citation Clinic intake forms: agreements where in lieu of a fine, cited individuals perform four community obligation hours, per citation, with participating service providers. Of those, the City Attorney Office reported that 77 people, representing 228 citations, completed forms agreeing to the service hours, which can include time spent in personal counseling programs. The group returned to Midnight Mission on July 30 for a third clinic.

"Our students are not only getting valuable experience interacting with people in the forensic community, but they are working with the City Attorneys Office to evaluate and improve the program, which is a wonderful networking and professional development opportunity," said Dr. Warner.

In recognition for their work, Dr. Warner and her students-Nadrien Bishop, Jill Cowen, Joanna deSupinski, Becca Diercks, Shadavia France, Jessica Karabinus, Nora Martinez, Robert Nosic, Maria Pasqualetti, Eric Simpson, Alexis Sutton, and Jessica Woodward-were honored by the City Attorney's Office at a Los Angeles Campus event on July 28. To date, students have completed more than 280 pro bono service hours as part of the program.

"I think it is great for us as Chicago School students to offer our services to this population in need," said Nosic, a second-year student from Canton, Ohio. "This is the first time I've worked directly with the homeless."

"Most people we work with are grateful," added Bishop, a second-year student from Chicago. "They are relieved to have the burden off their shoulders."

The next HALO Citation Clinic is scheduled for Wednesday, August 26, in West L.A. To learn more, including how to volunteer, contact Dr. Warner at dwarner@thechicagoschool.edu.

During the summer internship period, TCS-SoCal I/O students will be partnering with organizations to perform organizational culture assessments, develop employee selection processes, conduct job analysis, and develop stress management and conflict resolution training programs. Partners include A Better LA, the City of Los Angeles' (Community Development Department), SHARE, and the Chicana Service Action Center, Inc.

A major concept introduced in the Organizational Consulting Skills course was that of "BIG IDEAS," which stressed the importance of organizational consultants being able to demonstrate innovation and value to the clients they serve. Students took this concept to heart and designed the structure for an Organizational Effective Consulting Center, which is to be launched in fall 2009. In keeping with the institutional values of The Chicago School (Community, Innovation, Service, and Education) the students appropriately named the business-ConCISE:

Con- Consulting, C- Community, I- Innovation, S- Service, E- Education

The students look forward to launching the consulting center and making significant contributions to the Southern California community!

The Cross-Cultural Exchange Fellowship is a fellowship award available to all incoming students to the Los Angeles campus. The fellowship recipient will receive $12,000 (divided over two terms) and will work in the Student Services office, 15 hours per week, on issues related to the Office of International Programs and Services.

The deadline to apply for this award is April 15th, 2009.

More information about the Cross-Cultural Exchange Fellowship can be found here:
http://www.thechicagoschool.edu/content.cfm/cross-cultural_exchange_fellowship

Working with the City Attorney's Office, Dr. Debra Warner and her Los Angeles Campus Forensic Psychology students have begun a series of weekly trainings about mental illness targeted to prosecution and defense attorneys. The trainings, which take place in Los Angeles County courtrooms, received California State Bar approval earlier this year allowing participants to receive continuing education credits. Upcoming topics include substance abuse, ethics, and understanding Schizophrenic defendants or clients.

"I have received much positive feedback from the training experience from the participants," said Dr. Warner. "I think this is a great reflection of the education and supervision the students are receiving because the participants have never made a distinction between me and the students. Participants always use the word 'team.' As a teacher, I am extremely proud of how the students are growing as professionals from this opportunity."

The project is another component of Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) that Dr. Warner started this semester. Targeted to professionals in government, social services, and community-based institutions, CIT topics include mental illness recognition, substance abuse, and psychotropic medications, domestic violence, diversity issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, suicide and risk assessment, and crisis intervention skills. The CIT training also will incorporate workshops on leadership, management, stress reduction, motivation and task-oriented group behavior. The upcoming April 11 CIT Training Conference will be held at the downtown campus with more than 200 participants expected.