Summer is in full swing and parents are looking to keep their children busy! Lincoln's Helping Open Pathways to Education (HOPE) Alameda program, which provides school-based early intervention and prevention mental health services to at-risk children, youth, and families in Alameda County, offers a 5-week therapeutic activities program each year to keep their students engaged during their summer break.

In 2012, we made the strategic decision to return to our West Oakland roots, and continue our mission to serve children, youth and families in their homes, schools, and communities. Our move not only reflects our strategic direction, but also our focus on community- and school-based services.

You may have caught the recent news about street violence near New Highland Academy. On January 10th, teachers and children were preparing to leave on their regular visit to the nearby 81st Avenue Public Library branch when gunfire broke out and about sixty shots were fired.

African American adolescents tend to have more success in school if their parents instill in them a sense of racial pride, reducing their vulnerability to the effects of racial discrimination from teachers and peers. This is the conclusion of a University of Pittsburgh study published this fall in the journal Child Development. 

It's Friday morning in Department Three, Alameda County Superior Court. The Great Seal of the State of California hangs on the wood-paneled wall behind the judge's bench. A cart is filled with red folders containing defendants' files. The bailiff sits at his desk. It looks like any court in the building, except the defendants are not charged with burglary or assault. They're charged with being the parents or guardians of an elementary- or middle-school student who is habitually truant.

A prominent independent school in the East Bay has announced plans to buy property across the street that since 1929 has been home to the area's most vulnerable children—first as an orphanage, and now as a school and mental health treatment center.

Lincoln Child Center, an organization with a 129-year history of serving vulnerable children and their families in Alameda and Contra Costa County, today announced that they are furthering their commitment to their strategic vision timed to the sale of their 7.8 acre property off Lincoln Avenue. Head- Royce School announced that it will acquire the property, which is adjacent to their campus.

I was asked to meet with a group of high school age students who are all in a special program because of their truancy in school. We met at the “Truancy Center” for the Oakland schools. My job was to talk to them about entrepreneurs and what I do.