Avalon School on Catalina Island welcomed the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Community Partnership Bureau, Youth Service Unit.
Members of the Youth Services Unit and Sheriff’s Youth Foundation Board joined Avalon Station’s Capt. Joseph Badali in hosting a program for kids in the summer school program with backpacks stocked with school supplies. More than 65 kids received these items that were donated by community-based organizations that partner with the Youth Services Unit; through this partnership, the program seeks to provide the basic necessities that young people need to succeed in school.
The Community Partnership’s Bureau leadership, led by Capt. Johann Thrall, discussed the opportunity of opening a Youth Activity League Center on Catalina to provide after-school programming, including intra-mural sports, recreation opportunities, scuba classes, life skills classes and leadership development, cultural education, and other services to support youth on the island.
Capt. Badali was a YAL Deputy and experienced first had how young people were transformed and are now contributing in positive ways as adults.
The Sheriff’s Department recognizes the need to fill a long standing gap that followed after the island’s previous youth activities program closed in 2015.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department continues to be invested in programs that serve young people and provide them with the opportunity to positively engage with law enforcement.
The programs that are being discussed serve youth kids age 7-17, providing them with a chance to better themselves, engage and bond with law enforcement and their families, eventually allowing them to become a more positive influence in their own communities.
The creation of a program on Catalina Island would become the most recent of 16 programs that currently serve the County of Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department hopes to work with volunteers, local government to implement this proven and valuable program.
For more information, including on how to contribute to the program, contact Sgt. Grayson Kline at (310) 510-0174.
