The Perth Amboy Community Partnership for Youth (PACPY)

The Perth Amboy Community Partnership for Youth

            The Perth Amboy Community Partnership for the Youth, also known as PACPY, is an intervention for the youth in the Latin community. It was created in 1986 by a university medical school called the UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Environmental and community Medicine. Members of this organization included people from Latino parents and youth to school personnel, health service providers, representatives from church and other organizations, and more. The intervention is grounded in the principles of community empowerment and participatory education. The idea if this program is designed to help these children to stay away from drugs and alcohol. It also gives the people who created this intervention a better advantage at understanding what it is in society that influences the young children to actively use these drugs and other substances.

            In 1986, Latinos made up 41% of Perth Amboy’s population and 84% attended schools. However, they still had little power to voice their opinions in their own city when it came to decision making in the community of for school boards. At this time, there was only one Latino representative elected when the partnership first began. Residents of Perth Amboy, along with parents and professionals met to discuss the issues faced within the Latino community between the adults and the youth. They soon formed their own program called “La Cooperativa.”

            “La Cooperativa” had three main goals in their program. The first one was for the partnership to provide support for community action to modify the total environment and strengthen resources for healthy living. The second goal was for the partnership works to reinforce and expand social networks and social supports within the community. The final goal of this program was that the PACPY would work to develop the material resources available to the community. They had two particular ways to obtain resources: the first way was through outsiders, such as volunteers, and the second by working with already existing community services in order to be more accessible. So in the end, The Department of Recreation, The Department of Labor, and other departments that lie within the city, have become more active in making efforts to expand services for Latinos.