USC Family of Five Schools
Los Angeles, California
Contact Person: Project Director
(213) 740-4377

Program Description
The Kid Watch program seeks to make the local community safer so that children can feel comfortable going to school and coming home from school. The program also utilizes the area's academic, cultural and recreational resources to benefit children. Kid Watch is a direct response to a study conducted by the University of Southern California (USC), Office of Civic and Community Relations and the School of Social Work. It operates in University Park, the neighborhood surrounding USC. The study asked children a series of questions regarding their feelings about safety in the neighborhood. It was determined that the children's primary concern was traveling from home to school and home again...safely.

Role of the Kid Watch Coordinator Recruits volunteers Maintains original volunteer applications Initiates background checks Ensures character witnesses are contacted Advises the applicant of results Conducts workshops, trainings, receptions Provides approved volunteers with a copy of the numbered Kid Watch decal Maintains a master roster of approved volunteers including assigned decal numbers Provides a copy of the volunteer roster to the school principal (names, addresses, and phone numbers) Retrieves decals from volunteers who no longer participate in the program Ensures only authorized Kid Watch volunteers display the program decal