Barbara and My Boys: Life Stories of Change, Community and Purpose.

This book tells the story of five interventionists who work the streets of some of Los Angeles’ toughest neighborhoods.  It articulates who they were and how they got to be who they are now. Each story has similarities and differences but each provides a close-up of a life most of us only see through the lens of Hollywood fantasy.  This book is the reality behind that fantasy.  It gives credit for the hard, dangerous and usually unsung work each of these individuals do. 

This book utilizes data gathered over six months of following interventionist teams to show how their work assisted in instilling safety on the streets with qualitative and quantitative data.  Crime reduction is discussed using data gathered, along with narrative examples.  The book will show how community intervention reduces street violence and assists with community policing efforts.

 

 

Michael Oropollo is a bestselling author and teacher. His social and political essays have been published in the Santa Monica Daily Press and the Good Men Project, where he was a weekly columnist. He is the author of Thoughts, a poetry volume, Beyond the Bars: From the Prison to the Podium with Chris Tatted Strength Luera, and His History, Her Story with Dr. Warner.

Dr. Debra Warner received her Master of Arts and Master of Education in counseling psychology from Columbia University, Teachers College, in New York City. She completed her doctorate in Forensic Psychology from Alliant International University in Fresno, California. She has served as an adjunct professor for several universities and as lead faculty for Chapman University's Marriage and Family Therapy program. She is currently a full professor in The Chicago School of Professional Psychology's Psy.D. program in Clinical Forensic Psychology in Los Angeles. She has also served as Special Assistant to the Dean of Academic Affairs: Diversity and Community Engagement and Lead Faculty for the Forensic Psychology department for The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in both Los Angeles and Irvine. Her other previous professional assignments include: the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Los Angeles Police Department, C.U.R.E.-A Better Los Angeles, the U.S. Department of Defense, the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation and Regional Center. For these assignments, she designed program elements related to community gang intervention, mental health and evaluation. Moreover, she has also served as clinical supervisor relating to human trafficking, trauma, PTSD and multicultural therapeutic techniques. Currently, her research focuses on diversity issues connected to forensic community mental health and male survivor trauma. She has focused her career on assisting survivors with emotional issues related to trauma violence and abuse. In 2008 she was asked to create an anti-recidivism program for the Los Angeles Police Department focusing on environmental needs that stem from problematic environments. In 2014 she assisted with a creating mental health curriculum for a community gang intervention program, the Professional Community Intervention Training Institute (PCITI). She is an advisory board member of A Better Los Angeles, a nonprofit that works in community gang intervention. She is also a frequent speaker pertaining to community gang intervention and has assisted with talks that were presented at the United Nations' Safer Cities Conference. In 2015 she founded, together with PCITI, the Summit on Community Resilience, Intervention, Prevention, and Training (SCRIPT), an annual conference on male trauma, violence and abuse with a focus on community interactions from all backgrounds. In 2009 she received several awards and recognitions for community engagement from the Los Angeles City Attorney, the U.S. Department of Defense, Los Angeles Police Department and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. In 2013 she was given a distinguished teaching award for Outstanding Public Service Teaching. She currently is a peer reviewer on several academic journals and is part of the Medical Advisory Board for Quality Health. In 2015 she became a regular Tuesday night co-host of the weekly syndicated radio show Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) on Blog Talk Radio with Bill Murray. She served on the board of directors for The National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan (NPEIV) relating to public awareness and publicity. She has written a number of encyclopedia entries related to crime and justice for Sage publications (Encyclopedia of Transnational Crime and Justice and Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice Ethics). Her book about male survivor relationships with their significant others, His History, Her Story was released in October 2017. In her spare time, she creates training programs for law enforcement and attorneys related to mental health and the court system. It should be noted that in all of her professional endeavors she involves students for professional development.