Girls Inc. no longer to be coed

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Girls Inc. has decided to stop accepting boys into its

program, but leaders of the nonprofit organization say other community

groups will help fill the void.

“It will not diminish anything,” said Oscar Santoyo, director of the

Save Our Youth after-school program. “No matter what, the students and

the community will have available resources.

“We’re here to work with the entire community and, if anything, maybe

Girls Inc. can refer [its] boys and other students to SOY and other

programs in the area. It’s all a collaborative effort and we’re all

working together.”

Girls Inc., which is based at 1835 Newport Blvd. and has a teen center

at 1815 Anaheim Ave., decided last month to cancel this year’s summer

program and to accept only girls in sixth through eighth grades beginning

in September. The change comes in the wake of the county’s decision to

close its own day-care programs.

In 2002, Girls Inc., which is part of a 300-chapter national

organization, again will accept girls 5 to 18 but does not plan to reopen

to boys.

The decision has been in discussion for years, said Tammy

Dowley-Blackman, director of the Costa Mesa chapter of Girls Inc.

“It will certainly affect the community, but [Girls Inc.] was never

meant to be a day care,” she said. “The decision is not meant to be

exclusionary to boys or to disrupt families.

“We empathize with what they’re going through, but we are giving them

nine months to make the appropriate changes.

“Many families see us as a day care, but we’re not a licensed day-care

facility and we can’t be one.

“It was never a mandate by the board or national organization for us

to be coed, but our mission says we’re helping girls and we have never

been able to fully implement the national programming that is set up for

girls only.”

For example, in some programs set up to address teenage pregnancy,

“There are ways to talk about it that you just can’t with boys there,”

Dowley-Blackman said, adding that boys were not allowed in the teen

program.

The decision to stop accepting boys is not the only change on the

horizon.

The organization also is planning to enhance its academic programs,

including the fine arts program, and to include more development

opportunities and leadership programs, Dowley-Blackman said.

More opportunity for staff development also is being added, and staff

members will be busy during summer with training to get the curriculum

ready for September, she said.

The one year of just sixth through eighth grades also will give the

Girls Inc. staff an opportunity to regroup and make sure the curriculum

is just right, Dowley-Blackman said.

Diana Valdez, 12, who has been involved in Girls Inc. programs for

three years, said she will not miss the “distracting” boys.

“I think the decision is good because I know a lot of boys and they

really have a harder time learning,” she said.

“Maybe they could go into Boy Scouts or something. There’s a reason

it’s called Girls Inc.”

But Dowley-Blackman said in no way does the decision imply that boys

are any better or worse than girls.

“It’s just that, for the first time in a long time, we will be able to

fulfill our mission,” she said.

“That mission is that we’re supposed to be working to help girls

develop the values and skills they need to become confident, productive,

responsible adults.

“Traditionally, girls have not had the opportunity to fully explore

and develop. That’s just part of what we all deal with in society and

Girls Inc. has a national stance to help girls support themselves.”