contact Kim Lascano at LascanoProServices@yahoo.com or call 323 256-9906
Program Title:  Club FAST  (Finding A Solution Today)
Description:  Club Fast is a program designed to train children to help other children
resolve conflicts in a systematic manner.  Select children will participate in a 4 to 6 week
training.  After the training, the Problem Solvers will be identified for the school/club.  
When children have a conflict, a Problem Solver will be sought (if possible this will be
before school, during recess or lunch or after school).  The Problem Solver will help
facilitate the resolution of the conflict with the skills learned during the training.  Problem
to discuss issues, concerns and/or problems.  The school/club may elect to have a staff
member engage in the training and the evaluation sessions.

Program Guidelines:  Select children will participate in the training of conflict resolution.  
They will learn the problem solving technique of identifying the problem, analysis of the
problem, brainstorming for solutions, choosing the best suited solution and evaluating the
problem and solution.  Problem Solvers will be objective and know when to get help or
support.

When a conflict arises between students, a Problem Solver will help resolve the conflict
by the method briefly described above.  They will write up a report and then follow-up with
the students the next day or so and add new information to their report.  The Problem
Solvers will meet with the supervisor on a weekly basis.

Qualifications of Trainer/ Supervisor:  The trainer/supervisor will be an employee of
Lascano Professional Services.  The trainer/supervisor will be in the field of psychology,
social work, marriage and family therapy, or education.  He or she will be thoroughly
trained in the problem solving briefly described above.  He or she will be supervised by a
licensed therapist.

Qualification of Lascano Professional Services:  Lascano Professional Services has been
in business for 19 years, owned and operated by Kimberly Lascano, a licensed Marriage
and Family therapist of 19 years.  Conflict resolution classes have been conducted at
Lascano Professional Services for many years with the people of all ages.

Research and Need for Conflict Resolution:  Incidents of school based crime and
disruptive behavior is exceedingly high, even in the elementary schools.  Experts in
education question the students ability to learn when they have concerns for their
personal safety. Student based problem solving can change attitudes and behavior of
school children.  The involvement and leadership of older students in the resolution of
conflicts will help those take responsibility for his/her own behavior; give skill and
knowledge of problem solving and foster a sense of pride, worth, and empathy.  The
younger students will also gain these skills as it is a student based technique. According
to Shonhotz, author of “The Citizen’s Role in Justice:  Building a Primary Justice and
Prevention System at the Neighborhood Level”, citizen’s working through informal norms
of social control have the best chance to engage their peers in discussion and settlement
of differences.  Out of these informal resolutions comes the general sense of cooperation
upon which safe communities depend.  This statement seemingly can be transferred to
student based solving.  Sutherland, in Criminology (4th ed.), theorized that delinquency
and deviance are learned though intimate association with peers who have attitudes
favorable to misconduct.  With student based problem solving, students will be
encouraged to make good decisions by their peers, leaving fewer students to have
attitudes that lean toward poor behavior.  Steinberg, Dombusch, and Brown in ”Ethnic
Differences in Adolescent Achievement:  An ecological Perspective”, established that the
role of peers and the process of bonding to one’s school is an  
important determinant of educational behavior and performance.  Therefore, a model of
student based problem solving, which students take responsibility for overall student
behavior and influence change, can reduce violence or disruptive behavior and allow the
students to feel safe. Student based problem solving techniques can indeed effect peer
relations and school bonding; develop improved attitudes about rules and give each
student a stronger sense of safety, which will allow for more effective learning.  These
skills will be learned in elementary school and will be a positive attribute to help the
student in higher grades and adult life, thereby reducing the level of violence through
problem solving.
Conflict Resolution