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Youth Development
United Way of Pierce County is partnering with others in the community to resolve the toughest issues in our area. One of those is Youth Development.
In Washington, 34% of children from working families are latch-key kids. Young people engaged in afterschool programs have higher academic achievement, develop communication, leadership and critical thinking skills, are more likely to handle conflict by talking or negotiating instead of fighting and are less likely to be obese.
United Way of Pierce County is working with the community to increase the number of youth participating in quality afterschool programming and to increase the number of quality youth programs available. United Way and its partners have the challenge of not only increasing these programs but also of overcoming the obstacle preventing kids from participating. Standing in the way of these programs are costs to participate, transportation to get students to programs sites, awareness and cultural and language barriers.
Despite the growth in attention and funding for after school programs, many questions remain about availability and accessibility of programs for children and youth. There also questions about the ability of available programs to meet a families’ needs, especially for those children from households with working parents.
To help address these issues, the Youth Development Action Team recently invested $15,000 into a supply and demand study which is leveraging investments from other community partners like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Office of the Superintendent of Instruction. Currently there is about $355,000 to perform this study in three Washington communities – Shoreline, Tacoma and Yakima.
The supply and demand study will address two major issues that inform all discussions regarding after school programs – from those at the local program level to those among funders and policy makers at the regional or state levels. United Way of Pierce County’s Youth Development Team Members and staff will serve on School’s Out Washington’s advisory committee to support these efforts during this one year learning project.
Studies show that every dollar invested in afterschool programs will save taxpayers approximately $13. With after school programs, communities would have decreased costs in:
Law Enforcement – when youth are in programs during the peak times of juvenile crime and delinquency.
Medicare and Medicaid – dollars on obesity, attributable medical expenditures when youth engage in regular physical activity.
Remedial Education – when students participate in activities that help them practice what they learned during the school day.
United Way of Pierce County is collaborating with 18 community partners including State Farm Insurance, Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA and Schools Out Washington.
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