YCB Announces Phat Summer 2006
The twelfth year of Phat Summer, a free evening recreation program
for 12-18 year olds that provides safe and positive activities
begins on June 19th. It represents a successful collaboration
between the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, Minneapolis
Public Schools Community Education, and the Minneapolis Youth
Coordinating Board. We expect to serve 6,000 youth this
summer at 24 sites across the city.
Phat Summer utilizes existing resources by keeping the doors of
school, park, and community buildings unlocked later into the
evening to provide accessible, safe, supervised spaces and activities.
Neighborhood-based recreational opportunities for teens are the
main focus of the program. For more information about Phat Summer
contact the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board at 612 230-6475
or the Minneapolis Public Schools at 612 668-3939.
In addition to sponsorship by the Youth Coordinating Board, Minneapolis
Park & Recreation Board and Minneapolis Public Schools Community
Education, generous gifts from General Mills Foundation, Ryan Companies,
Greater Twin Cities United Way, Central Park Weed and Seed, and
Hennepin County ensured that Phat Summer would continue for youth
in Minneapolis. The YCB and its partners are extremely grateful
for these wonderful gifts and the positive opportunities it will
provide for our youth this summer.
Phat Summer 2006 locations are:
Martin Luther King Park • Logan Park • North Commons
Park • Powderhorn Park • Stewart Park • Whittier
Park • Folwell Park • Bryan Coyle Center • Harrison
Park • Franklin Middle School Central Park • Farview
Park • Northeast Park • Creekview Park • Luxton
Park • Pearl Park • Longfellow Park • Matthews Park • Peavey
Park • Corcoran Park • Armatage Park • Painter Park • Bryant
Square Park • American Indian Center
Youth Community Mapping 06 Begins!
The YCB is excited to begin a summer of youth mapping activities.
This year,
Yo the Movement will conduct Phase I work (youth interviewing youth),
with four mapping teams funded by YCB. The neighborhoods to be
mapped this summer are Bottineau, Cedar-Riverside, Jordan/Hawthorne
and Longfellow
Saito Consulting will lead Phase II projects (working with youth
to create a map, conduct research and a grass roots marketing campaign),
with three mapping and outreach teams funded by the YCB. Phase
II neighborhoods include Cleveland/Victory/McKinley/ Lind-Bohanon/Shingle
Creek; Near North; and Central /Kingfield.
MDHFS Awards Youth Violence Prevention Grants
The Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support is pleased
to announce the award of 7 grants for Youth Violence Prevention.
MDHFS was fortunate to have a knowledgeable and diverse group of
community representatives who volunteered their time to read and
review proposals and make recommendations for funding. MDHFS received
68 proposals requesting a total of $3,252,456. It was a challenging
task for the reviewers to choose from the many worthy, well-written
proposals to make seven awards for a total of $250,000 per year
for two years.
Funded programs are as follows:
Minneapolis Public Schools Broadway School received $38,000 to
hire a .75 Associate Educator to reduce the number of students
who are suspended or administratively transferred due to violent
behavior in the school and to develop a Peer Jury program.
Plymouth Christian Youth Center was awarded $39,800 to implement
a “Positive Cool” initiative to reconnect youth with
a positive future through arts, technology and positive connections
with healthy adults.
Little Earth Residents Association was awarded $46,000 to develop
a targeted mentoring program for youth attending Nawayee Center
School.
The Confederation of the Somali Community of Minnesota received
$21,200 to expand street based outreach to Somali youth and expand
staff to facilitate home visits to parents of high risk Somali
youth.
The Southeast Asian Refugee Community Home was awarded $20,000
to expand recreation and enrichment activities with older Hmong
youth in the Southeast Asian Diversion Program.
The Division of Indian Work was awarded $40,000 to hire
a .75 staff person to expand the cultural collaborative of Cante
Ma Waste’ (My
Heart is Good).
Kwanzaa Community Church was awarded $45,000 to expand staffing
for community outreach and opportunities for youth to work for
the Teen Connection Café in north Minneapolis.
New Family Center/ Family Resource Center Merger
For the past several years, the Family Resource Centers and the
New Family Center both offered a set of services to the
families of Minneapolis with a particular emphasis on families who
do not speak English. Each provided assistance with obtaining
health-care coverage, identifying a medical home and referrals
to school and community resources with other services unique
to each program. The New Family Center was a point of school
registration for families who do not speak English and provided
health assessments and on-site immunizations. The Family
Resource Centers maintained a staff presence in 28 schools, and two
hub sites and offered unique services to families, helping
them with meeting basic needs. FRCs built partnerships with community
providers that resulted in bringing services to school sites.
For the 2006-07 school year, the New Family Center and Family
Resource Centers faced a reduction in funds that required a
reexamination of both services offered and method of delivery. A working
group was formed in September 2005 to identify essential services,
examine funding streams and create a sustainability model.
Staff from the YCB, the Minneapolis Department of Health and
Family Support, Minneapolis Public Schools, Children’s
Defense Fund-Minnesota, and Portico Health Services took part
in the working group. Hennepin County staff joined the working
group in progress.
After reviewing the services of both Centers, the following list of essential
services to be maintained was developed:
- Assistance with obtaining health care coverage, including intensive
assistance with the application process and connecting
families to a medical home
- On site immunizations and follow-up
- Bi-cultural support for families so that services are available
in the family’s
language
- Referrals to community resources
As a result, the NFC and FRC services will be integrated as well
as connected to the activities and resources of the Welcome Center.
School registration is one of the first things attended to by families
as they move into Minneapolis. The Welcome Center is the initial
point of contact with the schools for our families, and provides
a point of re-connection for families who are transient and may
be experiencing need for additional support.
There will be two locations: the Wilder/Powderhorn complex in South
Minneapolis and the Broadway School building in North Minneapolis.
The new name for the combined centers is the Family Connection
Center. The FCCs will be managed by the Minneapolis Public Schools
with oversight from a Steering Committee of all partners.
Under the new model, as families engage at the Welcome Center
for registration, they will also participate in a brief triage
process facilitated by school staff, receive immediate service
and are referred to the appropriate staff for follow-up and support
as needed. The triage process will include a brief questionnaire
that will identify needs in the areas of health, education, mental
health and basic needs. This needs assessment would be evaluated
by school staff at the Welcome Center, and referred to the appropriate
school or community partner for immediate services. If needs are
identified that extend beyond those that can be met at the Center,
staff will follow-up with the family and the triage report, indicating
the unmet needs, will be sent to the school site where the student
is enrolling to facilitate the appropriate follow-up by school
staff. The Centers will be largely staffed by Minneapolis Public
School employees, with the possibility of additional staff to be
provided by Portico Health Services. Hennepin County Human Services
has expressed interest in the model and will provide some co-location
and cross-training of staff in 2006-07 with the possibility of
an expanded partnership in future years.
