At this time, the YCB's Out of School Time Initiatives include the
follow “critical
tasks.” The time is now to strengthen and expand the infrastructure
and build public will to support quality youth programs and opportunities
that are captivating to teens and other under-served young people in
Minneapolis .
1) Ensuring adequate coordination, collaboration and
networking among those working with young people – within
sectors, across sectors, and between organizations and community/
family stakeholders.
a. Joint planning across jurisdictions for state after-school
funds
In winter 2007 the YCB convened leaders of the Minneapolis Public Schools-
Community Education, Beacons coordinators, Minneapolis Parks and Minneapolis
Libraries to explore needs and begin summer planning together. All sectors
described their needs/gaps and past summer experiences. Each meeting's
focus was on programming gaps, potential partnerships and collaborations
with one another and community based organizations. While the current
meetings are specific to summer programs, the group has agreed to convene
again (with YCB as a participant, not a convenor) in August to collaboratively
plan for school year programs and in December to begin summer 2008 planning.
2) Building leadership and political will – engaging
champions in the public and private sectors and at the highest levels
of city government – to create and move an agenda.
a. Ward meetings with City Council Members
To more completely answer the question about opportunity gaps, and to
answer question 3, the YCB designed and conducted structured conversations
with public and private providers of afterschool programs/opportunities
for children and youth. Using Minneapolis wards as an organizing structure,
the YCB asked City Council Members to co-convene the meetings. Based
on the interest of our City Council members and demand from providers,
we held meetings in all 13 wards. Each meeting was the same, structured
conversation that moved from envisioning to barrier identification and
then to priorities for action. One hundred and fifty (150) people representing
75 different organizations participated in these meetings.
3) Strengthening mapping, monitoring and research systems
to collect, analyze and disseminate information about programs, providers,
funding and young people.
a. Youth Resource Mapping
In order to understand whether Minneapolis youth attend after-school
and what barriers to participation existed, the YCB and its partners
implemented a “youth resource mapping” strategy - that is the documentation
of youth supports, opportunities and services in a community. This
project quickly became known as the Youth Action Crew initiative.
Youth, in partnership with adults, engaged in the mapping the formal
and informal community resources, conducted surveys of other youth about
program participation, and, in several locations, took steps to mobilize
youth and adults to address community issues. To date, Youth Action Crews
have interviewed 675 youth and mapped the resources in 25 of the 81 neighborhoods
in Minneapolis . The data provided the answers to our first question
and the mapping contributed to answering our second question.
• Youth
survey data (2005-2006)
b. Maps
One of the tasks of the Youth Action Crews is to create a map of their
community that identifies various public and private youth programs and
opportunities. These maps were created by the youth in partnership with
a graphic designer.
• Map of Whittier
• Map of Central, Bryant, Kingfield
• Map of Camden Community
• Map of Near North
4) Developing the physical infrastructure – the
transportation and physical space – that is the necessary context for
accessible and quality out-of-school opportunities.
a. You^th Are Here buses
So what keeps youth from participating? The results of our youth
surveys told us that transportation was a significant barrier to
participation. In addition, most of the providers identified transportation
as a need. In June 2007, the YCB launched two routes of a circulating
bus called the “You^th Are Here” buses.
5) Ensuring consistent, meaningful youth engagement in
decision making at the program, organization and city levels.
a. Minneapolis Youth Congress
On June 6, 2007 , the YCB unanimously passed a Resolution
drafted by the Minneapolis Youth Congress (MYC) implementation committee
(9 youth, 2 adults) to officially initiate the MYC.
