Title
Youth Summit Report (B)
This is to present the Full Report and Recommendations on Afterschool Programs for Youth in Gainesville and Alachua County. ** ESTIMATED PRESENTATION 15 MINUTES**
Explanation
Beginning in October of 2017, community youth service providers from across Alachua County came together for a Youth Services Summit initiated by the City of Gainesville Mayor and City Commission and led by the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department. The request of the Mayor and City Commission was to collect information on services available to students in Gainesville during after-school hours, identify gaps where students were underserved and collaborate on recommendations to close these gaps in programming. Attendees of the Youth Summit sessions included a variety of service providers, community leaders and organizational leaders from groups with interests in education, afterschool programming, health, wellness and commerce.
Alachua County is aware that the academic achievement gap in its public schools is the highest in the state of Florida; in a study of racial inequity in Alachua County, the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida reported that 27.7% of Black third-grade students were proficient in reading, compared to 74% of Non-Hispanic White third-graders. This study identified lack of access to afterschool and summer programs as one of the factors leading to this disparity. Afterschool programs can play an important role in improving academic performance when key factors, such as access, consistent participation, program quality and strong partnerships are ensured. Throughout the Summit, a number of barriers to access for underserved student populations were identified and it was the consensus among service providers that with increased resources and support, these barriers to access could be reduced. It is the belief of the Youth Summit participants that improved access to more high-quality afterschoo...
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