About the Assets for Youth Work Implementation Team
Charge
The Assets for Youth Implementation Team was established in February 2005 to advance the recommendations identified in the reports, Improving Access to Out-of-School Activities in Charlottesville/Albemarle, and Youth Voices, December 2004.
As background, the Assets on Youth Work Group was created in September 2003 to advise the Commission and the localities on issues related to youth access to and participation in productive out of school activities. While CCF research indicated that many young people in the community were connected to positive enrichment, community service and after-school programs, at-risk and low-income youth participated in these activities at a lower level than most middle and high-school students.
In December 2004, the Assets for Youth work group members finished their report and made four major recommendations.
Major recommendations are:
- Improve youth engagement
- Expand and enhance after school opportunities
- Enhance coordination and outreach of after-school programs
- Conduct a market study for an after-school bus line to address transportation barriers
To arrive at these results, Assets for Youth work group members sponsored a series of student led focus groups. The focus groups were led by 23 students representing all 12 area public middle and high schools. These students were recruited and trained to lead focus groups with their peers. The 276 diverse students who participated in the discussions completed a brief questionnaire and then participated in structured groups discussions. In addition to organizing the youth focus groups, work group members held ten meetings in the board room at Virginia National Bank where they addressed key issues affecting access to program and activities during out-school-time. This study was supported by the Foundation of St. John the Baptist in the Woods.
The Assets for Youth work group members began with the question of “Why aren’t all local middle and high school students taking advantage of local after-school opportunities, particularly those that are low cost or free?” The answers found through youth focus groups, national research, and local stakeholder meetings and work group sessions point Charlottesville and
Albemarle
in new directions. By engaging young people as partners in shaping after-school program design and participation, filling programming gaps where there are limited opportunities, coordinating information so the local menu of program opportunities is clear and accessible, and reducing barriers to cost, Charlottesville and Albemarle can increase the involvement of low-income students in local school and community based programs. By exploring the feasibility of extended opportunities on the weekends, in the evenings and the summer, and researching and supporting the infrastructure needed to create new transportation links or new youth activity centers,
Charlottesville
and
Albemarle
can be better prepared for the future teens.
Youth Assets Implementation Team Members
|
Harold Boyd
|
Boys & Girls Club
|
|
Lee Davis
|
CCS
|
|
Eileen Dean
|
AHIP
|
|
Kathy Dowd
|
CCS
|
|
Nell Downey
|
Region Ten
|
|
Gretchen Ellis
|
CCF
|
|
Steven Gough
|
Boys & Girls Club
|
|
Sibley Johns
|
Music
Resource
Center
|
|
Heather Kellams
|
Community Attention
|
|
Winx Lawrence
|
UVA
|
|
Cara Marinucci
|
Prevention Services
|
|
Charles Martin
|
Urban Vision
|
|
Megan Raymond
|
University Outreach Office
|
|
Kelvin Reid
|
AC School
|
|
Kelly Rogers
|
ACDSS
|
|
Sue Sheffield
|
AC School
|
|
Amy Smith
|
Albemarle
Parks
& Rec
|
|
Kala Somerville
|
Computer4Kids
|
|
Mary Stebbins
|
ACDSS
|
|
Mike Svetz
|
Charlottesville
Recreation Dept.
|
|
Karen Waters
|
QCC
|
| Linda Seaman |
CASBA |
|
Mick Watson
|
FOCUS
|
| Kristina Davis |
Urban Vision |
| Monica Maughlin |
Region Ten |
| Annette Washington |
Urban Vision |
| Brian Bills |
Youth Member, County |
Youth Assets Work Group Members
September 2003 – January 2005
| Nikki Bowles, Albemarle County Department of Social Services |
| Harold Boyd, Boys and Girls Club |
| Anne Brown, Public Housing Association of Residents |
| Carl Brown, Charlottesville City Schools/Charlottesville-Albemarle Youth Club |
| David Brown, Soccer Organization Of Charlottesville/Albemarle |
| Lee Davis, Charlottesville City Schools |
| Kathy Dowd, Charlottesville City Schools |
| Gretchen Ellis, Commission on Children and Families |
| Kathleen Glenn, Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority |
| Sarah Green-Holland, Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority |
| Sibley Johns, Music Resource Center |
| Heather Kellams, Community Attention |
| Winx Lawrence, University of Virginia |
| Relda Manuel, Albemarle County Department of Social Services |
| Betsy McDermott, Light House |
| Lacy Peale, Charlottesville City Schools |
| Noah Schwartz, Monticello Area Community Action Agency (MACAA) |
| Timothy Sinatra, Boys and Girls Club |
| Amy Smith, Albemarle County Dept. of Parks and Recreation |
| Mike Svetz, City of Charlottesville Department of Recreation |
| Kala Sommerville, Computers 4 Kids |
| Emily Dreyfus, JustChildren |
| Lt. John R. Teixeira, Albemarle County Police Department |
| Karen Waters, Quality Community Council |
| Shannon Worrell, Light House |
|
Study recommends ways to increase youth engagement in after-school activities