Our Youth Leadership Program

http://www.fastracprogram.org

The Mayor’s Youth Empowerment Program re-introduces the Youth Leadership Program to create opportunities for area At-Risk Youth and secures the future of our community.  The mission of the Youth Leadership Program is:

“Creating opportunities for today’s youth and securing the future of our community”

The Mayor’s Youth Empowerment Program is accredited nationally by:

An estimated 9.2 million to 15 million children are considered “at-risk” in this country. These youth are at-risk because they are at crossroads: one road leads to a successful transition to adulthood, the other to dependency and negative long-term consequences.  Youth typically considered at-risk are more likely to become pregnant, use drugs and /or alcohol, drop out of school, be unemployed, engage in violence, and face an increased likelihood of host of mental health problems.

Despite perceptions that “nothing works” for at- risk youth, or youth are just lazy, research has identified effecting program principle and approaches in working with at-risk youth.  The most successful program models are those that employ the combination of approaches to gear youth toward organized activities to stay away to street corners which leads to unproductive and negative activities.  The trick is simply to keep youth busy with rewarding activities and mentorship.

We have experienced and seen youth get into trouble because they lack the initiative to engage in productive activities that promote continual learning, community service, youth employment and peers bonding.

The Mayor’s Youth Empowerment Program Youth Leadership Program utilizes an away of services to introduce youth to positives behaviors and creating opportunities for youth to give back to the community by working with local schools, the community college, the University, local businesses, local government and area service organizations to address the issue of today’s at-risk youth by enhancing relationship to develop and implement youth development policies and programs:

• Build on existing already working youth programs;
• Develop and implement training programs with reward systems to attract youth and involve them to best practices and development;
• Involve youth in planning; and evaluate results by following up with youth who graduates from the program.

The goal of the MYEP Youth Leadership Program is to help youth become socially, morally, emotionally, physically and cognitively competent and contributing members of the community, and help them become productive adults by supporting attitudes, behaviors, and skills that enable them to succeed as parents, citizens, and workers.  The MYEP Youth Leadership Program uses four main areas that have proven to fostered best results while working with youth.

• Collaboration efforts:  The at-risk youth problem is not just the Mayor’s Youth Empowerment Program’s problem or the government’s problem, it is the community problem and it needs the attention of the entire community.  We all have heard of the street fighting in the east side of our community, or the vandalism in some neighborhood, the theft in some streets, it’s just a matter of time before these problems reach your backyard if we do not address the unproductive behaviors of our youth. 

• MYEP Youth Leadership Program addresses these problems by getting youth into structured and organized activities to fill their free time and keep youth occupied with positive activities that teaches them responsibility, self respect, respect of others and their properties, accountability and the responsibilities that come with the choice we make in life.

• Integration of family, peers and the community:  Many youth who are considered at-risk come from single parent households, minority backgrounds, do not have positive roll models in their lives, or are hanging out with simply the wrong crowd, and maybe living in not so good area of the community.

• MYEP Youth Leadership Program works with the entire family by understanding where the youth is coming from, addressing family issues, connecting the entire family with community resources, promoting self confidence and providing positive places and positive peers’ integration, and friendship with the buddy system.

• Positive adult and youth interaction:  Many at-risk youth do not have a roll model or positive adult interaction, yet research indicates that youth programs that foster structured relationship between adults and youth have more positive outcomes for youth. 

• MYEP Youth Leadership program formalizes adult-youth interaction through the University of Iowa Fraternities and Sororities mentoring programs, work experience with local businesses and community service projects that involved volunteer adults working along side youth.

• Work-based learning with area businesses:The reason many community service youth program fails, because there isn’t any tangibles that the youth can take home such as payment for work performed or some level of a stipend.  Youth especially at the Junior High and High School level become money hungry and based on studies, many of these youth‘s families cannot afford to provide financial allowances to these youth.  This leads to stealing, selling drugs to purchase things that they see other kids possessing such as video games, Ipod, Cell Phones, cool shoes, clothes and more. 

• MYEP Youth Leadership Program addresses these issues by fostering a linkages with employers with local businesses that can provide some work experience for the youth ages 14 and up and these youth can get pay through grant funded programs and fund raising activities while acquiring much needed skills to be employable in the future, staying off the street corners during critical times, and having adults supervision after school when there parents might still be working. This is a win-win plan. While local businesses getting free labor from the youth, the youth are getting paid to learn skills that they can use in the future, and staying out of trouble.

• Community services:  Community services provide unique experience for at-risk youth by allowing youth to give something meaningful back to their community. In addition to providing hands-on experience, community-service demonstrates that youth are resources and have something substantial to contribute to society. 

• MYEP Youth Leadership Program participates in monthly community service projects to giveback to the community and to teach them the value of helping other. Examples of community-service projects include tutoring younger peers, cleaning the local parks and trails, picking up litters in the downtown area, helping with Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, The Crisis Center, Salvation Army, and many more.

The MYEP Youth Leadership Program provides the following services:

• The After School Programs: The after school programs for 3 groups, youth in Elementary Schools, Junior High Schools, and High Schools at the University of Iowa Campus every Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The youth are pick up from local community schools and brought to the University of Iowa Campus where they meet with volunteered University of Iowa Students and Staff with organized activities for the youth including getting help with home work, participating in arts and crafts, music therapy, discussions and staff support to encourage personal growth, setting academic goals, and providing vision for the future. The After School Program curriculum includes:

• Money Management.
• Preventing, identifying, and reporting domestic, physical and sexual abuse.
• Preventing bullies
• On-line safety tips
• Community Service, giving back.
• Loving your community.
• Dressing for the job you want, not the one you have.
• Higher learning, the importance of post secondary education, and the key to a successful future.
• Getting and keeping a job, provides money in my pocket.
• How things work and how they are made.
• Community Service Organizations, where to find help when needed
• Self respect and confidence, I’m worthy!
• Yes I can: a course on dealing with and overcoming personal barriers and every day struggle.

• Speakers’ Bureau: Every third Thursdays of the month the youth are introduce to a speaker to talk to the youth about various things; some of these speakers are local business leaders, community leaders, and people in different career field. Some of the programs involve improving the character and leadership skills of the youth, providing career and educational development opportunity for the youth, and positive methods of risk-taking to improve understanding of self and others. Some of our speakers are:

• Medical Doctors,
• Police Officers,
• The coroners office
• Juvenal court system officials,
• Teachers,
• CEO/Executive Directors,
• Basketball players and coaches,
• Football players and coaches,
• Financial Advisors,
• Musicians and artists
• Therapist, Preachers and more.

• Community Service: Every third Tuesdays of the month the youth participate in a community service project.  Some of the community service projects include sanding and painting the picnic benches at the local parks, collecting or packaging food for the Crisis Center, cleaning the parks and trails and more.

• Field Trips: The MYEP leadership program holds four field trips a year, one in the spring, one in the fall, one in the summer and one in winter. These field trips are both educational and recreational. Some locations include the Science Museum, Adventure land, The Aquarium, the Kernel’s game and more.

• Summer Program:The MYEP Youth Leadership Program provides summer camps, a place where youth can go in the summer to participate in organized activities during the summer months.  The Youth Leadership Program also sponsors youth to attend various area sports camps. The eight weeks programs include summers fun filled activities, regular trips to the library, field trips, and more.

• Summer Employment Program:  The MYEP Youth Leadership Program provide summer paid employment program for youth between the ages of 14 to 18 years of ages with local businesses  such as the MYEP camps for individuals with disabilities, cleaning crews for several local organizations, clerical work, day cares, summer helpers and other business in the area. The Youth Leadership Program also provides a stipend program for youth between the ages 12 to 14 who cannot work but can volunteers.

The MYEP Youth Leadership Program operates and is funded by various local, State, federal and businesses grants and fundraising.  Some of the fundraising events are:

Accountability:

MYEP measures the effective of the Youth Leadership Program in many ways and the results are publicly shared with the community and all the contributors.  Annually the MYEP Youth Leadership Program collects data on all the youth participants including:

• Reports cards to measure the educational component of the youth and where assistance is needed to customize the academic assistance for each youth in the program and connect them with the right mentor.

• Parents’ satisfaction surveys are completed to measure the effectiveness of the program and the connection with family life.

• Businesses and employers’ satisfaction surveys are completed to measure the effectiveness of the program with youth employment and volunteerism.

• Schools’ satisfaction surveys are completed to measure the attitudes, academic, and social progress on the youth involved in the program in schools.

• Community feedback is obtained to measure the effectiveness of the program in the community.

• Youth satisfaction surveys are completed to measure the success of the program with the youth involved.

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D’s Success Story

D has had and continues to have a very difficult life.  School has not been easy or enjoyable for him and due to his attendance and behavioral issues; he has received suspensions multiple times.  D is a 16 year old sophomore who is nearly one year behind his peers in credit.  Many factors contribute to his lack of success at school but his poor attendance has contributed the most.

After nearly being asked to leave West High, his interdisciplinary team came up with one last attempt to help D be successful at school.  Although a modified daily schedule which includes school and work is typically offered only to seniors, it was going to be D’s last option of continuing his education at West High.  In setting up this schedule, staff knew that if he didn’t receive monetary compensation for his time on the job he wouldn’t give his best effort.  Mayor’s Youth Empowerment Program agreed to pay his wages for 12.5 hours of work during the school week.  Since the modified schedule was implemented over 1 month ago, D has yet to miss a day of work.  In addition, his school attendance has dramatically improved.  His current attendance record only shows 2 missed classes as compared to more than 25 missed classes on his previous attendance record. 

For the first time in a long time for D is experiencing success at school.  Much of his recent success is a result of the at-risk employment program that is offered through MYEP.  MYEP is not only providing D with money but more importantly giving him the opportunity to increase self-confidence, build a strong work ethic and to experience success at school.

Written by: Russ Johnson, Career Center Facilitator
West High School, Iowa City.