Nurturing families, an excellent education, a healthy environment and access to quality health care regardless of one’s ethnicity, income or status are core strengths all children deserve. The state of Georgia (and metropolitan Atlanta in particular) struggles to deliver these promises. Findings from the 2007 KIDS COUNT Data Book show that Georgia ranks 41st in the United States in child and family well-being. The Data Book reports that Georgia has the second-highest percentage of high-school dropouts in the country. Children and youth in the metro area also face difficult issues such as poverty (one in four children in Georgia currently lives in poverty), sexually transmitted diseases (26% of teens 15-19), and abuse and neglect (more than 41,000 child victims in Georgia last year).
Skip below to see grants and support toward youth development in the Atlanta region.
Skip below to learn about investment approaches for youth development.
The State, civic groups and nonprofit organizations are working to combat the grim outlook for Georgia’s children by focusing on early intervention and youth development. Youth development focuses on assets and strengths, not problems, and on developing young people’s self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-worth. Programs must be flexible to be able to meet the individual needs and build on the individual assets and strengths of each young participant, and may provide such services as tutoring, mentoring, recreational opportunities, job training, social skills, and community service. These programs motivate young people to work toward achieving successful futures.
Founded after the Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future in 1997, America’s Promise is a collaborative network that builds upon the collective power of communities to help fulfill the Five Promises for every person, particularly our youth. Research shows that if the Five Promises are consistently fulfilled, they can significantly advance the health and well-being of the next generation – including the chances of youth becoming successful adults.
1. Caring Adults: Communities need to provide all young people with sustained adult relationships through which they experience support, care and guidance. Caring and connectedness within and beyond the family are powerful factors in protecting young people from negative behaviors and creating strong positive qualities.
2. Safe Places: A safe place with constructive activities gives youth an alternative to street corners, gangs and other harmful environments. A safe place nurtures young people’s skills and interests, enriches their academic performance and gives them opportunities to contribute to their communities.
3. A Healthy Start: To many, “a healthy start” focuses on what children need before they start school: prenatal care, immunizations and school readiness. While these early years are crucial, this promise also refers to “a healthy start” for adulthood. To grow up healthy, young people need accessible and affordable health insurance that covers regular checkups, health education focusing on risk behaviors such as violence and alcohol, drug and tobacco use, and adequate nutrition and exercise.
4. Marketable Skills: Marketable skills enable young people to prepare for employment in the 21st Century. Employers increasingly need workers who can think, learn new skills rapidly, work in teams, and solve problems creatively. Yet too few youth, whether college bound or not, have these qualities. Making a successful transition from school to work is a critical milestone in the youth development journey.
5. Opportunities to Serve: Young volunteers have higher self-esteem, perform better in school, build leadership skills, and learn how to solve community problems. Yet even though youth are more likely than adults to volunteer, fewer than half of all young people consistently serve others. A result is that they miss this powerful opportunity for growth.
Investment Approaches
In addition to the Five Promises approach, effective programs supporting successful youth development will also have the following:
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Academic Support: programs focus specifically on improving the child’s academic performance in school through tutoring, physical activities, and extra educational and arts programs
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Year Round: suggests that access to programs is not defined by a particular time frame (ex. academic year), but rather allows the child to participate regularly without interruption
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School-Community Connection: implies that programs work collaboratively with teachers, schools, school districts, local businesses, and parents in an effort to improve both school performance and students’ academic achievement
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Out-of-School Time: offers an afterschool component, a summer camp, or both by the organization as another method of service delivery
Grants & Support
- Founded in 1983 to provide shelter to troubled youth, Advocates for Bartow’s Children in Cartersville, Ga., accepts and advocates for children, youth and families in order to help them reach their full potential. A $15,000 grant was given from our Common Good Funds to help the organization expand its Peer Educator Program. The Peer Educator Program provides support to young people displaced and affected by abuse, abandonment and neglect. Peer Educators support house parents during the summer months and during afternoons when residents return to the shelter from school.
- A $15,000 grant from our Common Good Funds was given to BlazeSports America to implement Trailblazers Youth Leadership Initiative. This program for youth with physical disabilities builds character and leadership, and improves healthy lifestyles and learning. BlazeSports America was formed in 1993 to serve as a legacy organization for the 1996 Summer Paralympic Games. In 1998 the organization created a community-based program model that incorporated sport, physical activity and healthy lifestyles into the daily life of youth with physical disabilities and visual impairment throughout Georgia.