by Rebecca Turrentine.
Long Beach has been named for the second time as one of the One Hundred Best Communities for Young People by America’s Promise, which was founded by Colin Powell. The award is based on evidence of an infrastructure in the City that supports providing young people with a healthy start, an effective education, caring adults, opportunities to give back, and safe places.
The Long Beach Commission on youth and Children participated in preparing the application for this designation. It is the only commission in Long Beach that has both adult and youth members. It is the commission’s role to advise the City Council on issues which impact children and youth in the city, including health, safety, education, workforce development, and any other area that affects young people.
At its August meeting, The Commission on Youth and Children formally endorsed the efforts going on in Long Beach to expand and fund after school programs. This endorsement was given, in large part, because after school programs are a single program that can deliver all five of America’s Promises.
The fund raising effort is being led by The Long Beach After School Programs Sustainability Committee which is chaired by Jon Meyer. The fund raising campaign is named Safe and Smart After School. The State of California will provide $2 towards funding after school programs in Long Beach for every $1 raised here locally. Here is how it works. A $50,000 local donation would generate $100,000 in California State funds from Prop 49 for a total of $150,000. In addition, the RAND Corporation compared the cost-effectiveness of an after school program with California’s Three Strikes law. It concluded that the after school program produced three dollars of social benefit for every dollar spent. So, our original $150,000 could generate approximately $450,000 of benefit for Long Beach kids.
The Long Beach Commission on Youth and Children is very supportive of the efforts taking place to fund these after school programs, and we are hoping that businesses and individuals all across Long Beach will support the fund raising efforts as well. For more information, contact Safe & Smart After School at 562 997-8057 or [email protected]
Submitted by Rebecca Turrentine, Co-Chair, Long Beach Commission on Youth and Children.