Best Practices for After-School Programming for Youth Identified as " At Risk "

Previous studies have identified the time following the end of the school day as posing potential risks for youth who are not in programming or with a supportive adult. Youth lacking either may struggle with academic success and positive peer engagement. The purpose of this study was to explore some potential best practices in after school programming for youth who are deemed at risk, in order to support more interaction with and success in these programs designed, in part, to decrease risk. The principal investigator interviewed six participants who actively work with youth in after school programs, for youth between the ages of eight and fourteen, who have been identified as “at risk. ” The interviews were then analyzed and coded. Initial themes emerged among all participants. The themes that were broadly recognized among interviewees included: defining at-risk, holding environments, and programming. These themes gave voice to the strengths and limitations within existing programming. Collectively the findings supported: relationship building, programming dynamics necessary to increase youth engagement, and looking at the holistic picture of the youth (i.e. self, family, school, work, and community). Implications are discussed as are suggestions for future research. After School Programming Best Practices 4 Policy makers have identified a vicious cycle of at-risk behaviors and poverty. Bodilly and Beckett (2005) identified “at-risk” as adolescents as those who experience economic hardship, social and emotional hardship and persistent stressors, which have accelerated the process of the at-risk criteria. Studies show that youth who are regularly monitored are significantly less likely to participate in delinquent behavior (Bodilly & Beckett, 2005), while youth who spend greater amounts of time socializing without supervision by adults are at increased risk for substance use and other antisocial behavior (Haynie & Osgood, 2005). Support for after-school programs stems, in part, from research indicating that the hours following release from school constitute high-risk periods of the day for children and adolescents. For example, most arrests for youth violence occur between the hours of 2 and 6 pm when a large group of young people are unsupervised by parents (Sickmund, M., Snyder, H. N., & Poe-Yamagata, E.,1997). Youth who have been considered at-risk have many barriers to overcome. They are often children who need additional support and engagement to build sustainable lifetime goals. The literature points to a notable correlation between communities with high dropout rates and high crime rates. This, too, speaks to the importance of supervision and structure for youth. After-school programming is one potentially important source of such structure and support. This perhaps is especially important in communities with a higher percentage of crime, dropout rates, and identifiable concerns related to high risk factors associated with youth (Sickmundd et al., 1997). For instance, authors such as Robert Putnam of Harvard University (2015) have pointed to the historical importance and current relevance of after-school programming, which has and continues to take many forms including after-school sports. Putnam, in particular, has pointed to the importance of helping adolescents to develop social and After School Programming Best Practices 5 other “soft” skills that carry forward into adulthood and correlates with things such as interpersonal abilities. After-school programming thus not only “fills time” and prevents crime, but may put youth in a more positive developmental trajectory, helping with things as powerful as exiting poverty and achieving upward economic mobility later in life. As Putnam notes, after-school programming has been designed to and has taken many different forms. After-school programming will be defined, for the purpose of this paper as programming that supports independent learning, skill building, mentoring, and extra-curricular activities in after-school, non-school day programming. This study focuses on youth who have identified risk factors. For the purpose of this paper, “at-risk” will be defined as youth ages eight to fourteen years old, both female and male, and primarily children who receive a free and reduced lunch program. One key factor when thinking of youth identified as ‘at-risk’ is the possibility of children of color are over represented within this model based on research that provides data correlating poverty with overrepresentation among people of color. Others have written about the importance of factoring in the realities of things like historical trauma associated when understanding this overrepresentation. Studying successful programs should offer the opportunity to better understand some of the core or central components in successful programming. Programs could benefit from a better understanding of “best practices” in effective after-school programs. This study explored how these models are defined and implemented and what seems particularly important, when working with different populations, genders, and age groups. An after-school programs need to address a broad array of dynamics within a community such as socio-economics, the gender, age, and ethnicity of its participants. Those offering or considering offering after-school programs could After School Programming Best Practices 6 potentially benefit by learning more about how the youth experience and benefit from these programs and the core components of successful programming. The main goal of this study was thus to explore and identify both (1) some “best practices” within after-school programming, particularly programming offered for youth defined as “at-risk” and (2) to hear from some facilitators of successful programs about what is important, helpful, and beneficial to the youth they serve from their perspective. I focused in particular on after-school programs with a recreational focus as a particularly and potentially engaging format for youth in this age group. This study took the form of a series of case studies, by interviewing adult leaders at several formal after-school programs about what, from their perspective, makes these programs particularly effective and what they would recommend for other programs serving youth who are at-risk. I gave particular attention to the role of recreational and physical activity within those programs.