Committee Report - Youth - 4-30-14 — File 196924

April 30, 2014 Youth Services Committee Page 1 of 2 Printed 5/1/2014 REPORT OF THE YOUTH SERVICES COMMITTEE Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Mary Jo Rossetti Chair Present Matthew McLaughlin Vice Chair Present Katjana Ballantyne Ward Seven Alderman Present Others present: Nancy Bacci, Jim Halloran, Omar, Stanley Pollack, Beverly Schwartz, Kenneth VanBuskirk Approval of the Minutes of February 20, 2014 RESULT: APPROVED Approval of the Minutes of March 24, 2014 RESULT: APPROVED 196224 - That the Director of Teen Empowerment update this Board on its annual accomplishments and goals in place.: Mr. Pollack distributed two documents summarizing Teen Empowerment’s goals and program activities and discussed how youths are selected to participate in the development of the activities. Mr. Pollack stated that there is a need for additional resources, noting that if staff were increased, he would expand programming to the junior high school level. Due to reduced resources, the number of youth hires has been reduced from 14 to 10 for this year. Some funding comes from CDBG and some from the state. The mayor has proposed $100k for the program in next year's Recreation Department budget. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 196726 - That the Superintendent of Recreation and the Youth Programming Coordinator research a plan for open gym and unstructured play in schools in the west, central and east parts of the city.:

Committee Meeting April 30, 2014 Youth Services Committee Page 2 of 2 Printed 5/1/2014 Mr. Halloran stated that the Recreation Department will try open gym at Somerville High School for the next few months on Monday and Wednesday nights. The schools are open to the public after 6:00 PM and on weekends. The committee discussed the need for more open space for children to play. Mr. Halloran will prepare a plan for the committee on unstructured play and potential use of the high school. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 196727 - That the Superintendent of Recreation and the Youth Programming Coordinator share their marketing and outreach plans to promote programs.: Mr. Halloran spoke about the Recreation Department’s use of email, Facebook and flyer distribution (via guidance counselors) to promote programs. The committee discussed ways to determine how individuals learn about the programs being offered and whether activities should be added to the Somerville public schools newsletter. RESULT: WORK COMPLETED 196728 - That the Superintendent of Recreation and the Youth Programming Coordinator share data on the usage of all recreation programs by season for FY13 and FY14.: The committee discussed the possibility of capturing data on how individuals hear about the various programs. Mr. Halloran explained that programs continue to run if there are 10 or more participants. A hand out was provided listing activities and the number of participants. Alderman Ballantyne noted some inaccuracies in the data provided and requested that a revised breakdown for 2013 and 2014 be provided, including gender, ages and total number of participants for the programs. RESULT: KEPT IN COMMITTEE