Council Approves Nearly $3 Million for Youth Programs

Jun 10, 2021

Cleveland City Council approved a plan at Monday’s meeting (6/7) to spend $2.7 million over the next 18 months on programs to try to keep youth out of trouble and in jobs, and to help those who get in trouble re-enter society.

The programs are part of the initiative to expand Cleveland’s 22 recreation centers into resource hubs that help families deal with the impacts of trauma and toxic stress.

The new programs target three specific areas. They are:

• A diversion program through Jackson’s Fresh Start Initiative to help keep youth ages 15 to 19 out of the criminal justice system. Those efforts will include wraparound services that provide enrichment and job training.
• A program in conjunction with the Cuyahoga Hills Juvenile Correction Facility and others to prepare youth ages 17 to 20 for re-entry into society. In addition to diversion services, the program will work to prepare families and provide a supportive environment.
• Summer employment for about 200 young people in grades 8 through 12, who will be paid $8.80 an hour for up to 24 hours a week for six weeks, and a pilot program that will provide life and job skills to 10 middle-grade youth. The youths will identify community problems and study solutions.

 
The money was included in the city budget for the Office of Prevention, Intervention and Opportunity for Youth and Young Adults, but required council approval. Children can suffer health consequences from the constant release of stress hormones in the body when they face constant forms of trauma, including poverty, crime and violence and a sense of helplessness. Those consequences can affect behavior, including leading to violence.

Left untreated, the impacts of toxic stress can remain into adulthood. When the administration launched the effort in 2018, it moved to provide residents with access to support services at all recreation centers. Staff were trained to identify symptoms of toxic stress. Counselors were available at each site. And programming was expanded to include education and job training, health and wellness, arts and non-traditional sports, such as rowing.
 
The city partnered with Cleveland State University, Kent State University and Case Western Reserve University on staff development to raise the quality of service in all rec centers. Ord. No. 281-2021.  From Clevelanddotcom.