The National League of Cities’ (NLC) “The State of City Leadership for Children and Families” can serve as a resource for policymakers and practitioners interested in place-based programs for children and families.
This report, released by the NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, details a number of localized approaches and case studies that have been successful in communities across the country. Categorized as innovations, emerging trends, and established trends, the sections of the report address areas including early childhood, education, afterschool, and local infrastructure for children, youth and families.
There is an emphasis on place-based strategies throughout the paper, and the report even highlights Orlando’s Parramore Kidz Zone, an effort to replicate the HCZ that we spotlighted on the blog last year:
Modeled on the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City and part of a larger city effort to revitalize the historic Parramore neighborhood, PKZ leverages partnerships with schools, local nonprofits, churches, neighborhood associations, and recreation centers to connect a “critical mass” of children and youth living in the neighborhood to a wide range of prevention programs and opportunities. Objectives include boosting participation in pre-kindergarten, health and dental care, mentoring, afterschool, academic enrichment, arts, life skills and tutoring programs, as well as linking young people and their families to job opportunities and family economic assistance programs.
When city leaders launched the program, they knew they had to overcome mistrust among residents disenchanted with past efforts to revitalize the neighborhood. PKZ seeks to restore trust between city government and the neighborhood, and relies on several strategies to improve access to programs and ensure their effectiveness, including:
- Marketing available programs and services intensively through a full-time outreach
- and community organizing team;
- Striving to eliminate barriers of cost, transportation and paperwork;
- Issuing grants to attract new programs into the neighborhood and build the capacity
- of existing grassroots programs; and
- Employing meticulous, independent program evaluation.
Other highlights detail how cities have been working with schools, nonprofits, and other community institutions to provide an array of services to children and families. This lengthy and detailed report provides numerous examples of how social services and education can be integrated at the local level to strengthen communities.