A citizens committee that is working with a consulting firm hired to develop a three-year master plan for Little Rock youths will meet just one more time before the report is recommended to the city board.
The Youth Master Plan Advisory Committee hashed out some final details at a recent morning work session and will meet again at the end of May to review a final report before it's forwarded to the Little Rock Board of Directors.
The board is to vote June 7 on whether to adopt the plan, which has been more than a year in the works. It deals with how the city's Community Programs Department will spend funds allotted to various programs that work with at-risk youths in addition to how other city departments and the community work with children and families.
"We are trying to emphasize the importance of cross-organizational partnership to address the challenges of children and youth, and also elevating the fundamental process changes that are going to occur because of the master plan," Rebecca Cohen of the Advocacy and Communication Solutions LLC consulting firm said Thursday.
The plan suggests becoming more data-driven -- paying attention to numbers and program success rates, for example -- in meeting the needs of youths, increasing the quality of programs, enhancing communication, focusing on the future workforce and skills needed, and prioritizing children and youths by giving them a more intentional voice in the programs and city leadership.
Committee member Paul Kelly pointed out that children involved in the youth intervention and prevention programs funded by the city are less likely to have leadership roles elsewhere, such as their schools' student council or the Mayor's Youth Council.
Committee member Kareem Moody suggested creating a network of youth councils that will give children an opportunity to learn and give input on topics such as police interaction in schools, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Parks and Recreation Department.
Kelly, too, emphasized other groups getting involved.
"It's not the Department of Community Programs' sole responsibility to solve all the issues of children in our community, and other people need to do that, too," he said. "Also, part of what we are trying to do is make more opportunity available, especially for the kids, so they can make more responsible choices. ... You cannot expect someone to act responsible if they don't have opportunity. If they don't have good choices, how do you then hold them responsible for making bad choices if they never had the option?"
The city's intervention and prevention funds were designated after heightened gang awareness in the city in the 1990s. Since then, some community activists and city leaders have argued that the climate has changed, yet they don't think the potential effect of the money has been fully realized.
The Youth Master Plan sets out ways to positively affect all youths within Little Rock, regardless of race, age, ability, geographic area or school.
City Manager Bruce Moore said he's looking forward to the city implementing such a plan, adding that Little Rock has faced "new and different" challenges in recent years.
"These challenges are complex, caused by an interwoven web of multiple factors that include poverty, violence, hopelessness, low employment and lack of education," he said. "As a result, the way we serve and support our youngest residents and their families must change and become more interconnected to mirror the challenge we seek to overcome.
"This means that solutions to the challenges children, youth and families face today cannot be tackled by one department -- or even by the city government alone," Moore added. "Caring for our children, youth and families is a responsibility we all share as members of the Little Rock community."
Metro on 04/18/2016