City Parks Foundation Park Activity Expansion for At-Risk Youth

The OJJDP FY 10 Earmarks Program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, to organizations identified in the Conference Report to accompany the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117), H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 111-366 at 702-714.

City Parks Foundation (CPF) provides free arts, sports, and education programs and community building initiatives in parks in underserved communities in New York City. CPF will operate in communities in Central & East Harlem, Washington Heights, the North Bronx, and on Staten Island's North Shore in the 13th, 15th and 17th Congressional Districts. The free programs target parks and recreation centers in communities where children and families are underserved or who cannot afford to take their children to arts performances, enroll their children into summer camps, and are in schools that do not offer extra-curricular activities. CPF will continue their current level of programming and expand the free programs to additional sites. Overall, the goal is to provide access to opportunities to at-risk youth with the expectation that the skills they receive through their participation will help them better succeed academically, in life and realize their full potential, as healthy, productive citizens. City Parks Foundation will offer free kids, concerts, and dance performances; tennis, golf, and track & field instruction; free education programs in partnership with schools and recreation centers; and teach people how to become stewards of their local parks. The free arts and sports programs use attendance as a basis for evaluation, along with feedback from instructors, performers, parents, participants, and members of the community. The education programs administer pre and post-tests to monitor change in attitudes, behavior, and knowledge for school-based programs. NCA/NCF