April’s Asset of the Month is Youth Programs. This critical Developmental Asset is important for our communities to support the children through youth programming. Youth Programs is defined “Youth spend one hour or more per week in sports, clubs or organizations at school and/or in community organizations.”
Our schools and our community youth organizations throughout our area have always provided these kinds of opportunities for our youth. We see this happening in scouting, school and community youth sports, organizations like the Upper Bucks Alliance for Creative Expression (UBACE), school band and chorus programs, church youth groups, dance, gymnastics and the Upper Bucks YMCA. We live in an area that is rich in this asset and shows the commitment of the adults to our community’s youth. In our original assessment of our youth’s assets in 2002 we found that 57% of youth reported that they spend more than an hour each week in a youth program. Our most recent survey in 2010 shows that 64% have indicated their involvement in youth programs. A round of applause for our community as this is a significant contribution to our youth development.
