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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution - 1654 - Grant Application - GO GC&CJ - Ywcare Youth Program - 04/12/1984PQR 101 }} I RESOLUTION 1654 - 4/12/84 6` DGV:cl RESOLUTION WHEREAS, the Lubbock YWCA desires to pursue an outreach program entitled "YWCAre" in order to assist with after school care for "latch -key" children of working parents; and WHEREAS, funds for such projects are available through the Governor's Office as FY85 Criminal Justice Project funds; and WHEREAS, a private, non-profit sponsor of such a program must have a governmental entity apply for such funds; and WHEREAS, it is the opinion of the City Council of the City of Lubbock that such a program would be of benefit to the citizens of the City of Lubbock and would be beneficial in crime reduction; NOW THEREFORE: BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LUBBOCK: THAT the City Manager of the City of Lubbock BE and is hereby autho- rized and directed to make application to the Governor's Office of General Counsel and Criminal Justice for FY85 Criminal Justice Project funds for the "YWCAre" Program. Passed by the City Council this 12th day of AproI , 1984. 7LkN HENRY, MA ATTEST: EYelyn Gaffga, City 6e�ery-Treasurer APPROVED AS TO CONTENT: Rick Childers, Assistant to the City Manager APPROVED AS TO FORM: 0 . Vandiver, Assam City Attor YWCA Young Women's Christian Association South Plains Association of Governments Lubbock, Texas Dear Criminal Justice Planners for the SPAG Region: 3101 35th St., Lubbock, Texas 7c)413 Phone (806) 792.2723 March 22, 1984 The YWCA of Lubbock respectfully requests your considerati6n of the enclosed grant application. The grant would provide for the establishment of an after-school day care program for Lubbock's children. This program is designed to deal with the latchkey phenomenon, particularly the negative aspects and projected consequences of leaving kindergarten through sixth grade children at home alone. According to Lynette and Thomas Long, in their book, THE HANDBOOK FOR LATCHKEY CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS, "latchkey" is a term that defines children who are regularly left during some period of the day to supervise themselves, whether during that time they use group recreational programs, play in the street, stay home alone, join a gang; or for whom .._care. . arrangements are so loosely made that they are virtually ineffective. Most latchkey children are school age, although there are children under the age of six who are routinely left alone to care for themselves for some time most days. The child between six and thirteen is the one least served by organized day care services for a number of reasons. The Thomases also tell us that there have been two significant changes in social structur occuring since 1950 that have dramatically changed family rearing patterns in the United States. They are the large increase in the proportion of mothers who work, and the in- creased numbers of children living in single -parent households. If we add to these changes two other social changes, the decline of the support system provided by the extended family and the rise in family mobility, we see the basis for the rapid rise in the number of children left in self-care, the "latchkey children". The YWCA of Lubbock is attempting to offer to the working parents of Lubbock an economica alternative to leaving their children at home alone after school. Because of the cooperative spirit of the Lubbock Independent School District Administration, facilities have been made available to the YWCA to begin a pilot program. Assuming the pilot progra is successful, other centers will be opened as the demand is identified. This grant, if approved, will allow the YW-CAre program to hire a Director to see that the YW-CAre program is successful and that the program can expand to provide that much needed care of many of Lubbock's latchkey children. Support staff will be provided to work with the children in the pilot sites. Additional staff will be added as other sites are opened. Equipment will be secured for programming. Supplies can be purchased. Training can be developed for instructors and staff. Staff travel will be reimbursed. The YW-CAre program, as an outreach program of the YWCA, will provide after-school care for children, kindergarten through sixth grade, on schooldays, from 3:15p.m. to 6:00p.m. in the child's neighborhood school. The program will be aimed at children with working parents. At some, point in the future, the YW-CAre program expects to expand to providing An Agency of the United Way r page 2 - YWCA Grant Application care for the latchkey children before school and on school holidays. Plans call for special programs for the handicapped to also be developed. Summer care also is a feasi- bility. However, the YWCA presently provides a summer day camp geared to the needs of working parents and latchkey children that can serve some of these families until a summer program can be developed by the YW-CAre program. All of these plans require staff to see that they are realized. We will appreciate your careful consideration of this grant request. With your assistance, we will see this crucial program become a reality for Lubbock's latchkey children. Respectfully, I-wL-0, Betty E. Wheeler, Executive Director YWCA of Lubbock