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Cultural Council of Indian River County, After School Scholarship Program; Children's Services Advisory Committee of Indian River County C. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION (Entire Section C, 1 — 6, not to exceed two pages) 1 . List Priority Needs area addressed. FOCUS AREA I: Mental Wellness Issues in children ages 747 This program improves the capacity of children in Indian River County to succeed to adulthood in a safe, healthy, and productive manner by meeting the following objectives : Promotes enhanced emotional and social skills; Provides early intervention screening for children; Promotes life skills training and effective use of emotional and social skills; Promotes independent living skills; Promotes accessible locations for healthy, productive activities . FOCUS AREA III: Childcare Access in children ages 7- 17 This program supports caregivers, a child' s most important resource, to be and do what is needed to shepherd children to adulthood in a safe, healthy, and productive manner by meeting several stated objectives. Increases the availability of affordable quality childcare; increases access to affordable extended/after school programs; increases access to cultural and ethnic activities; increases tutorial and mentoring programs . 2. Briefly describe program activities including location of services. The main. activities of this program are chosen to provide children and teens with tools to help them succeed to adulthood in a safe, healthy and productive manner. This program offers , creative classes in music, visual and performance arts in a variety of settings. Instructors for these classes are professional artists in the community that want to share their love of their craft with young people. Eligible children have an interest in the arts, participate in the free or reduced lunch program and/or have been referred to the program through their school. Some classes take place in schools, some in artist studios and others at community centers . Children placed in after school programs such as Gifford Youth Activities Center, Boys & Girls Clubs and Dasie Bridgewater Hope Center have the opportunity to participate in these classes at their sites as well. The Teen Writer' s Workshops, held quarterly, also attract young people in off school hours, engaging them in productive activity at the Environmental Learning Center. 3 . Briefly describe how your program addresses the stated need/problem . Describe how your program follows a recognized "best practice" and provide evidence that indicates proposed strategies are effective with target population . Several studies cite the use of the -arts as a prevention tool and for positive development of children. A recent report issued to the Florida Senate from the Committee on Criminal Justice in December 2002, entitled "Review Effectiveness of Juvenile Programs ' that use a: Visual and Performing Arts-Based Intervention Approach" summarized numerous studies that illustrate the positive impact these types of arts programs, especially ones containing mentorship opportunities and relationships to the community, influence at-risk children toward positive goals and behaviors . ( The Arts and Prosocial Impact Study, Rand, 1999 .) Students who have been consistently involved in music and theatre exhibit higher levels of success in math and reading. (Secretary 's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, U. S . Department of Labor, 199 1 ) A lengthy national project that studied children form luw income backgrounds found that those exposed to arts learning were more likely to be class officers, involved with math and science fairs and to be recognized with a writing award . (Community Counts: How Youth Organizations Matter for Youth Development), Shirley Brice Health, Milbrey W. McLaughlin, 2000 . Exposure to arts impacts the developmental growth of children and helps to equalize the learning curve that cuts across ' diverse socio-economic backgrounds. (UCLA Imagination Project, Americans . ' for the Arts, ' 198) By providingfiarts opportunities and choices ata young age, luldren become motivated" arid en a ed in* this" health outlet for expression. , �• Mho .iSNf"� ' , .. H `9Yln } � ..•. Y '4 - eF�T ry i46