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Resolutions Adopted at the
67th Annual Conference of Mayors
New Orleans, Louisiana
June 11-15, 1999 |
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ARTS, CULTURE AND RECREATION
ENCOURAGING SUMMER AND AFTER-SCHOOL PREVENTION
PROGRAMS THROUGH THE ARTS FOR YOUTH
WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors convened a National Summit last
year on School Violence and Kids from 2:00pm to 8:00pm in Salt Lake City and found
that there are more than 28 million children in urban, suburban and rural areas whose
parents work outside the home, primarily due to economic necessity. At least five million
of these children are "latchkey kids" who come home to an empty house every day
after school. Almost 30 percent of all juvenile offenses are committed on school days,
between the hours of 2:00 and 8:00 p.m.; and
WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors specifically made a
recommendation in the Action Plan on School Violence and Kids from 2:00pm to 8:00pm
to urge mayors and other public leaders at the federal, state and local levels to increase
support for arts and music programs because they increase learning skills, help reduce
violence and truancy, and give kids a positive outlet for self-expression; and
WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors released the findings of a
benchmark study entitled YouthARTS Development Project on effective prevention programs
through the arts for youth at its 1999 Winter Meeting; and
WHEREAS, The YouthARTS project was developed as a national test model by the
U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,
the National Endowment for the Arts, Americans for the Arts and the three local arts
agencies that served at the test sites in Portland, Ore; San Antonio, Tex; and Fulton
County, Georgia; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the test research was to rigorously evaluate, document
and disseminate "best practice" models and "lessons learned" of
year-around after-school arts and prevention programs specifically designed to work with
youth. One of the other primary goals of this project was to ascertain the measurable
outcomes of preventing youth from getting involved in delinquent behavior by engaging them
in community-based arts programs; and
WHEREAS, the local arts agencies in these three test sites partnered with their
local schools and PTAs, juvenile courts, social service agencies, and local arts
organizations and artists. Arts programs were targeted for a range of youth ages 11-to-17
with some having previous juvenile records or others demonstrating various identified risk
factors. Evaluators established two sets of groups to monitor in each community -- one
group consisting of the youth participating in the arts-infused programs and a second
"control group" of peers not participating in these arts programs; and
WHEREAS, after three years of rigorous evaluation of these programs and of the
youth participants’ academic and juvenile court records, research findings showed
that as compared to their respective control groups, the youth participating in these
after-school arts programs demonstrated the following four measured outcomes:
They significantly decreased their frequency of delinquent behavior;
They increased their communication skills;
They improved their ability to work on tasks from start to finish; and
The number of youth experiencing new court referrals was reduced; and
WHEREAS, a comprehensive toolkit has been produced by the YouthARTS Development
Project and is being disseminated by Americans for the Arts to help communities across the
nation design or customize effective prevention programs through the arts for their youth,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls upon
all levels of government – federal, state, and local -- to offer or enhance more
summer and after-school prevention programs through the arts for children and youth in
cities.
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