District youths participate in one of the many sports clinics during the Trust's citywide field day

“What began as a good idea became an eventual success,” said Millicent Williams, president and CEO of the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation, when asking: “How would you describe the Trust over the past 10 years?”

The Trust, or CYITC, is a public-private partnership chartered by a wide array of District stakeholders, including those from youth development, philanthropic, government, and education sectors, working towards the common goal of improving the quality, quantity, and accessibility of services and opportunities for youths in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Since its inception in June 1999, the Trust has provided grants, technical assistance, training, capacity building, and policy support to community-based organizations (CBOs) around the District and greater Washington. These CBOs offer early childhood development, workforce programs, parenting and life skills classes, charter schools, as well as a host of other services.

After years of seeking an effective solution to combat the grave social issues youths in the District and greater Washington had been facing, a formidable partnership forged known as the Trust, resulting in 10 years of community service to youths and their parents residing in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Beginning the end of May, and throughout the month of June, the Trust will be celebrating its 10-year active presence within the community. On May 30, 2009, the Trust’s first celebratory anniversary event was a citywide field day held at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center, located in Northeast, DC.

DC youths, ages 5-18, were invited to engage in free sports clinics, involving Metroball, NOMIS Boxing, the Latin American Youth Center, Falconsedge, Keely’s Boxing, and the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center. The sports clinics were not only fun-filled activities, but also exemplified how youths, who participate in sports regularly as an out-of-school activity, are positively influenced, as playing sports teaches one discipline and increases both determination and drive.

On Wednesday, June 17, 2009, the Trust also hosted the first-ever citywide performing arts showcase, “We Got Next! Hear Our Voice,” which featured rap, dance, poetry and short narratives, and African-inspired instrumental pieces from DC youths enrolled in several afterschool programs, located in some of the District’s most underserved communities.

The Trust will also host an event partnered with the DC Public Library, promoting literacy amongst DC youths and parents. In an effort to reduce the high illiteracy rate within the District, as Washington DC has the highest illiteracy rate in the country, the Trust regularly endorses CBOs with literacy programs that assist parents and youths with reading improvement.

During our interview, Williams shared a testimony from one parent who had undergone a literacy program through a CBO, to which the Trust provides funding:

“Since completing the program, I am now able to read.  Most importantly, my child and I spend more quality time together because we read together, which has strengthened our relationship.  This program has really helped the relationship between my child and me...I am grateful." 

Testimonies, such as the one Williams provided, sets the tone for the entire Trust: In helping to address one problem, other problems in youths' lives are also addressed, as the Trust and its CBOs attempt to tackle every element in youths’ environments.

A closer look at the Trust

Over 10 years, the Trust has funded more than 250 organizations, contributing over 150 million dollars in grants and training to CBOs. The Trust has helped more than 20,000 youths after school and during the summer, as well as assisted in numerous launch initiatives, such as the “Boys of Color” Affinity Group, in collaboration with the Concerned Black Men-National Organization (CBM).

The Affinity Group serves as an afterschool mentoring program created to strengthen male youths so they may later develop into charismatic men. This Group will serve as a model for the national initiative, which will curtail the high rate at which boys of color drop out of school, especially when residing in underserved communities.  The program will encourage boys of color to thrive academically, eventually pursuing college to attain a fruitful career and life, overall.

When breaking down the infrastructure of the Trust, it is interesting to see how this organization works, as it is comprised of a very unique format. When helping youths, the Trust takes a holistic approach in rehabilitation and prevention: instead of focusing on one aspect of youths' lives, the Trust supports CBOs that offer programs to strengthen every aspect of youths’ lives residing in the District and greater Washington, including youths’ parents and families.

Even if a youth may have a caring adult, such as a teacher or mentor, in his/her surroundings, it may take awhile for this adult's tactics to prove effective, particularly when the foundation has not been established within the home. Every well-rounded adult knows a child’s behavioral traits and habits are first formed within the home, through interacting with parents. In contrast, a youth may have caring parents, but because he/she has too much idle time on his/her hands, this youth may be lured into a corrupt lifestyle, particularly if he/she is not involved in constructive, extracurricular activities.

The old African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” is very accurate, as a child must have caring adults in every segment of his/her life. This was the thinking that ultimately led to the formation of the Trust— the phenomenon of youths raising themselves instead of responsible parents.

“At the time the Trust was created, community stakeholders saw the need where more services needed to focus on the ‘whole child,’ and not just particular sectors of a child’s life,” Williams said.

Prior to the Trust’s development, DC youths had limited educational and extracurricular opportunities in the 1980s and 1990s. DC Public School (DCPS) students performed well below SAT national average scores, displaying exactly how wide the academic achievement gap was when comparing DCPS students to that of other urban public-school students. Average SAT scores in DCPS were almost 200 points below the national average, suggesting over 80 percent of DCPS SAT test-takers received scores in the lower half of the national distribution.

Roughly, 18 percent of all births were linked to teen pregnancies, a rate 40 percent higher than for the nation, wholly. Even more devastating was the arrest rate for violent crimes committed by youths ages 10-17, which was almost double the rate for three large cities.

According to the 2000 Casey Foundation Report, death by accident, homicide, or suicide per 1,000 teens, ages 15-19, was almost three times the national average. As if these statistics were not disheartening enough, a 1997 study conducted by Georgetown graduate student, Terry Feeley, estimated 45,000 DC youths, ages 5-17, were left unsupervised during out-of-school time, which left approximately 37 percent of DC youths at-risk for truancy, substance abuse, promiscuous sexual behavior, violent crimes (either victim or perpetrator of), amongst other disastrous occurrences in place of enriching, educational entertainment.

Additionally, poor academic performance was unfortunately the norm throughout many District schools because the importance of academic achievement was not being heavily enforced in many of these youths’ homes, as well as many District schools.

With many children born to teen mothers, and with these teen mothers rearing children in either single-parent or low-income environments, as this was unfortunately becoming the trend within the District, many children were left with no other option than to raise themselves, especially since the rate at which parents were absent within their child’s life was growing rapidly.

As was the case then, as it is now, contemporary social pathology in urban America forces youths into survival mode, which oftentimes is violent or unproductive. Criminal justice policy, which has been the cause of many absent fathers in urban America as they are incarcerated, and overwhelming amounts of poverty, which lead to survival tactics that may result into violent behavior, is also a major problem that affects inner-city youths-- and the District is not immune to it.

Witnessing the crises DC youths had been facing, youth advocates formed out-of-school programs.  Yet, with a lack of support, which affected funding and operations, civic, government, and philanthropic leaders knew drastic measures would have to be taken to revitalize neighborhoods and strengthen community bonds. Hence, the Trust was eventually formed to ensure a strong foundation was established to help keep these CBOs operating through proper funding, capacity building, and training, amongst other offerings.  Now, the rest is 10 years worth of history.

How do parents feel about out-of-school programming?

According to an election poll conducted by the Afterschool Alliance in 2004, 9 out of 10 voters agreed they would much prefer all youths have some sort of constructive, organized activity after school. Parents want to feel assured caring and responsible adults are acting as a supplement to their love, guidance, and instruction during out-of-school time.

Catalyst and the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University conducted a new study, showing workplace productivity of U.S. parents suffer when worried about their children during out-of-school time. The study indicates 6.5 million American children attend out-of-school programs, but parents belonging to another 25.3 million children wish their children could participate in out-of-school programs.  However, parents, belonging to this 25.3 million figure, either do not have the financial resources to enroll their children in out-of-school programs offered through businesses, or many of these programs require transit to disparate locations, placing an extra burden on parents and the urban infrastructure.

Therefore, it is important certain organizations as the Trust exist because they ensure nonprofit organizations that do not charge for out-of-school programs and are located in underserved, urban communities, remain strong for those parents who wish to enroll their children in extracurricular or mentoring programs, but could not afford it otherwise.

Additional sources:

http://www.urban.org/pdfs/410410_DC-CYIP.pdf

For more info: To find about more about the Trust and its remaining anniversary events taking place in your community, please visit: www.cyitc.org.  To read more testimonies concerning the Trust click here or here.

For more info: Contact Aisha Ali at phenomenals@live.com.