Chapter 4: Access to Out-of-School Time Programs For Underserved Youth

One of the early points made in the 2002 National Research Council (NRC) report on Community Programs to Promote Youth Development was that young people who are poor and live in high-risk neighborhoods spend a lot of their time out of school in unsafe and unsupervised settings. The authors also stated that the NRC committee was particularly interested in understanding community programs for young people “who had the greatest need coupled with the fewest resources” (Eccles & Gootman, 2002, p. 5). Growing research interest in community-based youth programs at that time seemed to underscore a belief that such programs could support and complement schools and families in the mission to prepare young people for success in the 21st century (see Chapter 2 for the NRC retrospective). Alas, the report also stated that the authors found “very little research specifically about the kinds of programs that would be particularly appropriate for these disadvantaged and underserved youth” (Eccles & Gootman, 2002, p. 5). Indeed, OST programs have had a place in many communities in the United States for decades. Many emerged in response to the needs of immigrants and families with low incomes who needed a safe space for youth to be when parents were at work during nonschool hours (Halpern, 2003). However, at the time of the NRC report, research on this context was just developing steam, particularly regarding the experience of underserved young people. In this chapter, underserved refers to when a group of people are not getting the type or amount of service and support they need. For example, generally speaking, a well-served community/group of youth would have access to appropriate medical health and dental care, good schools, and OST programs. This term would capture the problem of children and adolescents who do not have adequate access to enriching out-of-school time activities because the demand for programs that fits the needs of the youth is more than the available programs. Of course, there are many social, cultural, and economic forces that contribute to the problems of underserved youth in general, and their access to OST programs specifically. Indeed, the position and ideas are presented in full acknowledgment of the structural and institutional forces on adolescent lives and opportunities to thrive. Additionally, youth from diverse backgrounds (i.e., race/ethnicity, gender, urban/rural) are impacted by these forces. In this chapter, with the focus on the impact of family engagement on access, the experience of adolescent boys of color and LGBTQ youth, I highlight issues and two demographic groups that illustrate the value and potential impact of OST program since the NRC was published.