When I was growing up in the Dallas area, my mother would “adopt” other children and treat them as her own. She would often be the only positive parental influence in their lives. We treated them like siblings. Her goal was to impart Christian principles, educational standards, life skills and love into their lives. I often view my mother’s life work as a grassroots campaign to save every child she can from the streets and the wrong pathway. There are many individuals like her in the community that make concerted efforts to make an impact one child at a time. The most frustrating reality, however, is the social systems that run contrary to the work of individuals like my mother. Many members of my immediate and extended family are involved in and have been involved in education. We all agree on one thing…there are not enough viable social services and community programs to meet the needs of at-risk youth in the inner city.

Many children in the inner city do not live in dual parent households, live below the poverty level and attend schools that lack adequate resources. Many children in the inner city are forced into the foster care system because of unfavorable living conditions. Many children in the inner city are forced to be their own parents and support their families at a young age. When their circumstances are pointing them in the direction of the streets, what role should the federal government play in prevention? What role should cities play in prevention? What current programs help to keep children off the streets by providing programs and alternatives? What current programs are missing the mark? I want to address two categories of social services and programs:

The leaders: These are national programs that have a proven history of working hard to prevent children from getting involved in the streets

1. Boys and Girls Clubs of America-They are an example of what happens when you seek to provide services and programs to inner-city youth and use the youth as service providers. The impact of this organization is far reaching. I worked for a local club in college and realized on a large scale how important these clubs are to the inner city. The organization has over 4,000 autonomous local clubs. They primarily service youth between the ages of 6 and 18. There are nearly 47,000 professional staff members that help to service approximately 4.6 million children in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. A large majority of the clubs are strategically located in the inner city. In my opinion, they are the best program for inner city youth.

2. Big Brothers, Big Sisters- Studies have shown that positive mentoring can prevent inner-city youth from being involved in the streets. This program is the example and pattern of an effective mentoring model. They serve approximately 200,000 youth in 5,000 communities in all 50 states. Their goal is to reach one million.

The Meltdowns: National programs that are missing the mark or dysfunctional.

1. The Administration for Children and Families(ACF)- Often times when dealing with governmental agencies, it is hard to find out who is at the top. The foster care system in America is dysfunctional. You cannot even trust the national statistical data on foster care because the agency responsible for gathering it (The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System-AFCARS), is a subsidiary of ACF. This agency is the parent agency that oversees foster care programs on the national level. Group homes often hurt the children more than help them and the “red tape” that prevents deserving foster parents from getting children is ridiculous. Once foster parents do get an opportunity to house children, there are not adequate resources for them.

2. D.A.R.E.- I know many people will not like what I am about to say, but this program has become more of a t-shirt than a deterrent. In the beginning D.A.R.E. was effective, but that was also the 80s. Here we are 20 years later and they are still functioning in the same manner. D.A.R.E. needs to take a more aggressive approach to fighting drugs in the inner city, in my opinion, by providing more programs in the inner city community centers and schools. D.A.R.E. needs to be more than a t-shirt and a guest speaker, it needs to provide counseling, rehabilitation, and more community involvement. They need to go into the neighborhoods and partner with churches, community centers and housing units to reach the most at-risk youth. They have a good mission and have done a lot of good in the community, but I would like to see them expand the program to the next level.

3. The Churches- Churches need to quit preaching prosperity, pastors need to quit trying to live like rappers and athletes and they need to begin preaching the original Christian message of salvation. Why aren’t they taking a more proactive approach in saving children from the streets? 50% of churches are simply businesses now masked under the umbrella of Christianity (this will be another blog entry). What is more disappointing is they often see the most at-risk youth on a weekly basis by way of their families going to church. They have ongoing access to the children and their respect, but fall short of utilizing that positioning in the community. There are some churches that are doing it right though. I applaud the churches that have taken a proactive approach by opening their own schools, providing counseling, and utilizing Biblical principles and teachings as a means of deterring children from the streets. Churches as a whole need to and should be leading the fight because they are located in the communities where the problems originate.

There needs to be more aggressive programs in the community to prevent children from getting involved in the streets. There needs to be less politics in governmental social services.