YFMP PHASE I SEPTEMBER 2009 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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(YFMP) started with an assumption that the childhood obesity epidemic and relatively large gang presence in the city were two major issues facing the youth and families of Santa Ana. In Santa Ana, community members ranked the lack of safe play areas, teenage recreation, and parks as the three top concerns facing the community in a recent resident study (SAEC, 2003). At the same time, the academic literature has highlighted the linkages between after - school programs and crime prevention (Vigil, 2009). Furthermore, in April 2008, the Early Prevention & Intervention Commission published a Progress Report to Santa Ana City Council with key interim recommendations of how to make the community "A safe, healthy and connected community, empowering its youth and families with trust and dignity to achieve success (EPIC, 2008). "As a result, the focus of Phase I became an analysis of youth serving organizations, programs and recreation opportunities throughout the city of Santa Ana. More recently, youth after - school programs have been targeted by public health efforts to increase physical activity and combat childhood obesity (CDC, 2005). This does not mean that other issues such as education, mental health, general health, arts and music programs are not important interventions to support youth and family wellness. Rather, the focus on recreation is a good starting point to an inquiry that can eventually examine all youth and family programming offered in the city. The goal of this assessment was to identify and analyze the resources and programs available to Santa Ana youth and their families. In particular, Phase I focused on an examination of what programs support a healthy and safe environment for youth. Research and analysis was conducted by Ersoylu Consulting, in collaboration with PRCSA staff, beginning in August 2008. Community partners and key city agencies were identified early on to provide insights, data and information. Santa Ana understands that, in order to create sustainable, strong communities, there must be healthy and secure places to recreate readily available to all areas of the community. The YFMP echoes larger scale initiatives on the national and global front, such as the California Endowment's Healthy Community Initiative, and it establishes a much - needed framework to guide local policies toward creating a healthier community for the future (Schmidt et al., 2006). The process of examining youth physical activity programming and resources is timely because it ties into a larger -scale endeavor underway in Santa Ana- a 10 -year Healthy Communities Initiative. In January 2009, the California Endowment chose Santa Ana to be 1 of the 14 sites for a Healthy Communities Initiative where a 10 -year multi - million dollar investment will be made to impact 10 key health outcomes. As a part of this, the initiative, headed by Orange County Human Relations, was presented to the Santa Ana City Council on April 20, 2009 and is underway as of June 1, 2009. It is our hope that the findings of this assessment can be used during the baseline planning phase of the initiative, serving as a baseline for understanding the current situation in Santa Ana. Santa Ana demographics The City of Santa Ana is a complex and nearly entirely developed city at the heart of Orange County. According to US Census Bureau, 14.1% of Santa Ana families are living below the poverty line. Of residents over the age of 25, 49.5% have a high school education or higher and 11 % have completed a Bachelors degree or higher.3 Currently, 83.4% of people (over age five) living in Santa Ana speak a language other than English in the home; of those, only 48.3 report speaking English "very well " .4 Santa Ana has a vibrant immigrant community that is home to many undocumented families. Research from the Public Policy Institute of California (2004) highlights the difficulty in providing municipal services, such as planning and programming, to immigrant communities. This demographic mix often makes 3 US Census, 2005 -2007 American Community Survey. 4 US Census, 2005 -2007 American Community Survey.