NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Parents and students seeking active ways to enjoy the long, hot summer can find a number of options online in the Directory of Out-of-School Activities.
Compiled by the Child and Family Policy Center at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Public Policy Studies, the directory is available at www.vucsdirectory.org. Links to the directory can also be found on the websites for the Davidson County Metro Council and the Mayor’s Office of Children and Youth.
The directory lists more than 200 programs geared toward children and youth, including free activities and those that require fees. It is the first comprehensive directory of before school, after school and summer programs available for young people and their families.
“Participation in these programs can have a
much larger impact than just keeping children and youth occupied. National data shows that young people who spend one to four hours per week in extracurricular activites have higher self-esteem, better grades and social skills, and they are less likely to use drugs and to become teen parents,” said Debbie L. Miller, director of the Child and Family Policy Center at Vanderbilt.
Child and Family Policy Center staff surveyed existing children and youth programs, collected and reviewed local publications targeting children, youth and families, researched organizations’ websites and made calls and site visits to social service agencies to compile the directory’s information.
A printed directory was distributed to every student in Metro Nashville Public Schools at the beginning of the 2002-2003 school year.
The directory is part of the larger Metro Out-of-School Time Initiative – an effort designed to take a comprehensive look at Nashville’s resources for young people.
In summer 2002, with a grant from the Metro Council, the Child and Family Policy Center began work on the initiative, supporting the efforts of a task force including Metro Council members, area youth and about 50 social service agency representatives. The group expects the first phase of the initiative – researching national best practices for out-of-school programming and seeking input from area children, youth and families – to be completed by the end of June.
Media contact: Princine Lewis, 615-322-NEWS, princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu