Free Summer Camp Slots Open

What about the 14-19 year old children who are most at risk for being influenced by their peers to be getting into mischief and are vulnerable to pressure to join gangs and have nothing to do this summer? Where are the free or reduced cost programs for the teens? Part of what will reduce the violence in the city and reduce crime in the years to come is to keep young people away from the street life and with responsible adult supervision and give them fun and productive and positive things to do to keep them away from harm.
The city of New Haven and Hamden and East Haven and West Haven should work together in reducing crime but just by the violence shooting task force but also with supervised youth summer programs for 13-19 year olds to teach them useful life skills, trades skills and community public spaces improvements and repairs, and community assistance programs for the seniors and disabled in their neighborhoods and pay them a little money for the hours they spend learning and working in the programs.

I am having a hard time being this program as more than standard day care. It's a good program for parents ho need a break emotionally and financially, for children who need to be with peers, and for the providers who may have suffered financially. But, is there gimp? It cannot be summer camp without gimp. Arts and crafts, hiking, water sports, team sports, etc. Young bodies and minds need to be challenged, and spirits refreshed. (Yes, that's the "Y".) Do these programs have early childhood education teachers to make up for the deficits created by remote learning?

1644, your observations are spot on and this is why we were funded.

Our programs have offered high quality summer camp experiences for many years for families working traditional and non traditional hours. Weekly field trips to the CT Science Center, Mystic Aquarium, Lake Compounce, Bounce Town and CT Sportsplex give children a broad range of experience that engages their minds and bodies. Our partners Creative Arts Workshop, Sportsometry, Eli Whitney Museum and Little Scientist deliver structured classes that do the same. However, as childcare providers, parents have access to care beyond the summer camp, which includes afterschool, overnight and weekend care. Our programs have existed for New Haven families for many years, the difference being that this grant makes them free this year.

Additionally, Heather C. many of our providers hire young people age 14-19 to serve as counselors in training who were previously camp attendees or in partnership with the city's Youth@Work program. The CERCLE Early Childhood Apprenticeship program even offers them a 1 year paid internship along college courses with a guarantee of employment upon completion of the program.

We are truly committed to all of New Haven's children and families, regardless of their age or need.

Hope4NH: But do you have gimp? :)

Hope4NH- " many of our providers hire young people age 14-19 to serve as counselors in training who were previously camp attendees or in partnership with the city's Youth@Work program. The CERCLE Early Childhood Apprenticeship program even offers them a 1 year paid internship along college courses with a guarantee of employment upon completion of the program. "
That is great for teens and young adults who want to work with younger kids, or who you would trust to work with younger kids as a counselor in training. But out of my three brothers only two were volunteers at a local daycare, the third didn't really want have anything to do with kids until he had his own later in life. But he loved building things and figuring out how things worked as a teen. He now has a highly skilled in high demand job as a fine woodworker and cabinet maker. For young people who had to stay home and watch their younger siblings during the shut town and remote learning, the last thing they probably want is more time supervising younger kids. We need summer programs that teach teens and young adults life skills and trade skills to give them opportunities and socializing time with their peers in a positive and constructive settings with responsible adult role models to teach and support them.

"I wish that our country would pay as much to support childcare and teaching as we do celebrity positions in the sports/entertainment fields or the upper levels of financial/corporate fields. Often the work that has been traditionally predominately staffed by women is undervalued and underpaid. But without childcare, parents can't work, and without k-12 education, our children can't be successful adults. Hopefully this pandemic forced lack of childcare and in person schooling will help our businesses and our government and our citizens realize the true value of quality childcare and education and the professionals that we pay to provide those services." Heather C.'s comment on a previous article.

My hope, Heather C., is that this country continue to see the value of the work that our industry does beyond the pandemic and pay us at least as much as a woodmaker.

Hope4NH-agreed!