B Y VA L E R I E S M I T H F E B R U A RY 1 3 , 2 0 1 4

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C L E M S O N U N I V E R S I T Y

Community Youth Development

Plan for Hartsville, SC

H a r t s v i l l e , S o u t h C a r o l i n a i s t h e l a r g e s t c i t y i n D a r l i n g t o n C o u n t y, l o c a t e d h a l f w a y b e t w e e n t h e

C h a r l o t t e , N C a n d M y r t l e B e a c h .

H a r t s v i l l e c a l l s i t s e l f “ a s m a l l t o w n w i t h a b i g h e a r t ” a n d h a s g o n e a b o u t p r o v i n g i t b y s u c c e s s f u l l y

i m p l e m e n t i n g a v a r i e t y o f e d u c a t i o n a l a n d c o m m u n i t y - b a s e d p r o g r a m s . B u t t h e q u e s t i o n

r e m a i n s :

W h e r e d o w e g o f r o m h e r e ?

Hartsville, SC

46.3%

.08%

51%

1.5%

African American Asian

Caucasian Hispanic

Median Household Income : $38,780

(State median income: $44,623)

Poverty: 21.2% (State poverty rate: 17.6%)

Unemployment Rate

(Darlington County): 10.1% (State unemployment rate: 9.1%)

Top Job Fields:

-Social Assistance (including education & health care) 31.9%

-Manufacturing 16% -Retail Trade: 13.8%

Single Parent Households (Darlington County): 44.4% (State % of Single-Parent

Households: 35.8%)

Hartsville, SC by the Numbers

Sources: KidsCount Data Center (2012). US Census Bureau (2008-2012).

Strengths

collaboration between agencies

churches

diverse opportunities

potential

public school system

opportunities for higher education

small business partners

accessibility of programs for city residents

Interviews with representatives from local youth-serving organizations, new and long-time residents, and youth ages 11-19 revealed the following strengths in the Hartsville community. The areas with a larger proportion shaded indicate that the response was given more frequently than the other areas. According to this graphic, the area most frequently noted by interviewees as a strength in the community was the public education system.

Personal communications (January-February 2014) : Harris, A.; Hodge, E.; McPherson, D.; King, T.; Montgomery, D.; Miller, C.; Samuel, H.; Woods, K.; Xu, L.

•  Darlington County School District (DCSD) is currently ranked number 6 in the state for academic achievement and number 1 for high school graduation rate (Darlington County School District, 2014).

•  80% of Hartsville residents have at least a high school diploma (Chuck Miller, personal communication, January 17,2014)

•  DCSD has the 4th lowest dropout rate in the state (Darlington County School District, 2014)

•  Hartsville is home to the SC Governor’s School for Science and Math.

•  Hartsville High School offers International Baccalaureate (IB) track to help its students be more competitive after graduation.

•  Coker College is located in downtown Hartsville. DCSD schools and staff often partner with Coker College students and staff to provide opportunities for services learning, enrichment, and support activities for both entities.

•  Darlington County Education Foundation and the Byerly Foundation play an important part in funding of educational programs and projects for the district, schools, and teachers

•  The PULSE/Comer project is a collaboration between DCSD, The Governor’s School, Sonoco Products, and Coker College. As a result, Sonoco has awarded $5 million dollars in grant money for the four Hartsville schools with the highest proportion of children in poverty (Coker College, 2012).

Hartsville’s Strength: Education

Weaknesses

parent involvement

transportation

finances

family values

morals

poverty

crime

unequal distribution of resources

lack of activities for teens

Interviews with representatives from local youth-serving organizations, new and long-time residents, and youth ages 11-19 revealed the following s weaknesses in the Hartsville community. The areas with a larger proportion shaded indicate that the response was given more frequently than the other areas. According to this graphic, the area most frequently noted by interviewees as a strength in the community was poverty.

Personal communications (January-February 2014) : Harris, A.; Hodge, E.; McPherson, D.; King, T.; Montgomery, D.; Miller, C.; Samuel, H.; Woods, K.; Xu, L.

•  One in 5 of all Hartsville residents live below the poverty line.

•  One in 10 adults in Hartsville is unemployed. •  Four out of the 6 elementary schools in Hartsville receive Title I funding.

•  Many families cannot afford the registration fees and/or monthly programming fees necessary

to be able to participate in youth organizations, sports, and enrichment activities.

•  Many residents are not able to participate in programs because of lack of transportation due to work schedules, lack of public transportation, and/or not having a reliable vehicle.

•  While there are a variety of positive youth development programs in the city of Hartsville, most are located outside of the boundaries of the most impoverished neighborhoods.

Hartsville’s Weakness: Poverty

US Census Bureau (2008-2012).

Our v is ion i s to p rov ide a l l you th in the Har tsv i l l e communi ty w i th

e q u a l acc ess to qua l i t y you th deve lopment p rograms .

Vision

No great project can be undertaken without the collaboration and support of individuals who are willing to come together and work for the common good. The stakeholders were selected based on the diversity of the populations they serve, their reputation in the community, and the variety of services they offer. In addition to the organizational representatives listed on the next slide, it is also imperative that youth and adults who are representative of the population are given the opportunity to share their voice about the development of their community. The stakeholders should act as facilitators and support systems for helping the community reach the goals stated on the following slides.

About the Stakeholders

Stakeholders

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Age

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Teen

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Pove

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Cha

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Spor

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Life

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Cou

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Beh

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Fam

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4-H x x x x

Adult Education x x

Boys and Girls Club x x x

Byerly Foundation x x

Carolina Kids x x x

Chamber of Commerce x x

COMER/PULSE x x x x x x x

DJJ x x x x x x x

Darlington County School District

x x x x x x x

First Steps x x x x x x

Kelleytown Baptist Church

x x x x

Rubicon x x x x x x

YMCA x x x x

Goal 1: Community Coalition

Because collaboration between a diverse body of organizations was mentioned as a strength by several of the interviewees, the Hartsville area should build on this strength by creating a community coalition for youth development. A community coalition on youth development would be beneficial in many ways: 1.  Allowing agencies the opportunity to communicate and collaborate to share

facilities, funding, and other pertinent services and resources. 2.  Avoiding duplication of services and competition for funds 3.  Training opportunities for members and volunteers on a larger scale 4.  Improving program implementation

GOAL #1: DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMMUNITY COALITION Intended outcome: Further enhance communication and collaboration between youth-serving agencies. Action Step 1: Identify organizations and other key stakeholders to be members of the coalition, with a goal of involving 100% of youth serving organizations in the community. Action Step 2: Identify interested adult and youth members of the community, with a goal of recruiting at least 4 adult and 4 youth members representative of the community demographics. Action Step 3: Set and publicize a meeting schedule, with a goal of meeting at least once per month at the centrally-located Hartsville Public Library. Action Step 4: Publicize the coalition’s meetings and projects via newspapers and social media networks, aiming to increase social media “likes” and followers by at least 20% per month.

Area of Emphasis: Community Coalition

Goal 2: Mapping the organizations

A community-based youth program out of Minneapolis, MN called the Youth Action Crew (YAC) should be the model for the development of comprehensive map of the organizations and facilities in Hartsville which have positive youth development programs. The YAC program is described as “a youth-led research, mapping, marketing and community development project in which teams or crews of young people and the adults who support them canvas their neighborhood and interview community members, create a map of youth-friendly places, and distribute the map to parents and youth in order to promote youth participation in out-of-school time activities” (Walker 2011, p.3). The goals of this project as identified by researchers are 1) increase awareness of services and opportunities, 2) create and disseminate marketing information about youth-friendly spaces, and 3) mobilize communities to promote youth-friendly programs and places (p. 6). An additional intended outcome of using the YAC model is that the seal should serve as a sign of prestige for the quality of services offered and therefore not only increase the outreach of these programs, but also to encourage the organizations to meet the standards to be recognized for the services they provide.

GOAL #2: CREATE A MAP OF YOUTH SERVING ORGANIZATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY Intended outcome: To extend the outreach of positive youth development programs in the Hartsville community. Action Step 1: Assemble a team of youth and adults who will serve as members of an interview team, evaluate and identify positive youth development programs, and create and distribute maps and logos for these organizations Action Step 2: Create a checklist of the qualities of youth-friendly programs, organizations, and facilities. Action Step 3: Interview all youth-serving organizations in the Hartsville community within 3 months of developing the criterion and identify those that meet the standards of “youth friendly” programs and facilities. Action step 4: Create a comprehensive map that shows the location of these programs and distribute it to the community via news media and social media networks. Action step 5: Create and distribute logos identifying youth friendly-organizations to be displayed in a prominent location for each facility. Action Step 6: Post maps at key locations in the community.

Area of Emphasis: Map of youth serving organizations

Goal #3: Accessibility for city residents

Accessibility to downtown locations should be improved to encourage city residents and visitors to walk or bike through town because

�  According a 2010 report by SC DHEC, 40.4% of Darlington County residents are obese and �  75.7% of Darlington County residents are not meeting the recommendations for physical

activity (p.1). �  The city of Hartsville is small, just over 5 square miles �  Hartsville is home to six parks, five of which are located in the downtown area, �  the majority of youth-serving organizations’ physical locations are all on one downtown

street (Carolina Ave), �  There are 5 schools within one mile of each other, also located on or adjacent to Carolina

Ave. Very few walkers or bikers are seen in the downtown Hartsville area. This is most likely due to the limited accessibility of bike paths and sidewalks. In addition to providing access to community events and youth development programs, encouraging residents to walk or bike to these locations would increase their physical activity, while at the same time being an environmentally friendly means of locomotion.

GOAL #3: INCREASE CITY RESIDENTS’ ACCESSIBILITY TO COMMUNITY EVENTS AND POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS BY IMPROVING AND INCREASING THE NUMBER OF SIDEWALKS AND BIKE PATHS WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS Intended outcome: To allow easier access to organizations and facilities to those who live within the city limits while at the same time increasing physical activity of residents. Action step 1: Identify areas where sidewalks and/or bike paths are needed, and fix areas in which established paths need repairs. Action step 2: Install bike racks along the bike paths and in front of all youth program facilities. Action step 3: Install covered benches along the sidewalks at half-mile intervals so that pedestrians will have rest areas or shelter from inclement weather. Action step 4: Initiate an incentive program to reward residents for walking to and from programs. Action step 5: Collaborate with the city police to increase patrols between the hours of 4 and 9 PM along these paths.

Area of Emphasis: Improve accessibility

for city residents

Goal #4: Transportation for county residents

Hartsville residents who live outside the city limits often have difficulty participating in youth programs because their families cannot provide transportation to the downtown area. Once again, we can look toward the YAC program for a possible solution. Based on their suggestions to local government agencies, they were able to secure a bus that would provide free transportation so that youth could attend local events, libraries, and after-school programs between the hours of 4 and 9 P.M. using a bus pass (Walker 2011). Because Hartsville has a large percentage of residents who live outside the city limits, a series of bus stops should be designated to pick up youth at locations outside the city limits and take them in to town so that they can participate in the programs offered in the community. In order to promote the safety of youth the following guidelines should be adhered to 1.  Bus passes will only be issued to residents between the ages of 12 and 18. 2.  Anyone who does not have a bus pass will not be allowed to board the bus. 3.  Passes will have a bar code that can be scanned to document the time and location of

pick-up and drop-off for all passengers. 4.  Parents will have access to pick-up/drop-off times via text message and/or e-mail. 5.  Buses will only pick-up/drop-off at pre-designated locations.

GOAL #4: INCREASE THE ACCESSIBILITY OF YOUTH PROGRAMS TO THOSE WHO LIVE OUTSIDE OF THE CITY LIMITS. Intended outcome: Increase non-city residents’ access to youth serving programs. Action step 1:Apply for grant funding through sources such as the Byerly Foundation and the Darlington County Education Foundation help cover the cost of providing transportation for youth who live outside of the city limits. Youth agencies may also look in to pooling funds to help with the funding of this project. Action Step 2: Identify possible bus stops where those who live outside of the city limits could be picked up, focusing on the Pine Ridge and North Hartsville communities, Center Road, and Old Camden Road. Action step 3: Plan the drop off points in town and create a bus schedule for hourly pick-up and drop-off. Action step 4: Develop a bus pass for youth, including a bar code system for tracking pick-up and drop-off of all passengers. Action Step 5: Evaluate the impact of the youth bus system by tracking the number of passengers and attendance in youth programs.

Area of Emphasis: Transportation for county residents

Goal #5: Developing South Side of Town

The area on the south end of town, from Washington Street to highway 151, is the area in most need of positive youth development. It is the poorest section of town with the lowest property values and the highest concentrated crime rate in town, the majority of which is property crime (Hartsville Crime Statistics, 2014). The south side is characterized by housing projects, abandoned buildings and vacant lots. While the programs located in the downtown area are within walking distance of this neighborhood, the neighborhood crime rate has deterred residents from traveling on foot after dark and from agencies bringing these programs into the south end community. On the plus side, the south side of Hartsville does include two parks, a HeadStart program, three elementary schools, a tutoring program, and a Boys and Girls Club. Unfortunately, all of these programs are geared toward the interests and needs of children under the age of 10. While programs like the Boys and Girls Club admit older members, attendance for that age group is low (Diane Montgomery, personal communication, January 2014).

GOAL #5: INCREASE YOUTH OUTREACH IN THE SOUTH SIDE OF HARTSVILLE Intended outcome: Increase access to positive youth development programs and facilities for residents who live on the south side of Hartsville. Action step 1: Assess community members’ interests and needs, as well as the assets of this particular neighborhood, to help guide the development of programs on the south side of town. This assessment should include the opinions of both youth and adults from this neighborhood. Action step 2: Evaluate the availability of facilities to house programs, such as the community church or neighborhood schools. Action step 3: Based on the information gathered through surveying and interviewing members of the neighborhood, develop or improve upon at least one program that would best serve youth ages 11-18 in the neighborhood. Action step 4: Implement programs in the community and aim to increase outreach by at least 10% per year. Action Step 5: Youth representatives from the south side of the community should attend and speak at one City Council meeting and/or Downtown Development meeting quarterlyto make sure that the needs of their neighborhood are being heard and met.

Area of Emphasis: Develop the south side

of the city

Goal #6: Child sponsorship

In order to help youth and their families access programs financially, a sponsorship program should be put in place. After youth meet certain pre-specified factors, the vouchers could be used for 1.  Registration fees for youth participating in organizations, clubs, educational activities

(i.e. field trips), and sports for which the organizations do not currently have a system in place for covering or waiving these costs.

2.  Required equipment or materials not provided by the organization. Additionally, �  Sponsors would have the option of choosing the person(s) they would like to sponsor by

looking at the youth’s profile, within guidelines of confidentiality for the child and family. �  Youth could be sponsored by an individual, group, or organization. �  Upon receipt of sponsorship or completion of the program/activity, the youth will be required

to write a thank-you note/statement of impact to the sponsor. (The sponsor’s personal information will be kept confidential as well.)

GOAL: CREATE A DONATION-FUNDED STUDENT VOUCHER PROGRAM FOR LOW-INCOME AND IMPOVERISHED YOUTH. Intended outcome: Increase access to youth-serving programs for youth living below the poverty line. Action Step 1: Develop the criteria by which students will qualify for sponsorship, including but not limited to financial need, teacher recommendation, and a student or family member’s statement of perceived need and potential personal impact. Action Step 2: Develop a database by which sponsors could select a child based on the students’ intended program/activity, age, race, profile, amount requested etc. Action Step 3: Solicit donations and a have a minimum of 50% of the youths’ requests fulfilled in the first year, and increasing by 20% each subsequent year. Action Step 4: Ensure that 100% of the youth sponsored will write a thank you note/statement of impact to their sponsors.

Area of Emphasis: Program Vouchers

In order to provide all youth residents of Hartsville with equal access to positive programs, the issues of financial and logistical access must be addressed. Some suggested ways of doing so include 1.  having a unified team of youth workers who are dedicated to working toward the common

goals of positive youth development; 2.  mapping locations of youth programs in order to increase overall community awareness and

participation in them; 3.  improving the accessibility of programs via improved walkways and bike paths for downtown

residents; 4.  providing a “youth bus” to transport county residents to and from programs; 5.  increasing the number and quality of programs to residents in the most impoverished

neighborhood in town; and 6.  providing financial sponsorship toward programs and activities for all qualifying Hartsville

youth.

By making a dedicated, community-wide effort to increase the access for all youth to be actively-engaged participants in their community through quality programming we are setting the stage not only for better youth, but also for a better Hartsville.

Conclusion

References

Coker College. PULSE: A New Scholastic Excellence Program for Hartsville. (2012). Retrieved from https://coker.edu/pulse-deloach.html Darlington County School District. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.darlington.k12.sc.us Hartsville Crime Statistics: South Carolina (SC) - CityRating.com. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.cityrating.com/crime-statistics/south carolina/hartsville.html#.UvgZzumPIeE KIDS COUNT Data Center from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2012). Retrieved from http://datacenter.kidscount.org/ S.C. DHEC: Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity: Data & Statistics. (2010). Retrieved from https://www.scdhec.gov/health/chcdp/obesity/data.htm U.S. Census Bureau. (2008-2012). Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/45/4532560.html Walker, K. (2011). The Youth Action Crew Project: A Retrospective Case Study. Retrieved from http://www.lindbohanon.org/Neighborhood.nsf/GetResource/ PDF_LBNA_LBNA+NewsLetter/$file/YACEvaluationReport.final.pdf

A-B C-D

Adult Education of Darlington County 437 W Carolina Ave Hartsville SC 843-398-5210 Contact: Chuck Miller, Director Boys and Girls Club of Hartsville 1102 S 6th St, #A Hartsville SC 29550 843-332-1400 http://www.bgcpda.org Contact: Diane Montgomery, Director Boy Scouts (Pack 523) St. Luke Methodist Church 302 Dunlap Dr. Hartsville SC 29550 http://pack523.net Contact: Jeff Jordan, Cubmaster Byerly Foundation http://bylerlyfoundation.com Contact: Richard Puffer (Grant submissions) Black Creek Arts Council 116 W College Ave Hartsville SC 29550 843-332-6243 http://www.blackcreekarts.org Contact: Jessie Avant Smith, president

Carolina Kids, LLC 513 W Carolina Ave Hartsville SC 29550 http://www.daphnescarolinakids.org 843-639-7239 Contact: Andrea Pulling Darlington County Clemson Extension Office 4-H Programs 300 Russell Ave Darlington SC 29532 http://www.clemson.edu/extension/county/darlington/programs/4h/ Contact: Alma Harris, County Agent Darlington County Education Foundation http://www.thedcef.org Darlington County School District 120 E Smith Ave Darlington, SC 29532 http://www.darlington.k12.sc.us Contact: Dr. Eddie Ingram, Superintendent; Audrey Childers, Public Relations

Contact Information

D-F F-P

Department of Juvenile Justice 302 Russell Street Darlington, SC 29532 843-393-5641 http://www.state.sc.us/djj/counties/darlington.php Contact: Lynn Gehrke Durant Children’s Center 416 W Carolina Ave Hartsville SC 29550 843-0240 Elohim Outreach Center 219 S 6th St Hartsville SC 29550 843-332-5626 First Steps of Darlington County 552 W Carolina Ave Hartsville SC 29550 http://www.scfirststeps.org/ Contact: Darnell McPherson

Free Medical Clinic of Hartsville 500 W Carolina Ave Hartsville SC 29550 843-332-0422 Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce 214 N 5th St Hartsville SC 29550 843-332-6401 http://hartsvillechamber.org Contact: Aimee Cox (President) Kelleytown Baptist Church 2609 Kelleytown Rd Hartsville SC 29550 http://kelleytownbc.com Contact: Daniel Henderson (Youth Pastor) Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault 460 W Carolina Ave Hartsville SC 29550

Contact Information, Continued

P-Z

Pee Dee Mental Health 900 S 4th St. Hartsville SC 29550 843-332-4141 Contact: Melissa Campbell, Director Rubicon Family Counseling Services 510 E Carolina Ave Hartsville SC 29550 http://www.rubiconsc.org Contact: Robin Miles T.B. Thomas Sports Center 701 W Washington St Hartsville SC 29550 http://www.scpra.org/redesign/index.php?view=venueevents&id=6%3Acoach-tb-thomas-sports-center&option=com_eventlist&Itemid=43 YMCA of Hartsville 111 E Carolina Ave Hartsville SC 29550 843-383-4547 http://www.upperpdymca.org/locations/hartsville/ Contact: Lee Freeman (Teen Center)

Contact Information, Continued