Physical activity programs for underserved youth

Abstract

Underserved youth face enormous barriers in their emotional, social, and intellectual development. One such barrier is the scarcity of developmentally oriented extended day programs. Recent research and professional opinion have stimulated a reconceptualization of the field of youth development as well as the identification of specific guidelines for extended day programs in underserved communities. The Urban Youth Leader Project (UYLP) in Chicago, which has now spread to several other universities, is a specific example of these developments in practice. UYLP sponsors 1) a number of youth programs in Chicago's most underserved communities, 2) service learning and professional preparation programs linked to the community youth programs for interested university students, and 3) applied research. The personal and social responsibility model provides the template for youth programs and for university interns and is the focus of the applied research. Several alternative structures have been created to provide more compatible settings for this work. Although such activities hold promise for incremental change, they do not address the more deeply rooted systemic causes of being underserved.