Filling the Gaps in Older Youth Programming
Amy Villanueva, 17, believes in the potential of youth like her in Baltimore and she knows that with the right support they would thrive. But she didn’t have to look farther than her own neighborhood to see the uneven distribution of opportunities for youth in Baltimore. This is, in part, what drove her to apply for a spot in the second cohort of the Youth Grantmakers.
Together, she and nine peers created A Promise II BMORE: BMORE on Purpose, a request for proposals to help fill existing gaps in workforce development programming for older youth and support small organizations already working to make change in our city.
But how did they get to that focus area? They used their personal experience to determine their grant priorities and data compiled by Baltimore’s Promise to drive their decision making.
A Comprehensive Data Landscape
The Baltimore City Youth Opportunities Landscape, the most comprehensive inventory of programs and services available to young people ages 0-24 across our city. This effort serves as a valuable resource, highlighting areas where the city can enhance and expand its efforts to better support the youth.
In 2021, we released the first Opportunities Landscape. One of our main findings from that report was the lack of older youth programming. At the time, for every four programming opportunities for elementary-aged children, there was only one for our older youth!
This data catalyzed intentional action. Baltimore’s Promise set an important goal—use our platform to address this gap. As a result, we have been able to see significant, positive shifts reflected in our recently released 2023 report. (More on this below.)
In fact, there are many ways that individuals and organizations can use this data to meet their own goals.
Through our public report and interactive dashboard:
Parents, caregivers, and young people can explore nearby programs.
Youth-serving organizations can update or add data to their listings, or use it to consider expansion to underserved areas.
Advocates can use the data as they work to fill gaps in available opportunities.
And policymakers can better understand specific needs, by neighborhood, age group, and focus area.
In other words, the Opportunities Landscape is a tool for everyone, and the data it highlights demands action.
Change in Action: Strengthening Older Youth Programming
In response to our first Opportunities Landscape report—and our data-driven advocacy—an investment from Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, as well as commitments from other funders, led to an 82% increase in Summer Funding Collaborative funding granted for programs serving youth aged 14-24 compared to the previous year.
A program priority was also placed on supporting grassroots organizations and organizations with leaders of color, who are historically underrepresented in funding but are often most connected to the communities they serve.
We also launched the Youth Grantmakers initiative, creating year-round opportunities both in the program itself and through the grants they award, and giving the very young people in need of programming, such as Amy and her YG peers, a tool with which to enact change.
In part due to these Baltimore’s Promise initiatives, the opportunity gap has decreased significantly, shown in the 2023 report to be down to 2.3 times the number of opportunities for elementary school-aged children than for those aged 19-24.
But there is still room for improvement.
In addition to the gap in number of opportunities, programming for older youth remains largely focused on the summer months: Of the 765 program sites serving older youth identified for the 2023 report, 94% of sites and 70% of opportunities occurred during the summer.
Our recommendation moving forward? Prioritize funding for year-round programming for older youth.
To learn more about youth opportunities in Baltimore, visit bcyol2023.org. It will take a broad set of stakeholders—including youth, like Amy, who understand what opportunities are missing—to ensure all young people in Baltimore have the opportunities they need to be who they want to be.
If you want to connect with the Baltimore’s Promise team, or consider how to replicate similar approaches in places outside of Baltimore, reach out at info@baltimorespromise.org.