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Q&A
Council Member Williams questions the effectiveness of the Saturday Night Lights program
3:51:17
·
3 min
Council Member Nantasha M. Williams expresses concerns about the inconsistency and lack of comprehensive structure in the Saturday Night Lights program across different locations. Commissioner Keith Howard responds by mentioning ongoing evaluations and a forthcoming independent assessment of the program.
- Williams highlights disparities in program quality, with some locations offering structured activities while others lack engagement from staff and police.
- Howard acknowledges the concerns and mentions that DYCD staff conduct evaluations of all sites.
- An independent contractor has been hired to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the Saturday Night Lights program, with results expected soon.
Nantasha M. Williams
3:51:17
So I'll just start with Saturday Night Lights.
3:51:22
I understand the intention behind it.
3:51:26
I still maintain this idea that it is not a comprehensive program.
3:51:34
I have two Saturday Night Lights programs in my district, one a little outside of my district and what I have learned because I actually went and spoke to them.
3:51:44
Some people care and they do things that are really cool and creative, they have a structured sort of curriculum and some Saturday night lights programs, the kids are just there like shooting hoops and the cops are like sitting on the side not even really engaged.
3:52:04
Sometimes a cop will engage if they want to but there's no requirement.
3:52:09
I even spoke to the Parks Department about this because I was livid one time that I went and saw the program and I'm like, is such a waste of money, resources, and time and this is not really like helping that young person grow and develop or do anything outside of like being in a gym and throwing basketball hoops by themselves with minimal interaction and engagement from both the Parks Department and the Police Department in the case of the one that's at Roy Wilkins.
3:52:40
Now I've heard that the Jamaica Y 1 is a little bit better, I've heard that there's another one at a school that has a coach that's really engaged but the the issue that I have is not necessarily intention behind Saturday Night Lights but the fact that they're not created equal and it doesn't seem like there is any real oversight from the agency to ensure that the programs, all of the programs are just as effective.
3:53:10
So if you can share like what that oversight looks like, are you sharing best practices or different models that are working in certain settings because you said there are some that have great attendance and seem to be doing really well, but then there's a whole bunch of others that are not doing really good.
Keith Howard
3:53:28
So we're definitely going to We definitely have staff that go out and do perform evaluations of each and every one of the sites.
3:53:38
I believe if it wasn't the previous budgetary hearing, I know it was one of the budgetary hearings in which yourself and chair Stevens mentioned that you would like to see exactly an evaluation of what Saturday night look like from where it was before, where it's at now.
3:53:55
We do have and we have contracted with a contractor to do an independent assessment which we will be completing in the very very near future and we'll read you into exactly what some of the pain points are and some of the improvements that need to happen.
Nantasha M. Williams
3:54:14
Okay.
3:54:15
Looking forward to that report because again I think the intention is really good.
3:54:21
I just would love to see if we're dumping a certain level of resources that we're being really thoughtful about the programming.