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Pasted below is an "As The Expert" exchange titled: "Innovative Finance and Increasing Funding for Parks".
The source is "The Urban Parks Institute" at "Project for Public Spaces, Inc.", a four year old organization which appears be particularly keen to feed at the LWCF trough and to leverage public funding using private partnerships. Their stated purpose is to revitalize urban parks for underprivileged children.
In the question which follows, a reader asks --- how can a poor child enjoy pay-to-use public recreation facilities without being excluded or feeling stigmatized.
The answer provided by the expert is, I suggest, particularly DISGUSTING --- YET, it is the same answer the American Recreation Coalition and the USFS has developed to respond to the analogous situation created by the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program.
It is entirely inappropriate to suggest that a 13 year old girl should be required to "clean windows, floors, empty trash, stuff envelops, pull weeds" etc. if she wants to play in a public playground without paying --
--- not when rich kids won't be required to do these same things for their access. Recreation user fees are EXCLUSIONARY and DISCRIMINATORY and there is no know mechanism to make these fees work without stigmatization of the affected, low-income, populations.
Unfortunately, I don't expect our "compassionate" President or his "free-market"-advocating Interior Secretary, Ms. Norton, to agree with this assessment. I expect they will propose a "solution" similar to the one you are about to read.
Scott
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October 1 - 16, 1998
Ask The Expert
Innovative Finance and Increasing Funding for Parks
with Leon Younger
President, Leon Younger & PROS
Indianapolis, Indiana
Innovative Finance and Increasing Funding for Parks Leon, An article in
yesterday's New York Times talked about a 13-year-old girl in Dixon,
Illinois, whose family doesn't have much money, a fact which is
unfortunately too evident to her peers since she lives in a trailor and
can't afford to buy "the latest" of anything. The reporter describes
how the school she attends now requires fees for activities such as
sports or playing in the band and continues: "It costs $45 to play in
the youth summer soccer league. It takes money to go skating on
weekends at the White Pines roller rink, to play laser tag or
rock-climb at the Plum Hollow Recreation Center...." Key points in the
article are that "To be without money, in so many ways, is to be left
out" and to have to struggle to hold on to one's self-esteem. So if
this girl, already facing many challenges, and definitely within the
category of the 20% who can't pay full fare, does want to play laser
tag or some other sport at a rec center or in a park, how would you
make it as apparent as possible to her that she could come to an Indy
Park, for example, and pay only an amount at the bottom of a sliding
scale-- and how low does the scale go, by the way? How can you protect
her from stigma when she actually shows up at the door? Does she need
to prove she doesn't have spare money? Is there a gatekeeper who does
this sensitively? - Urban Parks online
15 Oct 1998 10:18 AM
Thank you for your question on the 13 year old girl in Dixon, Illinois
whose family doesn't have much money to participate in a parks program.
The question is "How would you make it as apparent as possible to her
that she could come to a park program and pay only an amount at the
bottom of a sliding scale program?" and "How can you protect her from
the stigma when she actually shows up at the door?" First of all, the
key to an effective sliding scale program for disadvantaged youth is to
inform people in the community who work with her and others in the same
situation that a program exists and work through their methods of
enrollment by honoring their existing aid program process and
incorporating it into yours. An example, the schools know in their
system who doesn't have the money to pay for all the extras that
schools require today.
The parks system needs to be in constant communication with school
representatives on those individuals that they take care of, that the
park system can provide like kinds of services. Other methods to use is
to honor the food stamp receptionist designation credentials program,
welfare credentials program and to provide one-on-one recreation and
park counseling sessions with youth and parents in a private
environment. The way you advertise this program is by information
boards in the lobbies of recreation facilities, program guides and
flyers, in churches and in schools. In addition, public agencies that
serve these folks need to be aware of the program and be trained on how
to access the program.
In addition, at Indy Parks we had a work-reation program that youth
could sign up which allowed them to earn free program access for
volunteer work they provided at the recreation center, pool or program
in their area. The volunteer jobs included helping clean windows,
floors, empty trash, stuff envelops, pull weeds, serve as a coaches
aide by picking up equipment and putting equipment away, keeping score
at games etc., that keep them involved but provides a needed service
and at the same time they earn their way in a positive way as well.
The sliding scale program should mirror your local YMCA or your local
counseling center program on income levels and ability to pay. Again
this should be done through recreation counseling in a one-on-one
session versus in public session.
19 Oct 1998 02:41 PM
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For more Words of Wisdom on similar topics by Leon Younger
see - http://urbanparks.pps.org/askexpert/one-forum?forum_id=3
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