Highlighting America’s 100 Best Communities for Young People
The 100 Best Communities for Young People competition honors outstanding efforts on behalf of young people by multiple sectors of communities. In cities, suburbs, small towns and counties across the country, this annual competition is leading communities to assess their efforts, work more effectively together for young people, and share best practices. Each week one of the 2007 100 Best Communities will be highlighted in the America’s Promise Bulletin and on our web site.
Greater Midland, Michigan
By Christopher Epps
Located in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan, Midland is home to the international headquarters of the Dow Chemical Company, founded in 1897 in Midland. A city that also produced Earl Warrick, the inventor of the pliable, bouncing childhood staple known as Silly Putty, this community is very kid-centric. Back in the early 1940s, Warrick set the tone for this central Michigan community, and it's been fun and games for all ever since.
Making sure its children stay active and have plenty of opportunity for play—what sociologists call “the work of childhood”—Greater Midland provides them with multiple sports fields, nearly 3,000 acres of parks, biking trails, pools and a 15,000 square-foot skate park. Trilogy Skate Park, conceived by the city government to keep skate boarders safe and off city streets, was designed in part by area teens.
Educational excellence is a top priority in the Midland community, evident in the Midland County Circuit Court-Family Division effort to encourage students to stay in school and out of trouble. Since 2001, the court has authorized a school official at every county public school to address school attendance problems before they come to the court’s attention. Following a Truancy Protocol, when attendance becomes an issue, the school’s truancy officer meets with the student and his/her parents to sign an attendance contract. If truancy continues, court services become involved—the student and family are given additional expectations regarding school attendance, and are informed that additional absences will result in a court petition.
If problems continue, the court can refer the student and family to counseling or other services, modify the student’s educational setting, implement a curfew, and/or require that the student maintain a certain GPA and attendance rate. Results of this collaborative effort between schools and the courts have been dramatic—an almost 40 percent decline in truancy petitions and a 50 percent drop in juvenile crime since 1998.
The Greater Midland area credits its Health and Human Services Council with being a critical collaborative force working to improve the lives of its children. The council evolved from informal relationships between staff of local agencies who discussed common problems and concerns. Via surveys and data collection, this agency studies homelessness, poverty, behavioral risk factors and youth needs, allocating state and federal funding where it’s needed most.
Other initiatives of this great town that led to its selection as a 100 Best community include:
FENCES
(Placing Barriers Between Kids and Alcohol) is a county-wide alcohol prevention project started in 2003 by Circle of Health. The program unites alcohol retailers, parents, community groups, law enforcement, prevention organizations and youth in efforts to decrease alcohol availability to and consumption by youth. From 2003-2005, FENCES addressed different topics each month, identifying gaps in the community that allowed youth alcohol purchases or consumption. Topics were accompanied by press conferences, letters to the editor, and multiple messages delivered throughout the community via print media and television coverage. As a result, retail and restaurant compliance check outcomes improved from 74 percent in 2001 to 100 percent compliance with state laws in 2006.
First Call for Help
(FCFH) began in August 2000 in response to three major community needs assessments conducted in the late 1990s. A comprehensive information and referral program in Midland County, FCFH connects people in need to the appropriate support services. In order to provide accurate, up-to-date information, FCFH maintains a database containing information on more than 350 agencies. Using this information, certified information and referral specialists link vulnerable people with needed services. In addition, FCFH also manages some collaborative groups to help avoid duplication of services.
Midland Kids First
(MKF), a broad collaborative of community leaders dedicated to improving the lives of Midland’s children, has actively pursued objectives related to four needs identified by the group: early childhood intervention; whole family intervention; alcohol and substance abuse treatment and prevention; and treatment of juvenile sex offenders (JSOs). In one successful initiative stemming from MKF, the Court’s Family Division has worked with local agencies to develop and implement a community-based treatment protocol for JSOs. Historically, Midland area youths who committed sexual offenses have had few treatment options, and those available were usually located far from the youths’ homes and community. Thanks to the cooperation and integration of services among MKF stakeholders, a local JSO treatment program has been successfully implemented. The program’s components include intensive counseling, specialized foster care, secure detention, day treatment programs, and parental involvement.