• Even in specific neighborhoods where there is
relatively higher participation in OST programs,
participation rates are still under 50%.
• Among low income youth, participation in OST
programming was relatively high but still less
than half (47%) of all Minneapolis students
11-18 participating in the free and reduced lunch
program also participated in free and reduced
cost OST programs (n=5, 471).
In terms of geographic distribution,
participation rates are negligible in areas with
very small and dispersed populations of color
(50 or less), suggesting barriers to program access
in those neighborhoods. The fact that there are
disparities between neighborhoods even within the
same income and racial group suggests that parents
may not be aware of the available opportunities
and targeted marketing might increase enrollments.
More importantly however it may be a matter
of limited availability of transportation in these
areas and the high cost of transporting such small
numbers of eligible youth who reside in them.
The drop-off in participation by older youth
in OST programs is a well-established finding.
Increased outreach to this population as well
as opportunities to engage them in designing
programs to meet their developmental needs
and interests might increase participation and
engagement of teens2. Their participation rates
however may be higher than our study could assess.
Older youth are often more heavily involved in
organized sports and the extent of their involvement
in Park and Recreation programs, as was noted,
could not