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Issue date: March 10, 2000 Commitment to Youth
Commitment to Youth
(March 10, 2000) Master plan focuses on needs
by Jeb Bing
Collaboration and family-focused planning have always been hallmarks of Pleasanton's success. Now these strengths are coming together in a master plan for youth that is being developed to deal with a surging teenage population and concerns surfacing as Pleasanton heads into the 21st Century.
Started a year ago, the Youth Master Plan Steering Committee is a 32-member strong volunteer organization commissioned and funded by the city and school district. Its goal is to "nurture a safe, supportive community that is responsive to the full range of needs of youth and their families."
Cindy McGovern, president of the Pleasanton school board, serves as co-chair of the steering committee with Tiffany Gabrielson, an Amador Valley high school sophomore. They plan to have in place by year's end a report that tallies every program and opportunity available to kids, and also addresses any problems.
"We're not taking a cradle-to-grave approach - we're stopping at age 21!" McGovern said. "We know Pleasanton has hundreds of programs for kids, one of the best sports programs in the country and a population of parents who support their children beyond compare. We just want to look at the whole picture - from cover to cover - and make sure no stones are unturned, that nothing is falling through the cracks."
Rich Puppione, the school district's senior director of pupil services, agrees.
"Pleasanton is known for its commitment to young people," he said. "But that doesn't mean that our children are risk-free or that they don't face serious problems that need to be addressed."
He cited a 1997 report by the school district that sampled 682 Pleasanton students in the eighth through 12th grades. It indicated that risky behavior is just as prevalent, or slightly less than prevalent, among Pleasanton teens as it is in the rest of the country. For example, the report states:
¥ One in four Pleasanton students said they had used marijuana within the past month, which is the same rate as the national norm.
¥ One in four senior boys said they had driven a car while drinking within the past month.
¥ Nearly half of all students in grades eight through 12 say they have smoked marijuana.
¥ Three in five high school senior girls say they have had sex.
¥ Two in 10 students say they have thought seriously about attempting suicide within the past year.
¥ Thirty-eight percent of eighth-grade boys said they had tried alcohol by age 13, while 22 percent of 12th-grade boys said they had tried alcohol by age 13.
This information and reports from other municipal, civic and nonprofit organizations are being analyzed by the steering committee, said Jim Wolfe, director of the city's Parks and Community Services Department and staff coordinator for the steering committee. These findings will be used to develop and recommend needed support remedies.
In looking at Pleasanton, consultants have found a large percentage of homes with children where both parents are in the workforce. In the 1990 census, for example, 60 percent of mothers here who had children under 6 were in the workforce, and that percentage along with the number of children with working mothers are expected to increase significantly in the 2000 census.
"What makes this especially significant is that Pleasanton has a high percentage of households with children - between 40 and 50 percent," Wolfe pointed out. "That's very high; in many communities, it's under 20 percent."
Many of these parents are commuting long distances and for long periods of time during the workday. That reduces further the time they actually have with their children - important, too, because it is the prime time for children to communicate with adults.
"Finding ways to help teens better and more frequently connect with adults is among the objectives of the steering committee," McGovern said. "With better 'connectivity,' perhaps we can make Pleasanton even more friendly and also find the means to unlock passions these young people might have, whether it be for drama, music, tennis or whatever."
"If they are alone for three or four hours after school every day with nobody to turn to, we really don't know what they're missing in terms of opportune development," she explained.
Wolfe came to Pleasanton two years ago after 5-1/2 years in a similar post in Manhattan Beach and two other Southern California cities before that. As a nationally registered recreation therapist, he established special programs in several municipalities that dealt with youth issues, including transportation and mentoring.
"We're not looking at the old-style programs that find at-risk youths and then go in with quick fixes," Wolfe said. "Those tend not to work very well."
"The youth master plan that we want to create for Pleasanton will be based on understanding the issues, the needs of Pleasanton children and the changing social dynamics in the community," he explained.
McGovern said the steering committee has conducted surveys, focus groups and interviews with all age groups and many organizations to determine what Pleasanton is doing well, and what might need to be done.
"We want to provide the right services in a community that will help our young people become ever more knowledgeable and outstanding citizens," she said. "That means making sure we have the services in place and facilities established to help them every step of the way."
The steering committee has found that, based on a current estimated population of 67,000, about 7 percent of the city's population is preschool age, 18 percent are school-aged children, and 5 percent are college age, between 18 and 22.
Specifically, school enrollment at the end of 1999 - compared to 1991 - was 5,423 for kindergarten through fifth grade, compared to 4,000; 2,669 in the middle schools, compared to 2,004; and 3,389 in the high schools, compared to 2,762.
A study by Shelly Lapkoff, demographer, showed that the Pleasanton school system could expect as many as 14,652 students by 2005. While elementary school enrollments are likely to increase by only 5 percent in the next seven years, high school enrollments could rise by 21 percent, meaning a significant surge in the city's teenage population during this first decade of the century.
Studies also show that Pleasanton has a younger population than California as a whole, with a median age of approximately 33.4 years. It is projected that the median age will increase gradually because of an aging of the population as the city progresses toward buildout.
Families comprise 86 percent of households in Pleasanton, compared with 69 percent in California as a whole. In recent years, two trends have increased the number of young families, according to the steering committee. These are increased job opportunities in the Tri-Valley and higher housing prices and a tight housing market in the Silicon Valley.
While the economy is booming for many, some in Pleasanton do not fare so well. According to Child Care Links, 55 Pleasanton families are on the waiting/eligibility list for subsidized child care. An average of 88 Pleasanton residents receive food assistance through the Family Crisis Center. The school district currently provides subsidized lunches for 452 students. Of the 26 attempted suicides last year in Pleasanton, eight were teenagers.
A 1997 study by the Tri-Valley Consortium of Human Service Providers - the last study made - showed a significant population of young people who are "near poor," a category defined as being part of a family of four with an annual income of less than $31,200. In Pleasanton, those numbers were 404 in the 0-5 year age group, 328 between 5 and 11, and 187 between 12 and 17. The total for all Pleasanton families in this category was 3,761.
Even so, crime and police intervention among teenagers is down.
"While we have an increase in underage drinking in Pleasanton, generally everything else is lower," said Lt. Greg Wixom, who represents the police on the youth master plan steering committee. "The fact is that figures we published in 1998 showed people are 200 times safer here than they were in 1978, and that includes teenagers. What's interesting is that while we have more kids in middle and high school, crime statistics involving this age group are way down."
Still, Wixom and the other steering committee members believe a master plan is needed.
"Clearly, the community needs a blueprint for dealing with certain issues and for providing services," Wixom said. "We want to be ahead of any trends. Dollars invested up front can save a whole bunch of money and problems later on. The Youth Master Plan will give us a comprehensive list of what we're doing in Pleasanton to serve our kids, and what we still need to do." <@$p>
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