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With summer fast approaching, students will soon be school-free. Unfortunately, this is also a time when there is higher crime among youth, as they are outside the classroom.
Local nonprofits say it's important to keep the youth off the streets and busy during the summer months. The Real Talk Youth Impact Program helps at-risk children and teens in the valley through mentorship and activities to keep them out of trouble and on a path to success.
"Giving them hope and basically sharing the do's and don'ts of life because there are always repercussions for bad choices," said founder and executive director Sheree Corniel.
The nonprofit services 8 to 18-year-olds in the Valley at no cost. Corniel says they're busy all year long, but that the summer months are vital for youth. She knows this first-hand as a retired federal probation officer and former juvenile parole officer.
"The idle time is the devil's playhouse," said Corniel. "And so, when kids have nothing to do after school, they're not being prompted to get involved in things."
The Real Youth Impact Program helps not just June through August, but every month of the year.
"Listening to testimonies from people who have been there and done that, ended up in the system,. They give them this feedback so they understand that you don't want to go down this route. But we also want to include that with get involved in something," said Corniel. "So the parents and the child will be here once a month doing whatever we need them to do at the program."
The nonprofit pays up to $150 a month per child for extracurricular activities like sports or clubs. And in the east Valley, the Boys Town of Nevada is also working to keep children on the right path.
"We work a lot with school districts, we work a lot with Clark County Family Services, Department of Juvenile Justice, to support kids and families staying together," said executive director John Etzell.
The nonprofit continues working with several of the families it normally helps during the school year, even in the summertime.
"We're really working a lot with the parents who we're involved with and trying to make sure that they've got structured activities to be a part of, whether that's employment, that they're old enough to be working, encouraging kids to look for those first summer jobs or repeated summer jobs and they've got that opportunity to save some money," said Etzell.
He says if the youth are too young to work, Boys Town works with all the local jurisdictions to find other activities to keep kids occupied in a positive way.
"You'll see lots of options, Discovery Children's Museum, great options during the summer," said Etzell. "Horses for Heroes up in the Northwest part of town, always looking for volunteers. As young as 14, 15, 16 years old to work with their campers, and you get a chance to work on an active horse farm all summer."
