05/28/2012
Truency Programs - Questionable Aid for Dropout Prevention
Where are the Carrots for our Children?
I understand the need for counseling services for children. In fact, I have two post graduate degrees in counseling psychology myself. However, being familiar with the principles of behavior modification, any student of psychology 101 will tell you that positive incentives have more motivational effect on behavior than negative ones. The harsh truth is that more than half of our minority children do not graduate from high school. We are serving a minority audience, and working really hard to help them make it to high school. Where is the recognition of the importance of the “carrot?”
The recent major program announced by the Mayor, based on truant type intervention, simply enforced the current philosophy for funding the state funded city run Attendance Incentive Dropout Prevention/Students in Temporary Housing (Shelter kids).This does not solve the problem. Can we talk about prevention? No one is suggesting that these aspects are not important. However, a comprehensive program dealing with this problem
cannot be its most effective without the positive aspect of behavior modification.
The United Way is on the receiving end of some14 million dollars for this program. When queried about support for programs, we were told that there was no funding for programs. What, I asked does the United Way spend 14 million dollars on if there is no support for programs? We were told money went for guidance counselors and “truant officers.”(They call it community outreach!) If they provide the “stick,” there must be a place for the carrot.
As an example, The West Side Cultural Center, a 501(c)3 charity that has been providing “Taste of Broadway” programs for these children for 12 years, their most successful motivational programs, providing opportunities that would otherwise be totally unavailable to the children. Though they have both city and Department of Education vending numbers, they could not even subcontract from another agency. They did not fit ”their protocol.”
The West Side Cultural Center does not want to stop serving over 3000 children a year, (and 40,000 children in the past 12 years.) The holiday program scheduled at the Apollo Theatre in December is for the little ones, kindergarten to fourth grade. They will be expecting the Broadway Stars, the tap dancing Santa and their gift bags, often the highlight of their Christmas. The reality is the economy is putting our back against the wall. Unbelievably, it has never been easy to raise funds for these programs, but this time the challenge is daunting. Isn’t it time for the ‘Powers That Be’ to lend a hand to ensure not only the continuation, but the expansion of “THE CARROT.” Without support, programs like these have no future.
Nanci Callahan
Managing Director
West Side Cultural Center
Producer,Taste of Broadway
