Mental health and youth development program in parks may have the potential to prevent violence among at-risk youths

D’Agostino, E. ., Frazier, S. ., Hansen, E. ., Patel, H. ., Ahmed, Z. ., Okeke, D. ., … Messiah, S. . (2019). Two-year changes in neighborhood juvenile arrests after implementation of an afterschool park-based mental health promotion program in Miami-Dade County, Florida, 2015-2017. American Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305050

In 2015, several community groups in southeast Florida worked together to establish an afterschool park-based mental health promotion program – called Fit2Lead -- for at-risk youth 12-17 years of age. The program consists of two phases. Phase I engages youth (age 12-14) from high-need neighborhoods in a variety of activities Monday through Friday from 3 to 7 PM during the academic year. The activities include academic support, sports and recreation, meditation, stress resilience, and the promotion of life skills. Participating youth have the option of also enrolling in a youth summer camp at no charge. Phase II engages youth (age 15-17) in a year-round paid internship and weekly enrichment/life-skill development workshops. The overall focus of the program is on youth violence prevention.

This study examined the association of Fit2Lead and neighborhood juvenile arrests in Miami–Dade County (MDC), Florida where the program was implemented. Neighborhood juvenile arrests were used as a proxy for youth violence. The study was framed around the idea that the findings could be used to “(1) inform and guide the design, dissemination, and implementation of other community-based youth violence prevention programs and (2) describe potential benefits of leveraging parks as a setting to promote mental health, build resilience, and prevent violence among at-risk youths.”

Arrest rates of participating youth (N = 501) were tracked over two years of program implementation, during which time attendance averaged 74% across all sites for both program phases. Researchers then tested the association of Fit2Lead implementation and change in arrest rates by zip code. Findings showed that zip codes where Fit2Lead was implemented had a greater reduction in arrest rates per year compared with zip codes where Fit2Lead was not implemented. These findings were based on an analysis that included a matching of Fit2Lead zip codes with non-Fit2Lead zip codes by baseline socio-demographics and youth arrest rates. Results also showed that areas within a half-mile radius of Fit2Lead park sites had a greater reduction in juvenile arrest rates compared with other youth program sites not offering a park-based program.

These results indicate that “park-based programs may have the potential to promote mental health and resilience, and also to prevent violence among at-risk youths.”

Research Partner