Recommendations
These recommendations emerged from the analysis of 2023 data and the themes emerging from the
Opportunities Landscape 2021 youth and parent/caregiver sessions.
RECOMMENDATION #1: Expand Youth Opportunities
Research shows that quality out-of-school time programming increases educational outcomes for young people. While the 124,115 opportunities that Opportunities Landscape 2023 identified represents a notable increase from those identified in our Opportunities Landscape 2021 report, this figure remains dramatically lower than the 171,305 young people that call Baltimore City home. This is especially true when considering how many young people take advantage of multiple opportunities. Significant numbers of young people are still not served by local programming. Our city must address disparities in the availability of opportunities, particularly in neighborhoods with high needs, aiming to ensure equitable access for all youth.
The gap in programming for older youth (ages 19-24) is particularly concerning. For this age group, we identified 17,482 programming opportunities for 46,673 Baltimore City residents. Most opportunities identified occurred during the summer months, leaving a greater gap in programming during the rest of the year. Baltimore must continue to work to increase engaging, high-quality programming for youth, which can help strengthen the pathway from secondary education to career-sustaining wages.
RECOMMENDATION #2: Fund Year-Round Coordinated Data Collection
For the past two years, the Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success and Baltimore’s Promise convened a Summer Systems Table of over a dozen public and non-profit agencies that provide or support summertime programming opportunities for young people. The table has shared data on programming, discovered gaps, and identified opportunities for collaboration.
Securing funding and support to expand this convening to a year-round table would allow for coordinated strategies among city stakeholders to more effectively meet the needs of young people in non-summer months. Stakeholders have used — and will continue to use — Opportunities Landscape data to advocate for Baltimore’s young people. A more systematic and coordinated approach to data collection will only increase the ways in which data can be used to drive change.
RECOMMENDATION #3: Expand Citywide Program Access
To address disparities in program availability and opportunities for young people, stakeholders should focus on neighborhoods with high needs — and not just the number of programs but the number of opportunities, aiming to ensure equitable access to resources and support for youth across all areas of the city.
RECOMMENDATION #4: Empower Youth in Decision Making
Young people are best suited to make decisions about the programs they experience. Initiatives from Baltimore’s Promise (see Older Youth Spotlight) have shown that young people are able to take data from the Opportunities Landscape and other sources and, in combination with information from their own lived experiences, make program funding decisions and advocate effectively for changes that affect their lives and their communities. Sharing the data, findings, and recommendations from the Opportunities Landscape widely with young people and organizations they lead may further empower them to drive beneficial changes and encourage youth-serving organizations to involve more youth as advisors and embrace participatory processes when making resource decisions.