County Connections Youth Summer Initiative

County Connections Youth Summer Initiative is sponsored by Harris County. This initiative supports nonprofit organizations that address the need for youth services during the summer.

Home ARPA ARPA Jobs and Education County Connections County Connections Youth Summer Initiative Overview County Connections Youth Summer Initiative will provide grants to organizations that offer comprehensive summer programming, short-term projects, and other enrichment for children ages 5-18 through The Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) Center for Afterschool Summer and Enrichment (CASE) for Kids.

County Connections fills gaps in existing enrichment services for youth, sponsors full and partial scholarships to assist families with program fees, and includes college and career readiness initiatives for older children. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, grantees provided direct service activities, virtual learning activities, or hybrid lessons.

This program aims to ensure accessibility and meet the health and safety guidelines related to COVID-19 to provide children with enriching activities they did not have during the pandemic.

Through partnership Harris County Department of Education (HCDE), Harris County is able to support increased learning and development opportunities through partnership with community-based organizations that provide such services to children of ages 5-18. Yearly at least 90 programs have received funding to provide children increased access to opportunities.

County Connections measures their success through the following data: Target number of non-profits enrolled in Precinct 1 Target number of non-profits enrolled in Precinct 2 Target number of non-profits enrolled in Precinct 3 Target number of non-profits enrolled in Precinct 4 Target number if students enrolled Target number of grants issued In 2022, County Connections disbursed $1,275,000 across 49 project awards and served a total of 5,500 children.

In 2023, 6,900 children were served. Children in all four precincts were served through the County Connections programming. https://www.

hcde-texas. org/county-connections USE OF EVIDENCE & PROGRAM EVALUATIONS County Connections collects data on the number of students served, types of organizations and services offered as part of programming, as well as zip codes/precincts in which each of these organizations reside. Ongoing program evidence consists of student demographic data collection of those currently served.