Res 2018-062/approving the recommendation of the San Marcos Commission on Children and Youth to allocate $50,285 in 2017-2018 Fiscal Year funding for 14 youth programs that contribute to implementation of the Youth Master Plan

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Goals for the program: Our program is uniquely equipped to teach local students about conserving and protecting our natural resources, as well as to expose them to real scientific investigations. Our goal for our campers is that they would 1) experience what it is like to be a real scientist, 2) have a rich and novel experience that inspires a love for nature, 3) become informed citizens of our community that realize the value of our natural resources, especially the San Marcos River and the Edwards Aquifer. How will they know they met these goals: We want to extend our outreach to local children who may not be able to afford a summer camp on their own. We will use the funding from this grantto provide scholarships (ranging in value from $349-$699) to local students to attend our program.We will award these scholarships by asking local middle and high school teachers to nominate deserving students and by working with the Hays-Caldwell Women’s Center and the San Marcos Youth Services Board to provide scholarships to their clients. Number of clients served yearly:230Number of direct clients served ONLY in San Marcos: 16 Amount Requested: $5,000Commission on Children and Youth Recommendation: $1,000 Texas State University Autism Summer Camp –Our program, the Texas State University Autism Summer Camp is the first ofits kind in San Marcos. Established in 2010, this autism camp is a partnership between the Texas State University’s Department of Health and Human Performance and San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District (SMCISD). This camp provides many children access to a quality summer camp experience designed to accommodate the special needs of children with autism. We do not turn down any child because of the severity of his/her disability. We host four 1-week camp sessions each summer. Camp counselors assist campers (1:1) in a daily schedule that provides time for dance, music, arts, crafts, games, swimming, yoga, and many other therapeutic activities.Since 2010, Texas State University Autism Summer Camp has provided a place for recreational activities for the underserved children with autism and hands-on experimental research opportunities to Texas State students. It has provided 350children with autism aged 4- 12 living in San Marcos and its surrounding areas the opportunity to participate in a developmentally appropriate therapeutic summer program. About 40Texas State students every year volunteer at the camp as part of a service- learning project providing involved students with experiential learning to meet genuine community need. Every summer, TexasState University students serve over 3000 hours as camp counselors and work with children with autism one-on-one. The students attend training sessions and are educated in camp curriculum, motor skill assessments, and appropriate interaction skills for children with autism. How they will measure program success: All counselors keep a journal to record their daily interactive activities with their assigned child. After each camp session, counselors submit a summary describing their overall experience with the assigned child. They write about the usefulness of the training sessions before the camp, problems that occurred during the camp sessions, ways they solved problems, and what they learned from serving the campers. All parents/caregivers complete a survey at the end of each summer camp session. They are asked to answer questions about the impact of the scholarship to their financial needs and their child’s camp experience. Questions will include perception of savings to their budget based on cost of child care. Parents will be asked to provide examples of specifically how the savings benefited their family and questions related to the children’s camp activities, counselors, and parents’ perception about their child’s overall camp experience. Children will be measured on their proficiency in fundamental motor skills before and after the 4-week camp. The ability to perform fine and gross motor skills will provide children with opportunities to successfully integrate into their communities.