The City of Santa Clarita is a winner of a national competition to identify the “100 Best Communities for Young People”. America’s Promise honors communities across the country, ranging from small towns to urban neighborhoods, for their commitment to provide healthy, safe and caring environments for young people.
The competition recognizes outstanding, innovative efforts that benefit children and young adults. The City was chosen as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People, in part, because of the numerous community-wide programs and initiatives that have been implemented to benefit young people.
America’s Promise acknowledged the City’s Blue Ribbon Task force, an educational forum for parents, educators and law enforcement to address current issues of drugs, alcohol and tobacco facing teens; Visions in Progress (VIP), an assembly of youth from different high schools who work together as a unified voice to provide input on teen-related activities, issues and decisions, and the Anti-Gang Task Force, which helps youth stay out of or disassociate with gangs.
“The City is dedicated to bettering the lives of children and young adults, so being nationally recognized as one of the best communities for young people is very exciting,” said Mayor Marsha McLean.
America’s Promise is the nation’s largest private-public partnership committed to ensuring that every child receives the five fundamental resources, the “Five Promises,” essential for success: caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective education and opportunities to help others.
Winners were chosen by a distinguished selection panel of civic, business and nonprofit leaders across the country. The selection panel evaluated 100 Best entries that required detailed information about each community’s efforts to fulfill the Five Promises.
"Nothing is more important than seeing that our children and youth have the resources and support systems they need to thrive and succeed,” said America’s Promise Founding Chairman General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.). “When a community provides all that its young people need to be healthy and secure, they deserve to be honored and showcased as an outstanding example of what it takes to successfully nurture this nation’s young people.”
The City regularly collaborates with organizations throughout the community to develop programs that support the enrichment of young people. Recent partners include William S. Hart Union High School District, L.A. County, Boys and Girls Club of Santa Clarita, College of the Canyons, the Sheriff’s Department, and the Santa Clarita Valley Council PTA.
For more details about the 100 Best competition and the winners, please visit www.americaspromise.org. For more information about the City’s programs please visit www.santa-clarita.com.