Drugs, statutory rape, criminal activity and suicide are a few of the choices confronted by Springville youth more often than the community would care to admit, Claudia Jensen says.

Jensen, the director of Springville City Out Reach to Students has been helping at-risk youth deal with these issues for four years, but waning support and the school year approaching, she wonders if the doors will open at all.

Springville city and Nebo School District have pulled funding of the program and after a change in mayor, changes in the City Council and the retiring of city employees formerly involved with SCORS, Jensen feels her program, which enrolls about 60 students each year with seven instructors, has been abandoned.

Springville City Manager Layne Long said the program was never to have been funded by city or district dollars.

"From the start, Springville and Nebo School District made it very clear that this was outside of usual programs. The city agreed on a one-time thing," Long said. "It's a great program ... we think that the Utah transportation program is a great program but it isn't our responsibility. We can't do everything; we have limited resources like everyone else."

He said the $20,000 donated by the city last year was remitted back into the city's general fund. The school district's $15,000 were needed elsewhere, as well.

That money will go back into regular programs, said Scott Wilson, director of Secondary Education who was involved with SCORS.

"(SCORS) is great for kids; but if we continue, we are taking money out of the classroom," he said.

Whatever the reasons for not renewing the funding, Jensen said she worries about the students and their futures.

"We are the only program in the whole county that serves at-risk adolescents. We help them a lot in their social life. I don't know where they will go to vent their problems," she said.

Larry Crawdell, whose son, Jared, has been involved with SCORS for the past three years, has watched his son's GPA climb from a 2.0 to a 3.0. "It's been a big help because it gives him something to do other than to hang out and play video games. (SCORS) helps the kids with their grades because the kids that usually tutor are out doing their sports."

Crawdell said it would be a "huge mistake" to let the program disappear.

"I think its going to be a bad deal if it does (close); it teaches kids social skills that they don't learn in school. I think it's a program that's been made available for the last few years and has been nothing but good for the local kids," he said.

The program supports teens with academic, social or behavioral problems through a system of allotted mandatory homework time, tutoring, social interaction with positive role models and enrichment activities ranging from theatrical performances to CPR instruction

The students who use the program are typically referred by a teacher or school counselor, and their problems usually result from the lack of a social support structure outside of school.

According to Jensen, the goal of SCORS is to provide the social structure and discipline to allow students to succeed in school. "I would say that all the kids who come to SCORS want to be helped. They need support; they are struggling. Their parents don't tutor them; some parents don't know how to tutor them."

One of the most beneficial aspects of the program is what Jensen calls "Life lessons." Everyday as part of the program, the instructors present a lesson on decision making in which the students learn how to react to pressure situations they often encounter. Jensen's success stories include helping students avoiding drugs, rape, juvenile prison and suicide.

Originally, the program was started on a federal grant from the Juvenile Justice Department to which Springville city and Nebo School District also pledged support. The grant was given as seed money to create program and make it run with the hope that entities from the city or businesses would eventually fund the program. The grant expired after three years; last year, the $55,000 per-year program was funded mostly by the city and school district.

Jensen said she continues to look for additional grants and sponsors, but faces another challenge at the same time: She is losing her location.

Springville city owns the building used by SCORS adjacent to the City Center. In January, the city will be reclaiming the building as part of the remodeling of the Civic Center. However, specific plans for the building have yet to be determined.

Both the school district and Springville city said that they too were looking for new locations, but with school starting at the end of this month the future of SCORS remains in doubt.

"I'm fighting all by myself," Jensen said. "These kids need somebody who cares, and I'm feeling like I'm losing the fight for them. The people who have cut support have no idea what SCORS has done for the youth of this city."

Info box:

23 percent of Utah's K-12 youth are responsible for taking care of themselves after school. These children spend an average of seven hours per week unsupervised after school

Only 5 percent of Utah's K-12 youth participate in afterschool programs. On average, afterschool participants spend six hours per week in afterschool programs.

Nearly 19 percent of the K-12 youth in self-care would be likely to participate in an afterschool program if on were available in the community.

Similarly, 22 percent of all children not in afterschool program would be likely to participate if an afterschool program were available in the community, regardless of their current care arrangement.

Source: Afterschool Alliance

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A9.