Version 1
: Received: 15 February 2024 / Approved: 15 February 2024 / Online: 15 February 2024 (11:37:58 CET)
How to cite:
Moro-Araujo, A.; Alonso Pastor, L.; Larson, K. Modeling Strategic Interventions to Increase Attendance at BCYF Community Centers. Preprints2024, 2024020829. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.0829.v1
Moro-Araujo, A.; Alonso Pastor, L.; Larson, K. Modeling Strategic Interventions to Increase Attendance at BCYF Community Centers. Preprints 2024, 2024020829. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.0829.v1
Moro-Araujo, A.; Alonso Pastor, L.; Larson, K. Modeling Strategic Interventions to Increase Attendance at BCYF Community Centers. Preprints2024, 2024020829. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.0829.v1
APA Style
Moro-Araujo, A., Alonso Pastor, L., & Larson, K. (2024). Modeling Strategic Interventions to Increase Attendance at BCYF Community Centers. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.0829.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Moro-Araujo, A., Luis Alonso Pastor and Kent Larson. 2024 "Modeling Strategic Interventions to Increase Attendance at BCYF Community Centers" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.0829.v1
Abstract
Community centers play a crucial role in urban environments, providing physical and educational services to their surrounding communities, particularly for students. Among the many benefits for students are enhanced academic outcomes, improvement of behavioral problems, and increased school attendance. Such centers are also particularly vital for low-income and racial minority students as they are pivotal in giving them outside-of-school learning opportunities. However, determinants influencing attendance at community centers remain largely unexplored. Using census data, Boston Centers for Youth and Families (BCYF) attendance data, and specific center attributes, we develop human mobility gravitational models to predict attendance across the BCYF network. Using those models, we investigate the potential effects on general and student attendance by changing center attributes, such as facilities and operating hours. We also research the impact of changing the walking accessibility to those centers on their respective attendance patterns. After the analysis, we find that the most cost-effective policy to increase BCYF attendance is changing each center’s educational and recreational offerings far beyond any accessibility interventions. Our results provide insights into potential policy changes that could optimize the attendance and reach of BCYF Community Centers to underserved populations.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
