Get started early to avoid the summer slide for your child
Not every child will experience this phenomenon, but parents can proactively help avoid it by keeping children's brains engaged on those long summer days in various ways, including hundreds of free summer camps across Miami-Dade County. Though kids are still in the last months of the school year, the time to start making preparations for summer learning is now!
A Summer of Learning for All
Many young children at risk of falling behind are not provided with meaningful summer activities to help them preserve or expand upon their learning during the school year. That is why The Children's Trust is proud to fund thousands of activities for children of all ages year-round, not only during the academic year. Additionally, Children's Trust-funded youth development programs ensure that children and youth living with disabilities across Miami-Dade County can participate in summer camps.
On the other hand, if your teenager prefers the sound of a 'summer of earning' to a 'summer of learning,' sign them up for the Summer Youth Internship Program. The Children's Trust also helps fund this paid internship program available to rising 10-12th graders. Organizations and companies in a multitude of industries will keep them busy for five weeks with real work, during which they'll earn a $1,500 stipend and learn crucial life skills. Learn more at MiamiInterns.org.
Sign Up for the Perfect Summer!
Summers don't have to be about learning loss. In fact, they're a great opportunity for kids to find something new to love, to explore specific subjects that they are already passionate about and to make new friends. The Children's Trust invests the largest portion of its budget in youth enrichment activities, including summer camps.
From STEM classes with a focus on coding and technology, musical programs and dance-focused summer camps, or sports-centered programs, there are a whole host of low-cost and free programs across Miami-Dade County that offer something for all interest.
Finding the Right Activity
Finding the right activity to suit your kid's unique needs and interests can be overwhelming. Before settling on a camp, consider whether the location, hours, staffing, safety protocols and activities sound like a good fit for your child - and, for older kids, get them to help with the selection process.
A recent analysis of a study into the impact of structured summer programming found that 'many marginalized children do not participate in summer programming' and 'many children do not engage in summer programming, and among those who do, the attendance rate is low.'
One reason families don't sign up for available programming is that they don't know how to find the right one. For the third year, The Trust continues joining forces with Miami-Dade County, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Jewish Community Services of South Florida for the More Summer Camp Choices Campaign. Families needing help finding the right summer camp or activity can call the 211 helpline or visit 211miami.org/SummerCamps to see many great programs in one place. Parents can also go to www.TheChildrensTrust.org/find-a-program to find a program.
Climb the Summer Slide Together
The summer can be a great opportunity to build new family habits. If you can't be together during the day, set aside time to connect as a family in the evening. Consider working on a shared project like building a model, cooking new meals together or playing board games as a family. These practices turn attention away from screens and help keep your child's brain engaged at home during the summer.
An evening reading routine is also beneficial for the whole family. For parents with newborns up to 5 years old, The Children's Trust Book Club provides age-appropriate books in English and Spanish delivered every month for free. This practice can foster a better relationship with your child and help with childhood language and cognitive development.
Yvette Thompson-Echevarria, Associate Director of Programs at The Children's Trust, joined The Children's Trust in March 2021. She has extensive program management experience working with nonprofit and community-based organizations focused on education and family engagement.
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State law requires that Brown University police must submit any arrest reports to the Providence Police Department. But when Bilow first requested the arrest documents for the 41 students from Providence police, he was told there were no records. He had also tried to get them from campus police but never heard back. Five months later, Bilow spotted a Providence City Council post on X calling on the city solicitor to drop charges against the 41 Brown students. Bilow re-upped his request to the city, using the social media post as proof that arrests had been made and charges filed. One of the most important purposes of APRA is to make sure police agencies cannot make arrests disappear. To this day, I have no legal assurance that Brown didn't do that.' – Michael Bilow, a reporter with Motif Magazine and one of two plaintiffs in the ACLU lawsuit against the university Bilow eventually got the information he was asking for from the city of Providence, which admitted its error in previously telling him that there were no records. 'My understanding is that Brown Police did the 'processing' of the arrested individuals, which led to our confusion here,' a city spokesperson told Bilow in the reply, which is included in a story by Bilow on Motif's website. 'This is why Public Safety had no records of the arrest.' Samara Pinto, a spokesperson for Providence Mayor Brett Smiley's office, indicated this is not unusual. 'Brown University Public Safety reports come into the Department's possession when criminal cases involving their arrests are referred for prosecution in district court,' Pinto said in an email Monday. 'In many instances, the copy in the prosecution file may be the only one we receive.' While Bilow now has the names and charges against the 41 students, he doesn't know if anyone else was arrested, but isn't being prosecuted. That leaves him unable to confirm if others may have been charged but then had charges subsequently dropped. 'I have no proof, but I have no assurance either,' Bilow said. 'That in itself is pretty newsworthy.' A former Brown University police officer has begun to speak out about the lengths university officials are willing to go to keep information closeted within the 95-person department. Michael Greco, who worked as a patrol officer for Brown University Department of Public Safety for 18 years before leaving in August, testified in support of public records reform at a State House hearing on May 22. Greco told lawmakers the department's exemption from public records law was purposefully manipulated to hide information. On multiple occasions, he or other campus officers would be sent to handle incidents that should have been handled by Providence police, specifically because that would ensure any reports or arrests could remain private, he said. Greco has filed a workers' compensation claim against the university after leaving due to post-traumatic stress disorder, which he developed after a November 2021 shooting and bombing threat on campus. In an interview, Greco said he and other officers were sent to respond to a report of bomb threats and someone claiming they were going to 'shoot cops.' Greco said he was specifically instructed not to call in the threat on his radio so that Providence police would not hear the information and also respond. An initial report written by Greco on the day of the threat, Nov. 7, 2021, and shared with Rhode Island Current following the threats at Brown — which were ultimately not proven true — details his concerns about campus police being ill-equipped to respond to an active shooter threat. A printout also shared by Greco shows another officer modified the report two days later; the section in which Greco wrote that he was concerned about responding and was shrugged off was deleted. 'They were willing to dangle us in front of a building where a guy said he would shoot police officers in order to keep something from getting on the Providence radios and out into the public,' Greco said. 'If the primary function of Brown's police department is to take what should be public record and make it private, they are not prioritizing the safety of officers.' Clark did not respond to requests for comment on Greco's allegations. Providence police did eventually respond to the bomb and shooting threats on Nov. 7, 2021. However, the city police incident report notes the call was received at 5:21 p.m., three-and-a-half hours after the initial 1:50 p.m. call to Brown University police noted in Greco's report. There were no arrests. Brown University Department of Public Safety is also required to collect and report crime statistics to the U.S. Department of Education under The Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act. The university maintains an electronic log of daily incidents, dating back to 2018, noting the date and time of each incident, its classification — larceny, burglary, extortion, etc — and whether the investigation is open, closed or turned over to Providence police. The single-line entries offer little detail, and without a formal arrest or transfer to Providence police, most of the specific information remains out of public reach. If the primary function of Brown's police department is to take what should be public record and make it private, they are not prioritizing the safety of officers. – Michael Greco, a former Brown University patrol officer who left in August 2024 Greco also alleged police would routinely doctor incident reports to avoid federal reporting requirements — vandalism became 'property damage with malicious intent,' for example. 'I don't think that there's anything more troubling than the notion that an agency that has the power to arrest somebody can keep that information about those arrests secret,' Brown said. 'That should concern anyone who cares about transparency and accountability, when any entity is given such incredible power over information.' The lawsuit asks the court to issue a judgment determining that Brown's campus police department is a public body, subject to compliance with public records laws. It also seeks court intervention to force Brown University to hand over the arrest documents requested by Bilow and Brigham within 10 days. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
