Growing Children’s Skills Through Healthy Play

Community safety

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

In L.A. County, 26.6% of children in L.A. County live under the poverty level (Child Care Alliance of L.A). 29.4% of children in poverty were reported to live in neighborhoods that were rated as somewhat or very unsafe, and over a quarter were reported to not have easy access to a park, playground, or other place that is safe from crime to play (2023 L.A.County Health Survey/Key Findings for Selected Populations). The American Academy of Pediatrics states in a clinical report:
Research demonstrates that developmentally appropriate play with parents and peers is a singular opportunity to promote the social-emotional, cognitive, language, and self-regulation skills that build executive function and a prosocial brain. When play and safe, stable, nurturing relationships are missing in a child’s life, toxic stress can disrupt the development of executive function and the learning of prosocial behavior; in the presence of childhood adversity, play becomes even more important.

Principal, 49th Street Elementary, LAUSD, to Playworks 3/9/2024:
"I regret to inform you the 2024-2025 budget at this moment does not allow for a continuation of Playworks at 49th Street next year. This is very disappointing for our school community and against my wishes but in my/our best judgment given limited resources."
Several other South L.A. schools want Playworks in 2024-25 and are challenged due to budget cuts. Support from the LA2050 Grants Challenge will help provide Playworks the bridge to transition the following 4 schools to sustainability: Sixth Avenue, Weigand, 112th, Compton Avenue.
Multiple independent studies have proven the effectiveness of our services to teach social and emotional skills, increase physical activity, and improve the learning environment for children. A Stanford University/Mathematica Policy Research randomized control trial – the gold standard in evaluation – found that Playworks Coach led to statistically significant impacts resulting in less bullying, higher feelings of student safety, more time engaged in vigorous physical activity, and less time transitioning from recess back to the classroom. A RAND Corporation review found that Playworks Coach improves class readiness, on-task behavior, and transitioning from recess to learning.

Funding from LA2050 would allow for continuous progress in transformational change within a South LA network of elementary schools by embedding the values and key elements of healthy play in its policies and practices. Over time, Playworks’ goal is to establish long-term Community of Schools and district commitments to healthy play for kids. Playworks is a universal (Tier 1) intervention. Universal interventions support all students and work to create safe environments. Prioritizing South LA schools aligns with our vision to prioritize the highest need school communities through a sustainable, systemic approach despite the continuous challenge of limited resources.
Playworks services produce protective factors associated with supporting youth mental health and wellness including:
Relationships/connections with peers and adults
Sense of belonging and connection
Conflict resolution skills & Cooperation
Resilience
Positive communication
Physical activity

Playworks is prioritizing a district-wide or network-of-schools (rather than a school-by-school) approach to increasing our impact. For South LA, Playworks will apply this approach to focus on systems change, producing positive school climates and supporting the mental and physical health of thousands of youth.
In 2018-19, a Kaiser Permanente-funded project helped Playworks impact 48,000 students at 74 LA County schools. By using a district-wide approach, results were exponentially higher than our original proposal (3,000 students at 5 schools).
With this funding, we will make major headway in scaling our healthy play programming in South LA. Results from Playworks Southern California’s annual survey of educators show our impact. Last year’s data shows that 93% of educators reported Playworks helps students develop the skills they need to succeed in their learning community and Playworks helps the school create supportive learning environments.
We expect similar results in the future.