​Youth Development
​& Leadership Academy

Deerfield Beach Community Cares [DBCC] is proud and excited to announce that we have received the Community Foundation of Broward funding to create the Deerfield Beach Youth Development & Leadership Academy. The funding is effective immediately and can support the initiative for three years.The Deerfield Beach Youth Development & Leadership Academy is designed to serve all youth and their families in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The focus will be on the Deerfield Beach Packer Rattler League participants, acknowledging the challenging financial, social, and emotional environments that the preponderance of the youth live in.

To learn more about the YDLA, click here or contact Jarvis Brunson, DBCC Vice President of Operations, at [email protected].

Enroll in Youth Programs

​The Deerfield Beach Youth Development and Leadership Academy will serve as the community health hub to ensure a coordinated and unified approach to meeting the needs of the youth [and their families]. Well-designed and well-run youth development programs promote youth leadership by involving youth in needs assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Our commitment is to include and embrace youth voices in all program development and implementation phases. Effective programs engage all participating youth in constructive action through activities such as service learning, arts, and athletics and emphasize common values such as friendship, citizenship, and learning.

Key Points

• Programming will occur at various points across the Deerfield Beach Community but will focus on the communities contiguous to the Oveta McKeithen Park complex.
• A collective impact approach will guide the initiative to draw on the expertise of all participating community providers and organizations.
• Our approach will include nutritional support and education. 
• We recognize that there have been both fiscal and nutritional challenges to this population. Good nutritional values are foundational to both physical and mental health.
• The program will function year-round.
• The program will focus on youth as they enter elementary school and continue through their secondary school experience.
• It will be important to support the long-standing relationship between the Packer Rattler System and the Deerfield Beach High School Football Program.
• Tutoring will be a cornerstone activity.
• Mentoring will be a cornerstone activity.
• Exposure to positive social and emotional learning experiences will play a critical role in positive youth development.
• Systemic navigation will be embedded as a critical component to link youth and families to critical services.
• Deerfield Beach Community Cares will continue to participate in and create community activities available to youth and families.
• Deerfield Beach Community Cares will endeavor to coordinate with community providers and leaders to garner their support and participation in social and emotional learning experiences.
• Tutoring, mentoring, and social and emotional learning experiences will occur throughout the calendar year but will build on scheduled Packer Rattler activities, practices, and games to engage and involve community youth.