Maryland Boys and Girls Club tout research of developmental gains for enrolled children

MARYLAND – The group says a survey they commissioned to learn the impact their services have on Maryland youths and to further refine programming to meet Club member needs.

In a statewide sample, 657 youth and teens were polled to understand aspects of the Club that impacted their well-being.

The report found that more than 85% of Maryland Club members say their Club helps them understand and express their feelings and solve problems, with Hispanic teens who are Club members being found to be 30% more likely to have an adult at the Club they can count on as compared to their peers that do not attend a Club,  Black teens who are Club members being  15% more likely to have an adult at the Club they can count on as compared to their peers that do not attend a Club and  92% of Club members feeling valued by their peers and adults in their lives.

Executive Director and Lead Administrator Y’landa Burch say those numbers also held true, especially for centers on the eastern shore including in Cambridge and Salisbury.

“What we found is that 95 percent of our young people feel cared about by our club staff which is great to hear and know that especially for our eastern shore locations where we just opened our programs in Cambridge and at the Truitt street center, so I’m glad to see that the program hit it in stride and our staff is doing the right thing,” Burch said.

They say that once those centers have finished their renovations they expect the gains those students make to only go up.