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The City Parks and Recreation Department has announced the return of the Summer Nights teen program, held in collaboration with the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) and new this year, the United Boys and Girls Club of Santa Barbara. Building on learnings from the first year of the two-year pilot, the program aims to provide a safe and inclusive space, with structured recreational activities for youth ages 12-17 during the summer months.
Funding for the pilot was approved by the City Council in July 2021 in response to a lack of safe and free activities for local teens and to address youth violence. With funding secured, the Parks and Recreation Department and SBUSD partnered to offer an evening youth program, Summer Nights, at La Cumbre Junior High at the end of the academic school year in the summer of 2022.