Osceola County community leaders when they meet for a summit Sept. 2 to tackle youth issues will have a full agenda.

Gangs, homelessness, foster care, juvenile delinquency, juvenile crime, reduced Guardian ad Litem program funding, child abuse and the loss of after-school programs at some of our public schools are all pressing issues that must be examined. Dealing with certain issues early can have a positive long-term impact. Keeping middle-school students busy from 3 to 6 p.m., for example, can cut down on juvenile delinquency and more serious crime down the road.

County Commissioner Ken Smith, one of the summit’s organizers, said the event would bring together faith-based leaders, youth advocates, parents, teachers and community leaders from across the county to “develop priorities and commitments that can improve the lives of children.”

While we certainly applaud the commissioner in this worthwhile effort, we also are worried that concern for youth may not translate into action because taking action often involves a financial cost. And we all know there is very little funding available from either the private or public sectors for much of anything.

A few years ago there was a regional push to fight homelessness. There was even a commission established to spearhead a 10-year plan to deal with the issue. However, there was very little funding made available and any regional effort now has pretty much been sidelined. Local governments and local social service agencies are left to pick up the pieces, like county did with the recent 192 Outreach program.

We have to make sure that any priorities we establish for dealing with youth issues have corresponding financial support. Anything short of that is just spinning our wheels.

For our part, we would like to see support for the local Guardian ad Litem program, which advocates for youth in the court system. We also would support funding after-school programs in our middle schools and funding that helps homeless families.

Following County Commissioner Michael Harford suggestion, we should at least consider establishing a children’s services ordinance whereby the county could ask voters to approve funding for children’s programs.

For more information on the summit, contact Susan Crutchfield at scrutch@communityvision.org or call 407-933-0870.