Fifteen-year-old Josiah Owens is considering owning a gun one day because he wants protection. He doesn鈥檛 want to suffer the same fate as his best friend, whom he says survived a shooting a couple of years ago.

Owens, a sophomore at Disney II Magnet High School on the Northwest Side, was one of 23 Chicago teens ages 13 to 17 who took part in a recent weeklong program to learn about the risks of gun ownership and how to share those statistics with peers through a flashy social media campaign. He joined after a nudge from his mother, who wanted him to 鈥渂uild connections鈥� with other Chicago kids.

The program, which took place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each week day of spring break, was led by nonprofit Project Unloaded in partnership with nonprofit After School Matters, which paid the teen participants $150.

Since 2023, the organization has run a six-week summer program where teens get more time to research gun violence statistics and create catchy social media videos. But the spring break program was a first for Project Unloaded, according to Nina Vinik, founder and president of Project Unloaded.

Project Unloaded focuses on social media creation because that鈥檚 where 鈥測oung people today are going to find information,鈥� Vinik said.

鈥淎ll of our programs combine firearm risk education for young people with social media skill building, so we鈥檙e effectively teaching young people how to use social media as a way to make positive change in their communities,鈥� she said.

Last year, 18.6% of the victims of fatal and non-fatal shootings in Chicago were 19 years old or younger, almost one percentage point higher than the year before but a drop from about 20% in 2023, according to .

A 2022 survey of 989 Chicago parents found that , ranging from hearing gunshots to being shot. One-fifth of those children experienced mental health symptoms as a result.

Last week during Chicago Public Schools鈥� spring break, Owens and his peers showed up to the After School Matters offices in the Kilbourn Park neighborhood and learned some gun ownership statistics: People with a gun at home are twice as likely to be killed, according to According to people who owned a gun were four times more likely to be shot during an assault compared with those who didn鈥檛 have a gun on them.

The teens then learned how to create effective social media campaigns that direct people to a website with more information on studies related to gun ownership. They spent a day with staff from iO improv theater to 鈥渃ome out of their shells,鈥� said Olivia Brown, associate director of youth engagement at Project Unloaded who led the spring break program. They also watched videos from other content creators to learn that a good video has a hook, a main message, and then a call to action, Brown said.

鈥淭hey were like, 鈥極h, it鈥檚 kind of like writing a persuasive essay,鈥欌�� Brown said, who agreed with them. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like, you got to get your reader, aka your viewer, on your side.鈥�

The teens practiced shooting videos with their phones. Then, Project Unloaded鈥檚 digital strategist helped them create their final videos with his equipment.

On the Friday of spring break, the last day of their program, the teens presented their videos in groups of three or four. They walked up to the front of the room, some appearing shy, facing their peers and invited guests who included content creators.

Their videos, which lasted less than 30 seconds, will be added to an ongoing advertising campaign created by last summer鈥檚 cohort of teens, called

One group presented a video showcasing a fictional 鈥淭otally Safe News鈥� network, where one of the participants played a correspondent who initially says owning a gun offers safety. Then, the screen bleeps out, and the correspondent fixes the newscast to say owning a gun doubles the risk of homicide.

鈥淔acts don鈥檛 care about opinions,鈥� the correspondent says.

Owens鈥� group made a video where the camera toggles between the teens playing a video game while they discuss the statistics associated with owning a gun.

In another group鈥檚 video, one of the teens says he owns a gun, and his peer walks up and puts a clown wig on him. The audience in the room laughed.

Vinik emphasized that they don鈥檛 鈥渢ell any young person what to do or what to think or what not to do,鈥� rather, they want to arm them with information 鈥渢o make the best decision that they can for themselves.鈥�

The program did appear to change some of the teens鈥� minds: Project Unloaded representatives said they saw a 30% drop among the participants who are interested in owning a gun. One of them is Makayla Mason, 16, who鈥檚 a junior at Lane Tech High School, who said she considered buying a gun when she gets older.

鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 even want to get one anymore,鈥� she said.

Owens, who wants to be a boxer when he gets older, said the social media skills he learned could be useful in helping to promote himself one day.

As for gun ownership? The program didn鈥檛 change his mind: He鈥檚 still considering buying a gun one day.

鈥淣ow I just know the risks of it, which is good,鈥� he said.

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Child care worries have been made worse this summer by federal cuts and depleting pandemic funds, and they aren鈥檛 expected to ease by the first day of school. While their kids might have gotten a rest, parents reported longer commutes and newfound stress.

A dozen parents from across the state told Mississippi Today about summer child care plans for their toddlers and elementary school-aged children. They shared a mix of anxiety about finding care and frustration with existing options.

Parents have had more reasons to be anxious about those options this summer than in previous ones. A loss of federally funded summer programming for youth, added fees for day care tuition and the loss of vouchers to subsidize tuition costs have changed the landscape of child care.

For Shequite Johnson, a professor at Mississippi Valley State University, it has meant driving 45 minutes in the opposite direction of her job for day care.

鈥淚鈥檝e had to leave my 13-year-old with my 4-year-old,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd you鈥檙e put in a situation where you have to make these decisions. Some are even leaving their babies at home by themselves for five hours and checking on them during lunch hour.鈥�

She had to pull her 4-year-old boy from a day care in her hometown because of excessive fees. She was charged a $20 late fee at pickup, a $100 registration fee for each of her two boys, and a $150 supplies fee that was announced in June on top of the $135 weekly fee.

The Mississippi Department of Human Services recently announced a cutback on vouchers that subsidize child care costs. Without Johnson’s child care voucher, her nearby options were limited to a city-run program in an unsafe neighborhood and three programs in aging facilities.

Delta Health Alliance runs free and reduced summer programming for elementary-aged children. But Johnson makes more than the income cut-off.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a crisis right now in Mississippi,鈥� said Carol Burnett, executive director of Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative. 鈥淭he lack of affordable child care prevents employers from keeping their workforce. And yet the state of Mississippi wants people to go back to work.鈥�

鈥淧arents are having to make choices. And none of them are good,鈥� she added.

The聽Child Care Initiative operates a program that connects single moms with higher-paying jobs and covers the costs of child care during the transition. The organization is also advocating for the Mississippi Department of Human Services to spend some of the $156 million in unspent Temporary Assistance for Needy Families on Mississippi鈥檚 Child Care Payment Program.

The Child Care Development Fund, which nationally supports these voucher state programs, relied on pandemic-era funding that ran out in September. The Department of Human Services to continue serving the same number of families 鈥� but .

In April, the department put a hold on renewals for child care vouchers except for deployed military parents, parents who are TANF recipients, foster children guardians, teen parents, parents of special needs children and homeless parents. As a result, .

The department will keep the hold until the number of enrollees drops to 27,000 or its budget goes in monthly costs. As of Friday, it had no further update but said it will have an announcement in the next couple of weeks.

Using TANF funds unspent from past years regardless of whether they were allocated for child care assistance is prohibited, . However, the TANF state office can use the leftover funds to form a direct payment program. and enacted this policy.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regional manager Eric Blanchette with Mississippi Department of Human Services Early Childhood Director Chad Allgood, according to an email obtained as part of a records request filed by Mississippi Today into communication regarding TANF funds. As of Friday, there were no plans to enact a similar policy in Mississippi.

A second rent

Monica Ford pays nearly $1,600 in monthly child care costs for three kids. She works as a Shipt delivery driver in addition to her day job as a Magnolia Guaranty Life Insurance Co. auditor. She, her husband and their children recently had to move in with his parents.

鈥淚t鈥檚 more than I鈥檝e paid in rent,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 why I live with my family now.鈥�

She uses a Jackson day care that charges $10 per minute for late pickup. The fees must be paid by the next morning.

Nearly all of the single mothers interviewed said they take on extra work to cover the rising costs of child care in their area. It鈥檚 extra work that sees them spending less time with their children.

Ashley Wilson鈥檚 child care voucher wasn鈥檛 renewed in the spring. She works 55 hours a week at a bingo hall and at Sonic Drive-In.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 get help. That鈥檚 what I don鈥檛 understand,鈥� said Wilson, an Indianola parent.

Her preferred day care option in Indianola charged $185 per week and $20 late fees, which Wilson could not afford. Her sister was able to afford monthly costs because of an arrangement with an Angel 鈥� a benefactor who helps local families with tuition at day care providers.

Wilson tried other day cares in town. Several were in dangerous neighborhoods with staff that left milk bottles to spoil. Her toddler came home wet some afternoons and with cuts another. She gets help from family when she can.

Whitney Harper lost her child care voucher in April. She is lucky when a relative is willing to watch her 2-year old. Lately, she has considered hiring a sitter off , a website that connects parents with local babysitters. In Jackson, where she lives, the hourly rate is .

Most of the day cares in the Jackson metro area charge between $150 and $250 per week, which is more than she can afford as a sales associate at Home Depot.

鈥淚t has been harder this year. They won鈥檛 work around my schedule, but I need the job,鈥� she said of her employer.

鈥楾his is the worst I have seen it鈥�

Day care centers are left on the brink when families lose child care vouchers. Making up the lost revenue has meant higher tuition and fees for some centers and reaching out to private donors for others.

鈥淭hese are small businesses,鈥� Burnette said. 鈥淭he big story in child care is how much it costs to run it. It requires adequate public investment.鈥�

This week, Level Up Learning Center owner and CEO Kaysie Burton visited Greenville鈥檚 Walmart, seeking to persuade the manager to sponsor his employees鈥� child care tuition. She submitted two grant applications and is working on at least three others. Burton鈥檚 business survived flooding and relocation. But the latest voucher cutback could shut her banner-adorned doors to the community

At Level Up Learning Center, 75% of parents rely on child care vouchers. In the last three months, 20 Learning Center parents have lost their child care vouchers yet most have stayed. Burton has a policy of not turning parents away if they are willing to contribute a portion of the weekly rate. She has not increased her tuition or instituted punishing fees.

But making up the lost revenue can be a challenge. Since the cutback, she has let seven teachers go, or roughly a third of her staff.

鈥淲e鈥檙e down to skin and bones right now,鈥� Burton said. 鈥淚 am willing to take anybody that is willing to come partner with us and help us help parents so that their kids can keep coming in.”

When Burton started her business during the COVID-19 pandemic, she saw the need in the Mississippi Delta for affordable, quality child care. She remains committed to helping prepare a future generation of Greenville leadership.

鈥淲e鈥檙e in the thick of it with our parents,” Burton said. “And we all just need help and we need prayer.”

SunShine Daycare owner Barbara Thompson has greeted each parent at the door since she started babysitting neighbors鈥� kids in her living room. The former banker has long had a passion for raising neighborhood children regardless of their parents鈥� status or income. She raised her seven siblings when her mother died when Thompson was 12.

But for the first time in 30 years of running a business in Greenville, Thompson is losing families by the dozen as well as longtime staff. She has leaned heavily on prayer and has reached out to state representatives for help. She fears more departures and the downsizing of her business.

In the last two months, 12 parents pulled their kids from SunShine. She will have to let three teachers go as a result.

鈥淲e won鈥檛 have any children if this continues,鈥� Thompson said.

She regularly informs parents of the child care voucher waitlist and of the process for renewals. Besides caring for children, Thompson advises many young parents in her community. She noticed that state agencies communicate primarily through email, which a lot of her parents don鈥檛 check regularly.

Children who leave her stoop festooned with cartoon characters can face hours alone without parental supervision. Some children will sit and watch television with their grandparents. For Thompson, child care is about raising children to be “productive citizens.鈥� The youngest years are some of the most important, she stressed.

鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 take it from us,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淭hey took from the children. That鈥檚 the world鈥檚 future.鈥�

Waitlisted

Vennesha Price is waitlisted at nearly every day care in Cleveland, where she lives. She鈥檚 been on some of the lists for eight months.

鈥淚f you haven鈥檛 been a resident for five years and you haven鈥檛 navigated the waiting list for five years, it鈥檚 harder to find a spot,鈥� she said.

She found it difficult to both have a productive work day and watch her elementary-aged children. Eventually, she found a day care that was 40 minutes away. She wakes up an hour earlier to make the commute in time before work.

鈥淚鈥檓 a single mother so it鈥檚 very difficult,鈥� Price said. 鈥淎fter my grandmother went on to the Lord, it became a struggle trying to get to the day care in time.鈥�

She started factoring late fees into her monthly budget. She鈥檚 also including the gas money needed for the extra legs of her commute. Her child care costs doubled for June and July.

鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like private school tuition now,鈥� she said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

Last summer, hundreds of thousands of Hoosier families who qualify for food benefits and reduced-price school meals got a summertime boost: $120 per child monthly for food while schools were closed.

But relief for those 669,000 children may only have been a one-time blip. Indiana won鈥檛 participate in a federal summer food service program, known as SUN Bucks, in 2025.聽

鈥淲e made a great step forward last summer in giving families the ability to purchase the food that they need for their kids when they need it. And it just feels like a giant leap backwards to take this program away that the federal government is still operating and we could opt into it,鈥� said Kate Howe, the executive director of the Indy Hunger Network. 鈥淏ut Indiana has decided that they don鈥檛 want to.鈥�

Awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, SUN Bucks with free summertime meals and meals-to-go programs to ensure schoolchildren don鈥檛 go hungry. School breakfasts and lunches are often the only reliable source of nutrition for many students, and they lose access when the academic year ends.

Thirteen states opted out of the SUN Bucks in 2025, mostly those that didn鈥檛 participate in 2024. Indiana, however, has withdrawn after a year of participation, the state confirmed.

Indiana notified the federal oversight agency that it wouldn鈥檛 be participating on Feb. 20, 2025, but didn鈥檛 rule out future years, according to a聽 signed by the deputy director of the Family and Social Services Administration and housed on the Department of Education鈥檚 website. Plans were due to USDA by Feb. 15.

The Indiana Capital Chronicle messaged three state entities on Monday but didn鈥檛 receive requested details 鈥� including why the state withdrew from the program and the cost to administer it 鈥� before the publication deadline.

鈥淲hile SUN Bucks will be discontinued for 2025, students in low-income areas of the state can still receive free summer meals at approximately 1,000 locations (schools and other organizations) through the USDA鈥檚 Summer Food Service Program,鈥� wrote Courtney Bearsch, a spokeswoman for Indiana鈥檚 Department of Education.

Bearsch pointed families toward the USDA鈥檚聽 and Hunger Hotline to identify participating locations. The hotline is accessible Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern Time at 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479) for English speakers or at 1-877-8-HAMBRE (1-877-842-6273) for Spanish speakers.

Securing food in the summer

While in school, children can qualify for free or reduced price breakfasts and lunches. According to state data obtained by the , nearly half of Indiana鈥檚 students qualified for free or reduced meals in 2024, or more than 509,000 children.

However, the state wasn鈥檛 able to tell the Indiana Capital Chronicle why USDA reported 160,000 additional students participated in the SUN Bucks program.

Summer food service programs, in one form or another, have existed for decades. Traditionally, children would need to be on-site to receive meals and wouldn鈥檛 be permitted to take food home.

But the COVID-19 pandemic made large gatherings dangerous, forcing a pivot to grab-and-go meals and, eventually, a direct financial boost to families receiving food benefits.

The initial phase of the direct-to-family program was tied to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). It increased funding for participating families using Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, or EBT. Following the end of the public health emergency on May 11, 2023, the federal government in favor of SUN Bucks 鈥� which also go onto EBT cards but are more narrowly tailored depending on family circumstances.

In Indiana, SUN Bucks were distributed to . According to the USDA, 669,000 children between the ages of 7 and 18 years old were served by the program in 2024 鈥� though students were .

鈥淥bviously, that provides a lot of flexibility,鈥� observed Howe. 鈥淚f they have allergies or dietary restrictions, having that money to purchase the food that works for your family is really important. I have a child with a peanut allergy 鈥� so if my son went to a meal site where they were serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, he wouldn鈥檛 be able to eat that.鈥�

Howe鈥檚 organization doesn鈥檛 directly participate in summertime food programming, which routinely relies on local school districts or local community centers, but does advertising and outreach.

While community centers and participating schools will still offer sit-down or grab-and-go meals, those may be harder for some families to access.

鈥淢aybe you have 13-year-olds that you feel comfortable leaving home alone during the summer when you鈥檙e at work, but you don鈥檛 feel comfortable having them walk around the community to access meals at a free meal site,鈥� said Howe, naming pedestrian safety as a concern.

鈥淚n rural areas 鈥� there might be one meal site per county. And for those you might have to walk or bike many miles in order to get the free meal,鈥� Howe continued. 鈥淪o those meals just become inaccessible to a lot of kids.鈥�

from the Indiana Department of Education shows that the sites are clustered around population centers, potentially shutting out students in rural areas. Outside of cities, most options are tied to local school corporations.

The loss of the program was a setback for advocates like Howe working to feed Indiana鈥檚 hungry, especially in the face of economic uncertainty.

鈥淭he cost of groceries keeps rising. It鈥檚 getting harder and harder to buy those foods that your family needs,鈥� concluded Howe. 鈥淛ust having that little bit of help really makes a difference to families that are struggling.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.

From Aug. 16 through 27, two groups of rising sixth- through ninth-graders embarked on a weeklong intensive STEM camp dubbed DynaMIT, a play on the school鈥檚 name. Founded in 2012 and now organized by about 15 students enrolled in perhaps the country鈥檚 most premier tech university, the free program brings critical thinking, design, science and engineering concepts to life for young people who have never participated in STEM programs before.

Each afternoon, campers worked on individual capstone projects. Boston Latin鈥檚 Steven Miall coded a roleplay game in where a traveler decides between paths in the jungle, ultimately making it out safely or perishing by tiger or hunger.

鈥淚 didn’t know how to do any Scratch before the program, and at the end, I was really, I guess fluent,鈥� Miall said of his 2019 cohort experience. 鈥淜nowing how to use Scratch could help with other different languages of computer science in the future.鈥�

鈥淲e have a lot of access to technological resources and education,鈥� DynaMIT鈥檚 2021 co-director and MIT senior Daniel Zhang said. He described their mission as utilizing their school鈥檚 resources to 鈥渂ring excitement about STEM鈥� to students who don鈥檛 have the economic opportunity to participate in similar paid programs.

Roughly of Boston Public School students are low income, and many of the were cancelled this year out of caution for the pandemic鈥檚 changing conditions. The decision to make the camp virtual for the second summer in a row was made in accordance with MIT policy, and enabled 10 out-of-state students to participate for the first time.

Jacksonville, Florida 9th-grader Emma Lee found DynaMIT in an online search for summer opportunities where she could try her hand at all STEM subject areas, hoping to hone her interests. She said that this summer was the first time she鈥檇 been in an environment with so many kids with similar interests to hers.

鈥淗ere in Florida, I don’t think there are as many opportunities from the colleges because they’re mainly up North,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淓ver since I was little, I鈥檝e always been pretty interested in STEM. I really want to be one of those pioneering females in the future.鈥�

Throughout the academic year, MIT student board members write grants, develop curricula and recruit and train 40 mentors to maintain their 2-to-1 student ratio. In Zoom breakout rooms, no more than two to three mentors and four to six students form a 鈥渇amily鈥� for 鈥減ersonalized guidance and attention鈥� and deeper relationships, Zhang said.

Programming begins with icebreakers and time for students and mentors to check in, and each day focuses on a new subject: math, astronomy, biology, chemistry and finally mechanical engineering. DynaMIT also hosts career panels, inviting scientists and researchers from the university to talk about their professional journeys.

In-person cohorts from past years have witnessed a in action 鈥� the conductive box redirects electric charges away from whatever鈥檚 safely inside, much like a car in a lightning storm. Until 2019, students also toured a pharmaceutical laboratory, Novartis, where many used pipettes for the first time. The company is one of DynaMIT鈥檚 local partners, and provided some materials for this year鈥檚 116 at-home science kits.

Mentors prepared and mailed the packages, which included popsicle sticks for mini hydraulic lifts and modeling clay for human organ simulations, to students鈥� homes. For some activities, students also experimented with objects around the home, like trying to determine the acidity of cleaning fluids in a pH scavenger hunt.

DynaMIT鈥檚 smaller class sizes and final projects, which encouraged students to lean into their interests, helped them stay engaged via Zoom after another virtual school year. When comparing 2019 and 2021 test scores across the country, education researchers estimate deep learning losses in math, with low-income students appearing more adversely affected than their high-income peers.

From space camps in Texas, where reach grade-level thresholds in science, to video game coding programs, families sought out STEM opportunities to try to mitigate learning deficits and re-engage the younger generation this summer.

In Massachusetts, summer school as a way to boost STEM mastery 鈥� the state even committed . And Boston students are eager for more opportunities like DynaMIT, to replace Zoom lectures with project-based learning.

鈥淚t was just more personal. The way that it was taught was more of a pick your route, and choose how you want to do things, which I like a lot more than the traditional science class where it’s like, 鈥楾his is your assignment, this is what you learn about,鈥欌�� said 8th-grader Hannah Steves, a 2020 virtual alum interested in pursuing environmental engineering.

The organization is in the process of surveying alumni from the past decade to measure impacts. Of the 70 alum respondents, roughly 63 percent say DynaMIT has had a strong or very strong influence on their future career aspirations, according to survey results.

Willers Yang, a first-generation college student and 2021 co-director, said they try to excite an interest in all kinds of science 鈥� from coding and psychology to chemistry 鈥� before students internalize ideas about the difficulty or accessibility of those careers. fields.

鈥淒ynaMIT is probably a good program to lead students back to school in the sense that we鈥檙e not structuring our days as lectures, we鈥檙e structuring our days as a sequence of activities and experiments that they can have fun building 鈥�,鈥� Yang said. 鈥淪howing them that they can have a place in STEM in the future as a scientist or engineer, giving them a closer look.鈥�