Program Service Determinants

Play

Surplus Energy Theory Relaxation Theory

Catharsis Theory Preparation Theory Leisure

Recreation

SelfExpression Theory Behaviors

From Kraus’ Recreation and Leisure in Modern Society tenth Edition 2015 (Daniel D. Mclean, PhD; Amy Hurd, PhD, CPRE

Surplus-Energy Theory- This theory asserts that running, playing soccer, or jumping rope on the playground are done because people have excess energy to use. Some criticism of this theory that play also occurs in people with little energy and does not account for nonphysical play.

Relaxation Theory - This theory that regards people use play to restore energy. Play was seen to energize a person who was exhausted from work, school, or the stresses of daily life, and when a person is mentally or physically drained, play can restore energy.

Preparation Theory - This theory suggests that play is a means for children to practice adult life. Children who play house, doctor, or school, are preparing, to experience, these things as older children or adults. A weakness of this theory is that it doesn't account for adult play

Catharsis Theory - This theory is based on the view that play - particularly competitive or active play - serves as a safety valve for the expression of bottled-up emotions.

Self-Expression Theory - Elmer Mitchell and Bernard Mason, believed that specific types of activities that an individual engages are the way they express their personalities. They are also influenced by such factors as physiological and anatomic structure physical fitness level, environment, and family and social background.

Agon Play - Refers to activities that are competitive and in which the equality of the participants' chances of winning is artificially created. Winners are determined through such qualities as speed, endurance, strength, memory skills, and ingenuity.

Alea Play - Includes games of chance where the outcome is through fate and the contestants have no control.

Ilinx Play - Consists of play activities based on the pursuit of vertigo or dizziness. ex. whirling rapidly, use of swings and spring riders. for adults, may be achieved through amusement park rides such as roller coasters.

Paidia Play Behavior - Involves exuberance, freedom, and uncontrolled and spontaneous gaiety.

Ludus Play Behavior - Characterized by rules and conventions and represents calculated and contrived activity.

Huzinga’s - Characterized play as voluntary activity marked by freedom, never imposed by physical necessity or moral duty, and separate from ordinary life

Two types of activities: 1) Contests for something 2) Representations of something

Greek Historical Perspective of Play - Play has valuable role in the lives of children

Play in Personality Development - Play prompts freedom, enjoyment, fun, self-expression, creativity, imagination, and self-confidence. Encourages interaction, cooperative sharing, and conflict resolution. Contributes to individual personality development.

Play in the Psychoanalytical Perspectives - Ability to gain control and competence. Helps resolve conflicts. Serves as a therapeutic function. Allows parents to engage fully with children.

Stimulus-Arousal Theory - Seeks stimulus to gain knowledge. Need for excitement risk, surprise, and pleasure. Not all actives are fun, and enjoyable, can be boring, unpleasant, or even physically painful.

Competence-Effectance Theory - A way to test the environment, solve problems, gain a sense of mastery and accomplishment. Involves experimentation or information seeking. Repetition is an important component to master action.

Csikszentmihalyi "Flow" Principle - Process where player's skills balance the challenge level of the tasks. Skill level and challenge linked to satisfaction. True play is a sense of flow, wherein totally absorbed by the activity.

Classical View of Leisure - Aristotle regarded leisure as a "State of being." Activity performed for its own sake. An Athenian view of leisure—work was ignoble. Linked to an aristocratic class. Does not fit with expectations of modern society. Cannot a privileged reserved for the few, must be widely available to all.

Leisure as a Symbol of Social Class - Work of Thorstein Veblen - Theory of the Leisure Class. Focus is on the idle rich and leisure as a way of life. Still somewhat relevant today among idle rich. Consumerism is characterized as the modern leisure ethic; "consumerist leisure"

Leisure as Unobligated Time - Most common approach to leisure. Discretionary time—that not used for workrelated tasks, study, or social involvements based on work. Also excludes time devoted to essential life-maintenance activities such as sleep, eating and personal care.

Leisure as Activity - Activity engaged in during free time. Activity-based and linked to recreation. Jay B. Nash strong proponent—activity is doing Critics suggest it is too simplistic, doesn't consider those who are unemployed or choose to stay at home. Not all pleasurable activities are in free time. Doesn't consider individual perceptions about particular activities.

Leisure as a State of Being Marked by Freedom - Helping individuals achieve fulfillment and self-enrichment. Implies a lifestyle that is holistic (not sharply segmented). Goal is "self-actualization" resulting in being creative, involved, expressive, and fully alive. Criticism focuses on ability to achieve freedom

Leisure as Spiritual Expression- Focus on spiritual expression or religious values. Founded in faith-based social welfare organizations of the late 19th century. Leisure connection to spirituality may not be obvious to many people. Remains resonant in today's society.

Recreation - An activity that people engage in during their free time, that people enjoy, and that people recognize as having socially redeeming values. The activity performed is less important than the reason for performing the activity, which is the outcome.

Play - Imaginative, intrinsically motivated, non-serious, freely chosen, and actively engaging. Play is typified by spontaneity, joyfulness, and inhibition and is done not to an end but for its inherent pleasure.

Motives for Participation- Socializing Behaviors, Associative Behaviors, Competitive Behaviors, Risk-Taking Behaviors, and Exploratory Behaviors.

Socializing Behaviors - Activities such as dancing, dating, going to parties, or visiting friends, in which people relate to one another in informal and non-stereotyped ways.

Associative Behaviors - Activities in which people group together because of common interests, such as street rod car clubs; stamp-, coin, or gem-collecting groups; or hobbyists.

Competitive Behaviors - Activities including all the popular sport and games, but also competition in the performing arts or in outdoor activities in which individuals compete against the environment or even against their own limitation.

Risk-Taking Behaviors - AN increasingly popular form of participation in which the stakes are often physical injury or possible death.

Exploratory Behaviors - Activities such as travel and sightseeing, hiking, scuba diving, spelunking, and other pursuits that open new environments to the participant.

Solitary Play - Play that is carried on without others nearby.

Parallel Play - Children play side by side without meaningful interplay.

Associative Play - Children share a common game but concentrate on their own individual efforts rather than the group activity.

Cooperative Play - Children actually join together in games.

"Melting Pot" Perspective - Gives leisure-service providers the opportunity to merge groups to allow people to learn different races, cultures, and ethnicity together.

"Mosaic" Perspective - Allows programmers to offer activities, programs, and events tailored to the unique wants, values, attitudes, and beliefs of a particular group.

VISION

To exceed our users expectations in our delivery of excellent parks, trails, public facilities, activities, programs, and services.

MISSION

“The mission of the Brownsville Parks and Recreation Department is to directly contribute to the City’s quality of life by providing exceptional programs, facilities, parks, and trails while celebrating and preserving the community’s natural and cultural heritage.”

DEPARTMENT WORK PLAN

The departmentstrategically provides servicesto meet the vision and mission of the city and elected officials via the annual work plan which aligns with the priorities of the City Commission.

Constituents Interests and Recreational Service Needs

It is important to live the value of Participation not only with employees but the public as well, seeking community input is vital to the success of support of parks and recreation services. Individuals, organizations, advisory boards, etc. all provide feedback to the department as well as surveys, social media comments, in person, phone, or electronic/virtual comments are collected and responded to and influence decision making for the department.

(Adapted from the City of El Paso)

Human-Social Responsibility – The Department provides services without discrimination or preference regarding age, ethnicity, culture, race, ability, gender, language preference, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or nationality. Staff recognizes and is responsible for social standards including respecting the dignity of all people, honoring diversity, and acting with integrity, honesty, genuineness, and objectivity in providing desirable leisure services to the community. The City’s values, as well as the Code of Conduct, are reflected in all aspects of the department’s programs and services.

Community Responsibility – The Department provides a variety of leisure services and programs that demonstrate the commitment for addressing the needs of the community including youth sports, out of school care, health and wellness programs, senior services, sports and aquatic opportunities. Also, free special events are provided throughout the community. Numerous partnerships have been established with other agencies and organizations to ensure the community has access to as many resources as possible.

Environmental Responsibility – The Department’s programs and practices include preservation and conservation such as recycling, conservation efforts and a sustainability plan. Numerous Environmental programming opportunities are available for the clientele: Community Gardens, Keep Brownsville Beautiful, Outdoor Junior Ranger, Senior, Adult, and special needs programming include opportunities for conservation and environmental sustainability information.

Parks and Recreation Department Outreach and Community Opportunities

The Department has a wide range of opportunities for community outreach to engage community members to participate in our services, from school career days to city and parks and recreation events, community clean ups. Many offerings allow local businesses, micro entrepreneurs, and partnerships to grow and get exposure by participating or sponsoring activities or events. Brownsville proudly boasts many successes are due to the willingness of so many partnerships to provide offerings to the public.

Community Inventory

The Brownsville Parks and Recreation Department provides recreation and leisure services that fill the gap in offerings rather than competing with the local market share. Assessing the local market is important to determine progressing needs of the department based on what local businesses and organizations are providing. In the past ten years the market has changed in providing after -school going from a significant need to nearly none as the Brownsville Independent School District began acquiring grants for after school programs.

CONTEXT

Program Development

Brownsville, Texas is a historic city founded in 1848. It lies on the southernmost tip of Texas, nestled near the mouth of the Rio Grande River, which serves as the U.S.-Mexico border. The Rio Grande watershed includes three Resaca systems (old distributaries of the Rio Grande), 33 miles of which span throughout Brownsville and are considered parkland as per the city charter. It is the 131st-largest city in the United States and 18th-largest in Texas. It is part of the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan area. The city is known for its year-round subtropical climate, deep-water seaport, history, wildlife, trails, and Hispanic culture. It is the county seat, the city and county governments are major employers. Other primary employers fall within the service, trade, and manufacturing industries, including a growing aerospace and space transportation sector. It operates international trading through the Port of Brownsville, however it has one of the highest poverty rates in the United States but is actively trying to combat that statistic. Due to significant historical events, the city has multiple houses and battle sites listed under the National Register of Historic Places. It was the scene of several key events of the American Civil War, such as the Battle of Brownsville and the Battle of Palmito Ranch. The city was also involved in the Texas Revolution, as well as the Mexican–American War. Brownsville's idiosyncratic geographic location has made it a wildlife refuge center. Several state parks and historical sites are protected by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and hosts a National Park Service site Palo Alto Battlefield. The City of Brownsville strives to provide residents with services that cater to improving the quality of life. Each City department is involved in long-term planning projects, safety, and to provide our customers with efficient and quality municipal services with courtesy and concern. The city aims to be the model of innovation, inclusion, and empowerment where bold people and ideas thrive. With a population of 186,738 and in accordance with City data, Brownsville illustrates above-average national prevalence of residents who are overweight- 34%, obese- 50%, and living with diabetes- 28%. Brownsville is one of the nation’s poorest cities with over 34% of the population living below the poverty level and 45% of families with children in poverty (Census Bureau 2016). Only 27% of jobs in Brownsville pay more than $12 per hour and the two fastest growing industries pay less than $8 per hour (EDA). The most recent U. S. Census Bureau QuickFacts data reports that of the residents, 93.2% are Latino, 5.7% are White and 0.4% are Black. The median household income is reported at $32,894 compared to Texas at $53,207.

The department takes an active role, when opportunities align with its mission, vision, and goals, to combat health and income disparities, the City of Brownsville (COB) has applied for and received several discretionary and formula federal grants; of notable mention is the award of SAFER from the Department of Homeland Security. The Parks and Recreation Department received grant funding from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for the creation of a Senior Center and the Texas Recreation and Park Society for Parks Promote Quality of Life grant, and National Recreation and Park Association’s Meet Me At the Park for the Inclusion Caboose Project, to name a few. The city also benefited from being a five-time KaBOOM! Playful City USA, a recognition program honoring cities that ensure children, particularly low-income families, get the active play they need to thrive. In March 2019, the City of Brownsville was one of four cities in the nation selected to host the national non-profit organization City Parks Alliance’s PARKXCHANGE workshop (CPA). The workshop’s intent was to provide tailored solutions for the diverse demands and limited resources for urban park systems, which require city leaders to work more effectively among sectors, leveraging civic assets as well as funding and expertise from public, nonprofit, and private realms. The workshop allowed park and recreation leaders to:

• Build skills for effective cross-sector park partnerships, developing their collaborative governance capacity.

• Seed replication of innovation by learning about best practices and effective strategies from other cities with similar challenges and opportunities. • Support new collaborative partnerships by hosting workshops locally with cross-sector participation.

Along with a diverse group of leaders from all sectors of the area, the facilitation of community-based programs has already spurred an upswing of health initiatives in the city prior to the CPA workshop. In 2013, the city began construction on one of the first recreational trails in Brownsville with the creation of the Belden Trail. This trail starts at Riverside Park, links with Prax Orive Jr. Park, continues with a connection to the 6th Street bikeway in downtown Brownsville and is currently under construction to connect with the historic Buena Vida neighborhood. The city continued its interest in improving its most important asset, its residents, by signing on to the Active Plan in 2016. In collaboration with nine other municipalities in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville committed to develop and promote active transportation throughout Cameron County. Through the implementation of the Active Plan, the city seized the opportunity for residents to safely live and enjoy a more accessible city. The PARKXCHANGE Workshop was an opportunity to capitalize on this momentum and bring these leaders together to continue the advancement in health equity in Brownsville. The PARKXCHANGE Workshop led the participants in several discussions regarding Brownsville’s community factors. The two that became most prominent in the discussion were

1) plentiful spaces and resources for healthy seniors, and

2) supporting healthy lifestyle resources for children. While both generations are in different stages of their life, both have a dire need for attention to their health equity. Through the workshop, two different opportunities rose to the top to combat the ongoing health and park concerns of the community. With technical assistance from CPA, the City of Brownsville developed the two initiatives will facilitate these plans through a mini grant from CPA.

This case study example demonstrates one of the ways BPARD develops programs and partnerships to sustain programs, by gathering stakeholders and seeking community input to determine department programs and services.

BPARD SERVICE MODEL

1

Program Development Process

2

Life Cycle Analysis

3

Core Programs

4

Cost Recovery & Program Standards

5

Recreation Program System

The Program Development Process sets program goals, standards and components, develops a program plan and assesses, implements, and evaluates the program and modifies or terminates as needed. Life Cycle Analysis is a strategy used for managing and communicating to the public and management the stage a program is in: Introduction, Take-Off, Growth, Mature, Saturation, or Decline. Core Programs monitor cancelation rates, cost per participant, program and or facility availability, program availability

and distribution by age group. Cost Recovery and Program Standards are categorized as essential important or value-added, enterprise facilities are target with the highest costrecovery rate however, the department struggles with waived fees, the ability to increase fees to market rate, and mixed support about intended uses of some facilities such as Golf, the Sports Park, and the Events Center. Recreation Program System monitors key performance indicators such as transactions, number of total of participants, relevant demographic data, ratios, customer satisfaction, benchmarks, and staff performance.

LEVEL OF SERVICE GUIDING PRINCIPLES

• Ask the public – survey, often. Adults expected to pay, youth subsidize. • Train employeeso On leadership and public service.  Staff retreats, Town Halls, Employee Development Programs, Internal and External Conference Participation. o To understand the philosophy of services – core, essential, private, public, etc. the value of different prices.  Public good vs private good – rent for private wedding, the taxpayer shouldn’t pay for a private wedding.  Public value vs the private value.  Picnic shelter – first come first serve vs rental and exclusive use, taking it away from the public use. • Communications, Marketing, and Promotion – A redundant theme from the 2015 Master Plan feedback was to communicate, market, and promote what BPARD does more. The department has taken great lengths and efforts to prioritize this effort, utilizing a program and event planning model that targets these three key areas. • Fair use of Facilities – use of an established system for equitable access to facilities (fields, venues, picnic pavilions, etc.). • Fair Pricing o Utilize different funding sources - how to supplement costs – sources, how to gauge them, provide a new service, facility, program. o Based on an established pricing philosophy and cost recovery goals based on existing costs. Utilize a graduated over time pricing strategy to raise fees to market rate. o Implement fee waiver/reduction request policy and pricing discounts and non-prime use rates/

Program areas are considered as core if they meet a majority of the following categories:

• The program area has been provided for a long period of time (over 4-5 years) and/or is expected by the community. • The program area consumes a large portion (5% or more) of the agency’s overall budget.

• The program area has wide demographic appeal. • There is a tiered level of skill development available within the programs area’s offerings. • There is full-time staff responsible for the program area. • There are facilities designed specifically to support the program area. • The agency controls a significant percentage (20% or more) of the local market.

Core Services Overall community benefit which includes programs and services that benefit the community as a whole. Whether a program, facility, infrastructure, or service they can provide alternatives to unsafe or illegal activities, increase socialization and safety needs, or increase property values or business investment in the community. Programs falling into the Important or Value-Added classifications generally represent programs that receive lower priority for subsidization. Services are covered through taxes paid by residents which include but are not limited to:

• Parks • Trails

• Recreation (Outdoor Adventure, Senior Programs, Special Needs, After-School, Summer Camp, etc.) • Special Events • Golf • Events Center • Sports & Athletics

Essential Programs in the Essential category are critical to achieving the departmental mission and providing community-wide benefits, and therefore generally receive priority for tax-dollar subsidization. Essential PARD services, programs, and facilities provide a benefit to the entire community, makes Brownsville a community where people want to live, enjoy, and play.

Important Important programs contribute to the organizational mission but are not essential to it; therefore, cost recovery for these programs should be high (i.e., at least 80% overall).

Value Added Value-Added programs are not critical to the mission and should be prevented from drawing upon limited public funding, so overall cost recovery for these programs should be near to or in excess of 100%.

PRICING STRATEGY - The pricing of programs and services is established based on the cost of services, overlaid onto programs areas or specific events, and strategically adjusted according to market factors and/or policy goals. The following best practices in pricing involve establishing prices and fees using the following strategies:

• Age Segment – Different prices are offered for different ages. • Family/Household Status – Different prices are offered for family or household groups. • Residency – Different prices are offered for residents (i.e., jurisdictional taxpayers) versus non-residents. • Weekday/Weekend – Different prices are offered for different days of the week. • Prime/Non-Prime Time – Differed prices are offered for different times of the day. • Group Discounts – Different prices are offered for groups versus individuals. • Location – Different prices are offered at different locations. • Competition (Market Rate) – Competitors’ prices influence your price. • Cost Recovery Goals – Department cost recovery goals influence your price • Customers’ Ability to Pay – Scholarships, subsidies, discounted rates, etc. are offered for participants needing financial assistance.

Essential Important

• Recuperate 0-50% of Market Rate • Recuperate 80100% of Market

Rate

Value Added

• Recuperate 80200% of Market

Rate

Incorporating Design Thinking into Program Planning

Rossman & Deurdmen, 2019 state that the best experiences accomplish

• Producing positive emotions • Engage attention • Help develop and strengthen relationships • Provide meaning through connections to something larger than ourselves • Promote competence, and • Grant autonomy

By incorporating design thinking into program planning, it will help PARD staff systematically think, teach, learn, and apply human centered techniques to solve problems in a creative and innovative way, especially throughout the user experience.

PARD seeks to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and rather than redefine the “problem” guide community members to redefine the problem to identify alternative strategies and solutions; all the while keeping the people at forefront in alignment with the City’s people centric philosophy.

Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another. - John Maxwell