The guide is designed to help states and localities create or strengthen their own youth councils. It is a synthesis of theory and practice that provides a general framework for thinking about youth councils, explaining the principles for youth action and the importance of youth engagement. It also incorporates advice and lessons from people in…

While states have put in place scores of youth polices, no state can claim to have a single, coherent youth policy that serves as a lens for assessing and planning individual policies. However, across the country, states are working to develop more coordinated approaches to youth policy. This paper highlights the work that states are doing to…

The past five years have seen a ground swell in public attention and public policy aimed at increasing the availability of after-school programs for children and young teens during the "risk" hours when safety, supervision and homework are a top concern. Popularly called "after-school," these programs represent a new and growing variation on the…

This guide is a joint effort from the Forum for Youth Investment and the Finance Project designed to help decision makers and community leaders both learn the importance of a good children youth and families (CYF) resource map and lay out the process of creating or improving a CYF resource map of their own. The handbook has been designed to…

This commentary explores the relationship between mentoring and after-school, two fields that have garnered significant policy attention and momentum over the past several years. The question is not which makes more sense--mentoring or after-school--but how can we utilize both strategies to increase the likelihood that young people have the…

On February 3, 2003, the Bush Administration unveiled its request to cut funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program by 40 percent in fiscal year 2004. This date also marked the administration's release of When Schools Stay Open Late: The National Evaluation of the 21st-Century Learning Centers Program, First Year Findings, the…

With high school reform now a front-burner issue, districts and communities cannot afford to have high school after-school on the back burner. In this commentary, we focus on how and why the high school reform and after-school movements need to be woven together to produce a solid system of learning opportunities and developmental supports…

High school is becoming the next frontier for after-school advocates. The conceptual and practical leaps from programming for elementary and middle school students to high school students are significant, with huge marketing challenges. Arguing persuasively for investments in this population requires revisiting almost every strategic decision,…

While significant progress has occurred over the past several years regarding the expansion of the quantity and quality of after-school opportunities, the ambitious idea of "after-school for all" remains a distant goal. In this commentary, we push beyond some of the numbers to take a close look at questions related to access and equity,…