The purpose of this paper is to chronicle the efforts of Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (RMYC), an outdoor experiential education service program, to establish itself as an evidence based program, highlight the constraints encountered around accomplishing this, and then suggest some alternative routes to those currently available. RMYC is typical of…

Practitioners who work with children and young people such as educators, psychologists, and social workers, are required to understand and respond to various sexual behaviours in children and young people. However, there is a dearth of training programmes dealing with sexual development. To reduce over- and under-reporting of risk, which can have…

This study explores the interaction of participants and institutional cultures in adventure education (AE) through the qualitative method of educational criticism and connoisseurship. Three AE programmes were included in this study: a backpacking expedition (11 participants), a challenge course (29 participants), and a multi-activity adventure…

Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is a training program designed to help adults working with children and adolescents identify and respond to youth who are experiencing mental health problems or are in crisis. YMHFA is being implemented in a number of educational, child welfare, and juvenile justice settings across the country with little…

Background: Disadvantaged young women in England have been documented as having unmet needs. This has resulted in the growth of gender-specific intensive intervention programmes in which a more holistic women-centred service approach is implemented. Gender matters because structural inequalities (bias and disadvantaging societal conditions) that…

School connectedness has a significant impact on adolescent outcomes, including reducing risk-taking behavior. This paper critically examines the literature on school-based programs targeting increased connectedness for reductions in risk taking. Fourteen articles describing seven different school-based programs were reviewed. Programs drew on a…

Peer education programs are a popular approach to preventing HIV infection among adolescents. While the programs show promise for effectively preventing HIV among the peers who are provided education, little evaluation research has been conducted to determine if the peer educators themselves experience knowledge, attitude, and behavior changes. A…

Recent research on social emotional learning (SEL) curricula has shown that implementing SEL instruction within the classroom is a qualified evidenced-based intervention to help students develop fundamental skills for success in life. SEL curricula help teach students essential skills such as recognizing and managing emotions, developing caring…

Childhood obesity has become a major health problem. Approximately 17 percent of U.S. children six to 17 years of age are obese--that is, their sex-and-age-specific Body Mass Index (BMI) is at or above the 95th percentile. This proportion is two-and-a-half times higher than it was 25 years ago. Obesity during childhood often carries into…

Mentoring is a promising approach to promote healthy development and prevent poor youth outcomes; however, bad mentoring experiences have yielded negative results. Thus, it is critical that youth service providers take heed of the current research and resources for establishing an effective youth mentoring program. Given the increased interest in…

The authors review the types of experiential peace education programs available to teens in the US and provide a classification guide for educators, parents, other concerned adults and teens who may be interested in developing conflict, peace and/or violence prevention knowledge, skills and attitudes. The authors identify experiential programs in…

Adolescents defined as at-risk typically lack healthy models of parenting and receive no parenthood education prior to assuming the parenting role. Unless a proactive approach is implemented, the cyclic pattern of dysfunctional parenting-- including higher rates of teen pregnancy, increased childhood abuse, low educational attainment,…

This report focuses on the seven original Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) projects selected for funding in 2003. Three of the original seven projects were selected for a national random assignment evaluation in 2005; however, this report only focuses on program operations prior to joining the random assignment evaluation for the three…

Describes a demonstration project for placement planning and support service in a public agency. Reports program outcomes of increased stability in foster care placements for adolescents who had multiple placement failures and who were alienated from family and other social institutions. (NH)

Defines youth development programs and reviews the program evaluation literature. Discusses (1) positive-behavior focused competency/asset enhancing programs, (2) problem-behavior focused competency/asset enhancing programs, and (3) resistance skills-based prevention programs. Includes an appendix of detailed summaries of 15 program evaluations.…