Presents a framework to guide evaluation activities for school and community programs that attempt to improve career development outcomes for students K-16. Discusses three essential components to this framework: a comprehensive career development model for students; a framework to identify post-high school outcomes; and a program evaluation…

Describes the application of multilevel statistical models to the evaluation of a multi-site community-based intervention and explicates key issues in the design,analysis, and presentation of results. The initiative described, "Fighting Back, is designed to reduce the demand for illegal drugs and alcohol in a community. (SLD)

For the first time ever, Citizen Through Sports Alliance (CTSA) convened a panel of youth sports experts from across the country to evaluate youth sports in the United States and articulate its successes and failures. The panel evaluated only community-based youth sports programs, focusing on those that serve children ages 6 to 14. The panel is…

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation began developing a multisite initiative in 1986 that would employ community-generated strategies to reduce the use and abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs. From a community planning phase that began in 1990 through two phases of implementation, the Fighting Back initiative had been in place for twelve years,…

The people at Inverness Research Associates spent 12 years studying Community Science Workshops (CSW) in California and in six other states. They gathered statistics on the scale, scope, and cost-efficiency of CSW services to youth. They observed youth at work in the shops--taking apart computers, repairing bikes, growing plants, and so on--and…

Organizational capacity refers to the ability of nonprofit organizations to fulfill their missions in an effective manner. Through the JVA Consulting Colorado Compassion Initiative, a comprehensive, capacity-building program was developed and provided for faith- and community-based organizations. This study examined faith-based organizations'…

Five Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)/Local Education Agency (LEA) programs designed to provide youth with employment-related services were reviewed. Onsite visits were conducted to assess program development and implementation in Houston, Worcester (Massachusetts), Minnesota, Fairfax County (Virginia), and Los Angeles. (Each area…

A guide for college and university educators who manage service-learning programs, or programs that support student involvement in the community, is presented. A systematic approach to planning and managing service-learning programs is presented, management functions for supporting a service-learning system are identified, and ideas on…

AmeriCorps is a national initiative that involves citizens in strengthening America's communities through community service. This document presents findings of a cost-benefit analysis of two AmeriCorps programs in Washington State--the Hoquiam Project and the Lake Chelan Project. In calculating annual costs, the study included both federal dollars…

This primer on youth development is intended to help communities rethink youth services in the context of the larger community. It offers guidance about the changes necessary to plan for and accept new ideas. The youth development approach advocated by the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) suggests that helping young people achieve their…

This newsletter feature issue focuses on quality assurance and innovative efforts to enhance service quality for persons with developmental disabilities. Individual articles include: "Redesigning Quality Assurance" (Clarence J. Sundram); "Quality Assurance, Quality Enhancement" (Charlie Lakin et al.); "Challenging…

This document contains a preliminary report on the implementation of Wisconsin's Community Options Program (COP), a program designed both to divert persons from entering nursing homes and to deinstitutionalize current nursing home residents who can be effectively served by community-based alternatives. The introduction of this report provides a…

This document is a report evaluating the Community Options Program (COP) operated in Wisconsin in 1982 and 1983. The report states that the program is designed to reduce the institutionalization of disabled persons by supporting these persons in the community, thereby decreasing expenditures for long term support and slowing the demand for nursing…

This manual was intended to help community leaders plan and conduct consumer education workshops. The content is in twelve sections as follows: (1) covers the need for consumer education and several consumer education definitions; (2) presents some possible workshop topics; (3) describes methods that can be used to ascertain the consumers' needs,…

This report evaluates the pilot Intensive Counseling Program which serves juvenile delinquents with community-based group (eight to ten youths) counseling sessions that meet at least four times a week, and are less expensive and more personalized than traditional residential treatment. Youths and parents contract for the program and must be able…