This paper analyzes the politics of a fund established to support the development of urban children and youth outside of traditional classrooms. It examines the fund's effectiveness in establishing after school programs that provide safety, opportunities to connect with adults, and engagement with communities and evaluates implications for urban…

This report describes economic development programs operated by California Community Colleges during fiscal year 1998-1999. Report highlights include: (1) 60 of 107 community colleges (48 of 72 districts) operated an economic development program; (2) eight economic development programs engaged primarily in delivering training and technical…

AEL's contract with the U.S. Department of Education includes work partnering with faith-based organizations in Kanawha County, West Virginia, to (1) build their capacity to better serve at-risk youth and (2) document what best helps such organizations to successfully impact youth and their families. One of the first faith-based organizations with…

The Child First Authority (CFA) is a Baltimore (Maryland) community-wide after-school program that seeks to improve the quality of life in low socioeconomic status communities. The CFA, which is funded by local government agencies and coordinated by Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), established after-school programs in 10…

This document presents a report on a 2-year study of community anti-drug coalitions in 11 cities that have community initiatives programs. Through an extensive review of the literature, conversations with prevention experts, and interviews with members of the programs, an examination was made of the lessons learned by the coalitions. Since formal…

Proposes a model for planning activities that will help human service practitioners to prevent emotional problems in a targeted group or community. Provides practitioners with a framework for identifying variables affecting a population, a means for assessing which variables to address, and a structured approach to planning preventive…

Describes a community needs assessment process that moved community decision makers into action. The needs assessment was conducted jointly by program development staff members from the office of continuing education and public service at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and by members of a small rural community. (CT)

A study of 65 Australian adults with mental retardation who lived in staff-supported community residences examined the impact of size of residence on residents' opportunities for choice. Participants were interviewed and assessed using the Choice Questionnaire and other testing instruments. Results found that residents in smaller settings with…

In developing evaluative methods within the field of mental handicap services, evaluators should be more explicit about values they adopt and about lifestyles that services should be enabling people to achieve. An approach is described for evaluating the "All-Wales Strategy for the Development of Services for Mentally Handicapped…

A survey of 43 high school principals about the usefulness of feedback reports generated through the evaluation of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation's Community Health Promotion Grants Program suggests that principals found the reports very valuable in a number of ways, especially in designing and implementing programs. (SLD)

Examines the long-term effects of two Australian community antismoking campaigns that used television advertising to set the community agenda. Finds that, at the beginning of the campaigns, there was an immediate 2 percent drop in male and female smoking prevalence, followed by a 1.5 percent decline per year among males. (FMW)

Effects of project participation were evaluated at two Johannesburg sites of "Growing Up in Cities"--a project that involves children in documenting and improving urban environments. Survey responses of participating children and their parents revealed increased awareness of the environment and community needs, better communication…

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the development of safety, permanency, and child well-being indicators by using administrative data sets as well as by using these indicators as tools for evaluating Florida's Community-Based Care (CBC) initiative. Longitudinal data from 37 counties including 4 counties that implemented community-based…

This article examines a national applied theatre programme coordinated through the Department of Child, Youth and Family in New Zealand. The programme uses dramatic processes to create opportunities for communities to discuss and find their own answers to the issues of child abuse and family violence. The programme utilises a sophisticated in-role…

Chronic school absenteeism has been identified as a precursor to undesirable outcomes in adolescence, including academic failure, school dropout, and juvenile delinquency. In spite of its effect on adolescent functioning, little research has been conducted to identify effective methods of truancy reduction, particularly among elementary-aged…