Review of the research on at-risk youth and resilient youth (successful youth despite adverse family and environmental situations) focuses on environmental protective factors such as positive relationships and youth participation. Application to park and recreation systems suggests leisure systems can provide such positive factors as a caring…

Describes the Florida Tobacco Pilot Program, a focused anti-tobacco initiative that uses youth advocacy training to accomplish its goals. The paper examines several of the Florida Tobacco Pilot Program's youth-related activities, which are designed to empower participating teens to be successful in resisting tobacco products. (SM)

The Indiana Youth Institute (IYI) is an intermediary agency which supports adults statewide who care about youth. This handbook, which considers young people as resources, serves as a bridge to more information on youth involvement. It defines youth leadership and participation; provides program ideas and strategies; lays the foundation for…

In two chapters, this report describes the objectives of the Coalition for National Service, a group of individuals and organizations that support state and local youth service initiatives, foster discussion and debate on national service, and endorse a national service action agenda. Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of the status of, and…

Summer job programs for youth, including Federal programs and private-public partnerships, have come, over the years, to emphasize either short-term or long-term goals. Short-term goals include providing summer activity to the largest possible number of teens, providing income to economically disadvantaged youth, and providing structured work…

This book presents lessons learned after 4 years of Promising and Effective Practices Network (PEPNet), a project of the National Youth Employment Coalition that identifies and promotes criteria of effective practice in youth employment and development. The book, which provides a cumulative summary of all PEPNet programs, is a resource that brings…

This guide was developed to help concerned community members, groups, and organizations learn about major federal and state funds for employment-related youth programs and to direct them to additional funding resources. The guide discusses several types of employment-related activities that help young people become healthy and productive adults.…

Building on a survey of the role of religious institutions in programs for high-risk youth and consultations with experts in the field, a field demonstration project was implemented to test strategies for using religious institutions to anchor local partnerships aimed at high-risk youth. The partnerships were designed to address the developmental…

This paper describes a tool-and-result methodological approach to the practice and evaluation of an urban community development and gardening project with homeless youth. Over 9 months, at least 40 homeless children and teenagers were involved in the program, and approximately 15 were core participants. The paper critically examines the role of…

Introduces a collection of articles that proposes standards for empirically supported prevention programming for children and youth and steps to integrate prevention science with practice. Articles highlight key research findings and common principles for effective programming across family, school, community, health care, and policy interventions…

Examines how collaborative, community research on adolescents can generate local data to guide community policies and programs on behalf of adolescents and contribute to our scientific knowledge base. Discusses the limited utility of the scientific knowledge base for nonresearchers interested in promoting youth development at the community level.…

Presents findings from a 1-year study of a network of neighborhood and youth programs in a low-income, Latino, Chicago neighborhood. Data from observations and interviews with workers and youths describe youth characteristics, the programs' daily functioning, how workers constructed and carried out their roles, the nature of worker-youth…

Social exclusion and widespread unemployment present a dim future for many of England's youth. Article presents two innovative community intervention programs that are working to restore hope and highlights the projects' positive results. (Author/GCP)

In 2006, more than 6 million individuals were victimized by violent crimes. Although violence is below levels of the early 1990s, it remains high. The extent of violence and its impact highlight a critical need to develop and implement effective programs to reduce violence and victimization. Communities have initiated a wide range of such…

A project known as SHAID, the Single Homeless Action Initiative, was founded in response to youth homelessness, a problem that had been growing since the 1980s, in a deprived area of County Durham. SHAID provides young people with advice, support, information, and life skills training on subjects such as home safety, budgeting, personal and food…