Youth courts provide communities with an opportunity to impose immediate consequences for first time youthful offenders, while providing a peer operated disposition mechanism that constructively allows young people to take responsibility, be held accountable, and make amends for violating the law. Dispositions hold youth accountable in part…

With the nation's recent emphasis on student test scores, The Children's Aid Society fears that schools are missing the opportunity to be the institutions that help turn out successful young people. School climate and connectedness are the key ingredients for creating healthy schools that produce successful students. These factors are worthy of…

This report presents findings from Phase 1 of an evaluation of the New York City Beacons initiative, a model of school-community-family partnerships initiated in 1991. Beacons are community centers located in public schools, offering a range of activities and services to participants of all ages, before and after school, in the evenings, and on…

The effects of a community-based program designed to delay onset and reduce frequency of alcohol and drug use among high-risk youth are evaluated. Implemented in multiple church communities, program components include parent and youth training, early intervention services, and follow-up case management services. Implications for social work are…

Tony Hopson founded and directs Self Enhancement, Inc., a nonprofit program that helps inner-city youth in Portland (Oregon) improve academically and develop talents, skills, values, and attitudes needed to become positive, contributing members of society. The program's success is based on the relationship model, continuity of services,…

The Gulf of Maine Institute (GOMI) is striving to empower youth to take on stewardship roles in their communities. Through its Community Based Initiative (CBI) program, GOMI addresses environmental degradation by working with teams of students, teachers, and community members from around the Gulf of Maine to inspire youth to be stewards of the…

This catalog contains more than 600 abstracts of model programs in California designed to help business, education, and community groups establish or expand partnerships in support of local education. An executive summary precedes the abstracts. The program abstracts are divided into 21 sections corresponding to specific forms of involvement.…

This report explores the potential for and obstacles to comprehensive community-level approaches to preparing young people for occupational and academic advancement. Chapter I introduces the New Workforce strategy based on a pathways design and a community framework and strategic plan. Chapter II includes the following: overview of the shaping of…

Data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) provides information about critical transitions experienced by students as they leave elementary or middle school and progress through the educational system to the world of work. The Extension NELS study reported here used NELS:88 data for the base year sample of 24,599 eighth…

The Urban Institute organized a workshop to receive the reactions of experts to a model for helping underclass youth, the Mentor, Peer Group, and Incentive (MPI) Model. This model uses the three components of mentors, peer groups, and incentives to improve the life chances of adolescent males in socially distressed neighborhoods. Workshop…

As part of a 4-year research initiative on adult/youth relationships programs, this study assessed relationships between elders and at-risk youth at the following four Linking Lifetimes intergenerational mentoring demonstration sites developed by Temple University's Center for Intergenerational Learning in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania): (1)…

This publication provides examples of diverse local initiatives that represent approaches to serving young people, particularly disadvantaged African Americans and Latinos. This report includes a forward emphasizing the background and current need for the types of programs highlighted, and an introduction that argues for the effectiveness of…

This monograph looks at the field of youth service broadly and provides examples of the range of programs available for urban youth. A review of statistics on urban youth involvement nationally notes that most young people are not involved in community service, African American students perform more community service annually than any other racial…

This guide provides background information and youth activities for youth leaders and classroom teachers interested in integrating waste management issues into current educational programming. Five parts suggest ideas for action that youth can take at home, in their group, or in the community to solve waste management problems. Part 1 introduces…

This fundamentally encouraging book describes programs that offer young Black males from high-risk environments the same nurturing opportunities that other young people have to develop the competencies needed for adulthood. Chapters and their authors are (1) "Introduction" (Ronald B. Mincy); (2) "Adolescent Development"…