This report presents the findings of focus groups convened to determine what the parents of youth participants in the New York City Beacons think about the program. The Beacons initiative is a comprehensive model of school-community-family partnerships undertaken by New York City in 1991. The initiative originally enabled 10 community-based nonprofit agencies to create school-based community centers as safe havens, providing structured and supervised activities for children, youth, and families. By winter 2000, there were 81 Beacons. In 1997, evaluation staff conducted focus groups at 36 Beacons sites for a total of 227 participants. The majority of focus group participants were parents of children attending the Beacon; some were other relatives or adults enrolled in English as a Second Language or basic education classes at the Beacon. The responses of focus group participants indicated that the Beacons have had a positive impact on their lives and those of their children as well as on their neighborhoods. Over and over, participants testified as to the work of the Beacons in providing a safe place for youth, fostering positive youth development, supporting families, and improving parent-child communication, facilitating linkages with schools, and providing opportunities for neighborhood improvement and economic development. (SLD)