This guide is based on findings of a year-long study undertaken by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to evaluate Institute-sponsored programs for youth aged 9-19 between 1998 and 2003, and discussion with the IMLS Youth Action Committee and practitioners about the kind of information needed for planning and implementing effective…

This booklet discusses the importance of a community-wide approach to asset building, exploring how individuals, organizations, and communities can collaborate to build developmental assets. Principles to guide community asset-building efforts include: strengths versus risks or deficits, relationships versus programs, engagement with youth versus…

The KIDS Consortium is a private, non-profit organization that seeks to promote, facilitate, and institutionalize the involvement of children and youth in their communities in Maine. Kids as Planners, the central program of the KIDS Consortium, gives students the opportunity to become apprentice citizens by working with adult citizens in hands-on…

Every community has areas--public parks, schoolyards, sidewalks--that are neglected, vandalized, or just plain run down. Young people can help clean up those places by getting involved in a community cleanup project. As explained in this bulletin, a community cleanup is a project in which volunteers of all ages work together to spruce up a chosen…

Describes development of a new youth theater in an academic setting meeting the needs of urban youth, while satisfying the very different academic demands of an innovative educational theater teaching program. Describes genesis and development; pedagogical principles underpinning both programs; how this model fosters the growth of a community of…

In the current tight fiscal environment, it is critical for state and community leaders to think broadly and systematically about how to finance important education, family, and child services, and community development initiatives. This guide presents a conceptual framework for financing child and family services and community building and…

Sustainability is a critical issue for the vast array of community initiatives that promote healthy children, strong families, and safe communities. Noting that sustaining an initiative over time requires maintaining sufficient fiscal resources as well as a combination of nonfiscal resources from the initiative itself and the broader community,…

This manual, designed for individuals, agencies, and organizations interested in preventing and intervening in youth violence, is a guide to guides, a map of resources on prevention and intervention. Development of the manual was guided by a number of prevention principles, chiefly, the belief that collaboration is essential for effective youth…

Over the last 2 decades, the loss of population and businesses in many small, inland, and remote Australian rural communities has intensified, largely because of the stress and uncertainty of volatile world commodity markets. This manual presents a range of survival and revival strategies that some communities have used to build resilient…

This document presents step-by-step guidelines to help communities and organizations implement youth-led research, evaluation, and planning (Youth REP) as a way of empowering youth to participate in community development and social transformation. The guide offers an overview of youth-led research and evaluation project stages and critical…

Based on advice and information from Peace Corps volunteers, staff, and experts, this manual provides creative, innovative ideas for activities for youth that are founded on development principles. Part 1 provides information about these different kinds of youth a volunteer may encounter in the community: in-school, out-of-school, differently…

This manual is designed to help teachers, businesses, Chambers of Commerce, and students start their own economic development activities and youth ventures. It describes a two-step plan to economic development through youth: development of an in-school student chamber of commerce program and development of a youth-owned venture. The first part of…

This document is designed to help literacy practitioners and others establish civic literacy programs to help learners in South Carolina develop general literacy skills applied to the everyday tasks of being a citizen and active community member. The rationale for promoting civic literacy and the challenges for adult civic literacy system…