This paper describes how one non-profit organization is evaluating its effectiveness in providing services to adults with developmental disabilities. Kindcare, a non-profit ecumenical organization serves over 150 adults with developmental disabilities in the southeastern Wisconsin area. The program provides education, social, and support programs…

This study investigated the role of literacy associations in the education of adults in Wyoming at the turn of the century. Information was gathered through extensive analysis of published and unpublished documents, especially primary resources in several archives and libraries, and from newspapers of the period. Evidence suggests that literary…

Presents summary of group discussions on Surles'"Critical Issue Paper 4: Changing Organizational Structures and Relationships in Community Mental Health." Reveals general agreement with Surles. Suggests areas of beneficial preservice and inservice training for administrators. Recommends areas of research needs. (ABL)

This summary outlines a model of service delivery to children and adolescents with emotional disturbances which uses a "hub" model to provide community-based services in Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The program's administrative structure involves a central administration (for financial administration and program coordination,…

Discusses these trends in mental health services: cost control and financial retrenchment, policy influence and funding, shift of long-term care responsibility, expansion of private health care market interest, and change in characteristics of mentally ill. Recommends information enhancements, market potentials, alternative organizational…

Community-based organizations that worked effectively with urban youth were found to resemble experiential education programs. The finding was remarkable because the organizations did not identify themselves as places where experiential education took place. A study of four organizations examined ways in which they help youth to become more…

Cable television has tremendous potential for human, social, and community development, but this cannot be achieved without planning, in which the needs of the community must be paramount. Both the politics of education and the quality of the educational process must be considered before suggesting futures for cable technology. A significant…

A criminal justice system cannot be stronger than its weakest link, and corrections has been the weakest component in our system for far too long. Today's challenge is that of bringing together concerned citizens, public agencies, and private agencies in an effort to create a correctional system that works. Correctional programs can accomplish…

This study used multiple methods to assess basic community needs and attributes of community atmosphere (cohesion, religious involvement, and recreational activities) in two psychometric studies. Part 1 revised self-report community assessment measures, developed multi-item scales for each construct, and tested reliabilities and factor structures…

This paper describes the work of Youth Service California, a state-wide collaboration of public and private organizations that since 1990 has brought the voice of the local youth service field to state level policy and program development. Youth Service California's purpose is the further development of a diverse state movement to increase and…

Of the empirical research on agency utilization, examinations on the usage of community based organizations (CBO's) such as Community Action Programs, Opportunities Industrialization Centers, and Urban Leagues, have been minute. This study of CBO's revealed significant relationships relative to the use of program services by 575 respondents…

Describes a Carnegie-funded study that examined the effectiveness of youth organizations in reaching adolescents aged 10-15 and in reaching and serving young people growing up in high-risk environments. How the study was conducted, 10 themes that emerged from the study, and the major implications for librarians and their community partners are…

A study examined experiential education programs in terms of how they developed participants' personal agency, sense of belonging, and levels of competence. Personal agency empowers students to become change agents in their lives and communities; sense of belonging enables participants to see themselves as members of a community with rights and…

This paper summarizes the results of a National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) survey of community-based organizations (CBOs) about the effects of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Findings are summarized in these areas: (1) changes in funding for training disadvantaged youth, (2) changes in service to youth, (3) the role of CBOs in the…

The advent of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) has not been favorable to community-based organizations (CBOs) serving unemployed young people. The overall decline in the amount of money available for employment training is one reason for the reduction in services, but it is not the sole reason. The transition to the new act itself is also…