Opportunity Works was a three-year effort led by Jobs for the Future to help opportunity youth--young people ages 16 to 24 who are not in school or meaningfully employed--access postsecondary and career pathways. Based on the Back on Track framework, seven cities across the country undertook collective impact approaches with diverse partners to…

This article explores the development of the Summer Tools, Information, Motivation, and Education (SummerTIME) Writing Program, the only program of its kind in Los Angeles that conducts self-assessment. The author describes the geographical and political boundaries separating inner-city Los Angeles high school graduates from higher education,…

Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the first and most important step for students to receive their portion of the billions of grant aid dollars disbursed in federal student financial aid; however, every year many low income and community college students fail to complete the FAFSA. Over the past twenty years,…

This article argues that economic exclusion, standardized testing, and racially biased definitions of teacher quality continue the exclusion of teachers of color from the urban teaching force. The authors highlight two urban programs designed to address such barriers and situate such efforts within a critical race theory framework that identifies…

This article presents findings from an exploratory study of three programs using the Housing First approach to provide permanent supportive housing for single, homeless adults with serious mental illness and often co-occurring substance-related disorders. This approach provides direct, or nearly direct, access to housing that is intended to be…

This practice brief profiles three programs, two statewide and one local, that provide work opportunities to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients who are participating in vocational education programs. The authors selected programs that combine vocational education and paid work because this strategy reinforces the emphasis of…

We study how the employment effects of enterprise zones vary with their location, implementation, and administration, based on evidence from California. We use new establishment-level data and geographic mapping methods, coupled with a survey of enterprise zone administrators. Overall, the evidence indicates that enterprise zones do not increase…

This exploratory study sets out to investigate how LA's BEST, a non-profit after school organization providing services for at-risk students, leverages the organizational, social, and intellectual capitals to enhance student engagement. Six LA's BEST sites were selected to participate in this qualitative study. A grounded theory approach was…

This document is comprised of two reports, both dealing with methods for using census data. The first report discusses the Los Angeles Community College Data Project, undertaken at Los Angeles City College, in terms of its goals, organization, and procedures. The project was designed to: (1) provide the Los Angeles City Planning Department with a…

A review of the social needs of adolescents in Glendale (California) and elsewhere was conducted to determine the needs and potential support for the proposed Glendale Teen Support Center (GTSC) and to provide documentation for the Center's future funding requests. The GTSC was conceived as an after-school social center that would provide a…

This collection of seven reports explores the changes in children's services that have been brought about by efforts to limit local spending and taxation, and by unfavorable economic changes. The four states chosen for analysis--California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey--represent contrasting economic circumstances and several different…

This analysis is the first in a series of seven reports on the ways that the urban fiscal crisis has affected children. It discusses the issue in general, and provides an overview of the other reports. Over the past 100 years, all levels of government have developed public services responsible for the health, education, protection and physical and…

This monograph is devoted to the first Ford Foundation Gray Area Project in Oakland, California. In 1961, the Foundation granted $2 million for an interagency project whose goals were to: (1) reverse the process of social disorganization, (2) accelerate the integration of newcomers, (3) salvage and improve human resources, (4) preserve a…