Common typologies frame youth participation as something that exists at different hierarchical, or linear, levels or stages. In these models, non-participation is positioned as something negative or not addressed at all. Scholars have critiqued these typologies for ignoring contextual specificities and complexities, nuances, and power dynamics…

The Youth Arts and Music Center Initiative is a community-wide effort to design and build an arts center in East Palo Alto. The six-year process, supported by the Goldman Foundation, centered on youth leadership and the arts, and engaged a cross-sector collaborative of partner organizations in an attempt to address the city's shortage of existing…

Although youth have long been at the forefront of social change, the last two decades have seen an upsurge in the number of organizations, agencies, and governmental bodies dedicated to supporting the idea of youth voice in public policy. Drawing on in-depth individual interviews with 32 youth in one major urban center, this study compares how…

Youth who are most vulnerable to challenging community conditions, more limited opportunities and poor health, educational and economic trajectories derive especially strong benefits from engagement in community youth development efforts (Gambone, Yu, et al. 2004). Like many community youth development efforts, the REACH Youth Program called upon…

4-H has long emphasized the importance of civic engagement and community service for positive youth development. One pathway to this ideal is youth action research and evaluation. This article demonstrates how participatory youth research and evaluation can lead to the successful implementation of community action projects. It describes the…

In the more than 10 years since the inception of EPA's (Environmental Protection Agency) Brownfields Program, brownfields have been redefined. Properties that were shunned or eyed warily by those with the resources to transform them are now viewed as dormant opportunities for economic and environmental rebirth. Communities that suffered aesthetic…

Toward the end of the of the twentieth century, the idea that young people are social actors gained increasing predominance. Since then, there has been a growing recognition of young people's ability to understand and contribute to forming their environments. In this article, the authors discuss the state of youth participation in the United…

Multiracial youth activism groups, based in working class and poor neighborhoods, seek to improve social conditions by organizing grassroots campaigns. Campaigns such as these, which require sophisticated planning, organizing, and advocacy skills, are noteworthy not just for their political impact, but also because of the insights they provide…

Advocates including school-age children in community service programs as a way to give back to the community, build confidence, create a sense of power to make a difference, organize, solve problems, develop strategies, make decisions, and gain personal gratification. Includes guidelines for planning and ideas for community service projects. (SD)

This report summarizes the national service programs and proposals discussed at the first global conference on national service held in June of 1992. Current programs include those in France and Germany where civilian service may be performed as an alternative to mandatory military service. In Nigeria university graduates perform a year of…

Many youth-serving organizations are engaging young people in youth organizing and/or in interventions to support specific identity development in response to a need for meaningful opportunities for older and diverse youth to be civically involved in their communities. This paper explores differences in developmental outcomes and supports and…

This study examined perceptions and experiences of youth and adults engaged in various types of community-based youth-adult relationships. Involvement and interaction rating scales were completed by 108 participants involved in community groups from 12 communities in 10 states. The rating scale measured three constructs: youth involvement, adult…

The Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development is a Washington, D.C.-based organization engaged in programming, research, and policy development related to youth civic engagement. Its mission is to unleash the potential of youth, adults, organizations, and communities to engage together in creating a just and equitable society. Strong…

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 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…