Youth fields professionals create the conditions in which young people can thrive: They activate the vision for high-quality programs; develop tools, systems, and approaches for designing and sustaining such programs; and form relationships with and among participating youth. However while investments in afterschool programming have continued to…

Coming from a Nordic environment, professionally working in teacher education, both authors engaged in developmental work and research in the Uluguru mountains in Tanzania. The research is carried out in a community-based organization for vulnerable youth, Mgeta Orphan Education Foundation (MOEF), which builds on principles of action learning and…

Rob and Amy Castañeda, the co-founders of a sports/play-based youth and community development organization called Beyond the Ball (www.beyondtheball.org), cite the collaborative and dynamic nature of the TPSR Alliance as an important influence for their work. Beyond the Ball serves individuals between kindergarten and post-college, in the North…

This brief provides policymakers, stakeholders, community leaders, and program developers working in or with community-based youth programs with a basic understanding of how the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) is structured, how community-based youth programs fit into CDBG purposes and activities, and how communities nationwide are using…

Including youth in the evaluation process can enhance the quality of the inquiry and be empowering for the participants, but it is not without challenges. In this article, several principles for youth-involved research and evaluation are outlined. These come from those who are pioneering this approach and from current research on the dilemmas of…

Contents of this guide include: Introduction: purpose of the training guide, needs of inner-city youth, the roving leader concept, objectives of the guide, definition of terms, methodology of guide development; Training Units for Roving Leaders: unit I--orientation, unit II--concept, role, and function of roving leader, unit III--the community and…

Presents narrative accounts of the meaning of work and love for two Latino community youth activists, exploring how Latino community development in the city has given meaning to the lives of these youths and their families, neighbors, and other young people. The educational implications of their stories are discussed. (SLD)

Community development partnerships for youths offer valuable resources for school improvement. Unfortunately, these resources may not be tapped because school leaders have not been prepared to understand these partnerships. The evaluative research reported partnership-related understanding, aiming to prepare leaders to contribute to, and benefit…

R. Benjamin Wiley has led the Greater Erie Community Action Committee (GECAC) in Erie, Pennsylvania, since 1969, creating a wide range of human services programs. His passion for education is reflected in the GECAC Learning Center, which offers numerous training and educational programs for residents of all ages, and in the GECAC Community Charter…

This report is a description and analysis of the 4-H Community Resource Development Program (4-H/CRD). It is based on the proposition that youth activity can be motivated by the prospect of influencing community decisions and outcomes and that the subsequent related activity will be productive of participatory skills of lifelong value in an…

Designed to assist leaders in their roles as catalysts, advisors, and resource persons for the Pennsylvania Youth in Action 4-H Community Development program, the guide provides complementary educational, craft, and recreation suggestions to enhance student workbooks for three community development activity units. The first section focuses on the…

Instituted as part of "Avenues Unlimited" (The Tower Hamlets Youth Project), a community development approach to youth services was attempted in the cosmopolitan inner city slum district of Spitalfields, East London. Efforts began in 1966 with a clean up campaign, a neighborhood club for parents and youth, and other activities by the…

Many small, inland, and remote Australian rural communities continue to lose population and businesses, a trend that has intensified over the last 2 decades. Mean age continues to rise, while the 15-24 age group contracts dramatically. Such declining demographics are caused by the stress and uncertainty of volatile world commodity markets, as well…

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…

The International Learning Group on Youth and Community Development (ILG) was formed to examine the convergence of youth development and community development. In 1999, ILG commissioned a set of papers from young people involved in national efforts to engage youth in the political processes of their countries and brought ILG members together for a…