This article describes the first year of a partnership between a university and a community organization working to improve and expand a community-based multigenerational mentoring program for African American adolescent girls ages 12-17. The mentoring program, set in an urban Midwestern city, is a collaboration between university…

More than one million U.S. students experience homelessness (National Center for Homeless Education, 2019). These youth, most of whom live in poverty, tend to face a variety of educational challenges. Community-based out-of-school time (OST) programs, which often have more flexibility to innovate and meet local needs than traditional schools do,…

We report data from the first year of a three-year collaboration between a sport-based youth development program, Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), and a university-based research institute. The theory of change of PCA was tested with youth athletes, representing multiple sport types (e.g., individual/team) and seasons (e.g., fall/winter), who…

This report shares the findings from the first nationally representative survey of young people's perspectives on mentoring. While mentoring is needed and wanted by young people to help them stay on the path to high school graduation, college success, and productive adulthood, a significant mentoring gap exists in America, especially for at-risk…

Over the last decade, the emerging field of sport-for-development (SFD) has advanced global efforts of related and applied scholarship and programming. While most of the existing SFD body of knowledge addresses social challenges of the "global south", today's economic global recession spreads challenges beyond these regions.…

This study connected a service learning project with the mission of the university by examining how students described the concepts of "transforming lives" and "social justice." Twenty-one undergraduate students worked as mentors with at-risk children and youth. The roles of the students and the community partner had an impact…

This paper details the psychosocial changes in a group of gifted and talented middle-years students who engaged in solving a community-based problem--the lack of a teenage-safe space in their regional Queensland town ("N"). Supported by a Knowledge Producing Schools pedagogy, the young people worked with their local council, teachers, a…

This report profiles the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Escalera Program: Taking Steps to Success, a Latino-serving, community-based youth workforce development program, which was developed in 2001 in partnership with the PepsiCo Foundation and PepsiCo, Inc. and expanded in 2008 with the support of Shell Oil Company. The Escalera Program:…

If strengthening children's moral and spiritual selves is the most important challenge facing youth-serving organizations in the United States today, three things are required to respond: a clear road map of where to go and how to get there, a critical mass of champions prepared to lead the way, and candid readiness assessments and strategies for…

The term "sports-based youth development programs" is coined and defined in the context of the community youth development framework. Sports-based youth development programs are out-of-school-time programs that use a particular sport to facilitate learning and life skill development in youth. Community youth development programs use a community…

In the slums of Medellin, Colombia, a program seeks to improve children's physical health, intellectual development, and self-concept through such activities as carpentry, breadmaking, and sports and literature clubs. These activities help develop ethical and moral values, planning and organizing skills, and a future orientation. (SK)

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…

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 article grew out of a participatory research project conducted with support of the Robert Bowne Foundation from January 2003 through January 2004. Six young people who had been participants in Forest Hills Community House (FHCH) programs for eight years or longer agreed to be interviewed in depth about experiences that had affected their…

The need of American youth to be responsible and contributing members of society has led to the rise of "youth participation" projects across the country. Various programs have been established to enable young people to participate in meaningful activities. (JN)