As the youth mentoring field has expanded and diversified in America over the last 30-plus years, many adults who care about getting these valuable relationships to more young people have asked questions about the scope and scale of mentoring in American society. In 2014, MENTOR first started to examine these societal level trends in a seminal…

The purpose of this study was to determine if an experimental Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) based alternative discipline policy paired with a community-school partnership, effects suspended students' subsequent suspension incidents. Data were collected from four Midwestern school districts participating in an experimental Alternative to Out…

In this article, we explore how researchers can more fully consider and conceptualize the role of race and ethnicity in studies of youth development programs, with an emphasis on positive youth development (PYD). Such a focus can be integrated in a more meaningful way through the application of a theoretical model that provides a framework for…

A meta-analytic review of 33 studies and 41 independent samples was conducted of the effectiveness of community-based mental health and behavioral programs for low-income urban youth. Findings indicated positive effects, with an overall mean effect of 0.25 at post-test. While this is comparable to previous meta-analytic intervention research with…

This article reports on a research study designed to identify who participates in library-based summer reading clubs (SRCs) and why they elect to do so. To address this aim, questionnaires were completed by caregivers of 246 children upon enrollment to the SRC of a metropolitan library as well as 480 youth; the questionnaire was designed to learn…

For the past year, the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and their Families (DCYF), San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), and the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University (Gardner Center) have collaborated to examine SFUSD student participation in DCYF-funded programs. This analysis utilizes…

"The Role of Risk: Mentoring Experiences and Outcomes for Youth with Varying Risk Profiles" presents findings from the first large-scale study to examine how the levels and types of risk youth face may influence their relationships with program-assigned mentors and the benefits they derive from these relationships. The study looked…

Cross-sectional studies suggest that assets are associated with youth abstinence, but whether these relationships are constant across developmental age groups has not been shown. Data for this study were obtained from two independent datasets collected across a 2-year period using in-person, in-home interviews of youth (52% female; 44% Caucasian,…

The national-service movement needs to grapple with two weaknesses. One is the underrepresentation of people of color and of young people of low socioeconomic status. The other is a failure to develop strategies that seek to solve problems caused by persistent poverty; current strategies tend to address only immediate needs. (SLD)

Lessons worth noting from existing community-service programs include the importance of reciprocity and benefit to the volunteer; accountability to the community; youth leadership; a multigenerational approach; crossing the color line; and open mindedness. The service movement provides real possibilities for mutual advantage. (SLD)

The Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development undertook a 2-year project to assess non-school programs offered by various community-based youth organizations. This project included focus group interviews with youth about their current activities and preferences for after-school activities. Sixteen focus groups were conducted in the metropolitan…

Today, many immigrant neighborhoods are plagued with poverty, inadequate schools, family disruption, single parenthood, teenage pregnancies, youth gangs, violent crimes, drug abuse and alcoholism, and anti-intellectual youth subcultures. Such unsettling environments put immigrant children of the inner city at greater risk than those living…