In 1999, the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership (YVRP) was launched by a group of key stakeholders in Philadelphia--including the district attorney's office, adult and juvenile parole, other city agencies and community organizations. Its goal is to steer young people, ages 14 to 24 and at greatest risk of killing or being killed, away from…

WorkReady Philadelphia is the City's comprehensive approach to youth workforce development. Since its founding in 2003, the initiative's efforts have leveraged funds from a variety of sources to significantly expand available opportunities for Philadelphia's youth. The WorkReady Philadelphia system aligns the efforts of the private sector,…

As blogs light up with lively conversations about iPads, netbooks, and smart phones, it's easy to forget one major roadblock to preparing all children for the future: the digital divide. Although middle-class students often take high-speed Internet access for granted, a full 65 percent of Americans who make less than $25,000 a year lack broadband…

The American Library Association encourages public libraries to extend their services to people in jails and detention centers, but there is little research that shows exactly how many libraries do so. Research shows that 54% of juveniles arrested are not sent to residential facilities but instead receive court ordered probation into an Intensive…

Democratic partnerships of universities, schools, and an array of neighborhood and community organizations are the most promising means of improving the lives of our nation's young people. Over the past two decades, many colleges and universities have been experiencing a renaissance in engagement activities. Universities, once ivory towers, have…

This article describes a case example of a pedagogical approach that successfully integrates teaching technical skills, knowledge, and civic engagement. Students embarked on a semester-long project to assess the complexities of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, develop a response to address the concerns of community constituents, and…

Partnerships among schools, families, and community organizations can reconnect urban schools to their communities and improve results for young people and their families. This report provides an overview of Casey's investment philosophy and strategies, and its approach to defining and documenting grantmaking results. The report highlights the…

We analyze a multi-campus collaboration in a Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign to demonstrate that a well-managed public benefits campaign, associated with broader advocacy-based community partnerships, can result in positive outcomes for the community that include measurable benefits for clients, data needed to make policy and administrative…

The Right to Read program in Pennsylvania is outlined in this document. Included are a sketch of the program's history; a chart of the program with projections through 1980; lists of the objectives, participating districts, and the various personnel involved in the program; the schema; a statement concerning migrant education; and lists of…

Factors that have contributed to the sluggish evolution of an adequate planning methodology in environmental health programs at the local level are detailed. Areas of environmental health programs identified by the author as needing change include: management, the administrative model, program evaluation, and community participation. (BT)

Since the state takeover, the Philadelphia school district has created a new governance model, in which for-profits, non-profits, and universities receive contracts to manage schools. Further, these and other organizations also receive contracts to provide a range of additional services. The shift to a public/private institutional structure,…

Discusses the case study of the educational projects of two church-based community programs in Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), examining the understanding five women workers in these projects have about community and analyzing the relationships of these programs with the public schools. Of particular interest are the churches' after-school tutoring and…

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…

Conducted as a step toward developing a philosophy of community-wide services to bring the county's citizens and their libraries closer together, this community analysis is divided into two parts, the first focusing on the community, and the second on the public library system. The first section covers the following topics: locale and environment,…

This resource guide divides arts and humanities into six areas listed in separate chapters: dance, film, literature, music, theater, and visual art. A seventh chapter lists historical resources and general cultural resources. Within each of the seven chapters are alphabetically listed resources identified for each intermediate unit. The chapters…