Strategies to enhance prosecution of gang-related crimes are presented, with a focus on enforcement and prosecution targeting urban street gangs. The model programs introduced offer strategies largely based on the practical experiences of agencies that participated in a demonstration program, the Urban Street Gang Drug Trafficking Enforcement…

This booklet presents the youth development approach to supporting adolescents in dealing with all the issues they face, including preventing unintended pregnancies. The Department of Health and Human Services promotes five principles that research and experience suggest are key to community efforts to prevent teen pregnancy: (1) parental and…

Describes the adaptation of social work practice skills to serve black urban youth gangs. Presents a model for practice which respects youths' right to self-determination and community needs. Model stages discussed include contact, rapport, setting goals, assigning roles, procuring resources, and evaluation. Model applicability is suggested. (NRB)

This report presents national birth rates for teenagers for 1991-1998 and the percent change from 1991 to 1998. State-specific teenage birth rates by age, race, and Hispanic origin for 1991 and 1998, and the percent change, 1991 to 1998, are also presented. Tabular and graphical descriptions of the trends in teenage birth rates for the United…

Under the 1996 federal welfare law, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), an unmarried minor parent with a child generally cannot receive federal welfare assistance unless she is living with her family or in some type of adult-supervised arrangement. Exemptions are available and states have flexibility in designing their policies and…

This is the third in a series of reports summarizing the investment of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in community-based health programming. It addresses the health issues confronting young people in U.S. society by profiling eight different community-based approaches to adolescent health. The programs described, all sponsored by the Kellogg…

Describes the efforts of parish leaders to create a successful youth ministry at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Marrero, Louisiana. Outlines common denominators of success in dealing with adolescents, and advocates the necessity of a community service component in parish youth ministry. (YKH)

The emerging field of urban ecology has the potential to engage urban youth in the practices of scientists by studying a locally relevant environmental problem. To this end, we are developing curriculum modules designed to engage students in learning science through the use of emerging information technology. In this paper, we describe the impact…

Understanding teens' perceptions of the sources of stress and the ways teens cope with the stress in their lives can lead to more appropriate and effective interventions. Shifting the Lens is a multi-phase project that involved the study of stress from the youth perspective and the application of findings in the form of several tools for use by…

In 1992, Congress established the Juvenile Mentoring Program (JUMP). This report describes the initial stages of the ongoing evaluation of 93 projects funded under JUMP and includes its preliminary findings, which suggest hope for the future. Positive outcomes of the evaluations to date include reports from both mentors and youth that mentoring…

Discusses the Los Angeles Public Library's TeenS'cape, located in the middle of the city's Central Library. This technically sophisticated library space, opened after the 1992 L.A. riots, provides custom furnishings, postmodernist architecture, and equipment and materials specifically catered to the local teens, amid the culture of…

Describes various organizations that offer programs and services for youth in their early teens. Explains the philosophy of positive youth development that is an emerging theme in this long-standing but newly self-conscious field. Reviews principles of best practice and key implementation challenges. (SLD)

Apache Indian's spectacular performance of the identity of "Jamaican" dancehall DJ exemplifies the problematic politics of acculturation in "postcolonial" Britain. Born in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, a major centre of Caribbean and South Asian migration, this multilingual, border-crossing, urban youth appropriates…

Since the 1970s, both authors have been involved in the school reform movement, sharing a passion for improving public education, particularly urban public education. Their experiences as teacher and professor in an urban magnet laboratory school reinforced their belief in the ability of all children to learn. They state that, within the magnet…

In 1996, drawing from religious, educational, social services, media, neighborhoods, nonprofits, and health-providing sectors of the community, the Phoenix Violence Prevention Initiative (PVPI) was conceived. During Phase One of the initiative, the following seven points regarding prevention and prevention design strategies were assembled: (1)…