During the state of transition in contemporary Russia from communism to a market economy, nonprofit organizations have been thrust into the forefront to provide to youth and families services formerly rendered by the government. This paper describes Moscow Charity House (MCH) and Nevsky Angel in St. Petersburg, the first nonprofit organizations in…

Mentoring programs attempt to foster a relationship that is too often missing from the lives of disadvantaged children and youth. However, in view of both the power and the limitations of mentoring programs, it is important to understand how mentoring occurs naturally. Assuming an ecological perspective, we examine mentoring in four contexts:…

As the prevalence of service-learning within higher education institutions grows across the globe there is value to explore, discuss, and describe the similarities and differences between the various expressions that are emerging. Such comparative analysis can deepen understanding of service-learning pedagogy, improve practice, and create a…

The nature of youth gangs is explored, with suggestions for gang prevention and intervention. The emphasis is on organizing citizens, especially at the neighborhood level, to affect all community institutions. Suggestions are offered for citizens' groups to look at critical areas in schooling, incarceration, law enforcement, community programs,…

The impact of the Rural Alabama Pregnancy and Infant Health (RAPIH) Program was evaluated in relation to prenatal care, birth outcome measures, and several child health and home environment outcomes. Begun in 1983, RAPIH targets poor rural blacks in three of west-central Alabama's poorest counties, where economic conditions and infant mortality…

The 1985 evaluation of the Adolescent Vocational Exploration Program (AVE) found that this New York State Department of Labor intervention and pre-employment project has been successful in increasing young people's chances of gaining employment and functioning productively in the labor market. Primarily for 14- and 15-year-olds, AVE seeks to…

Many members of the Hispanic community are separated from the larger community by language barriers and different cultures and belief systems. These factors can affect Hispanic Americans' ability to seek and gain access to the health care system. The Program To Address Sociocultural Barriers to Health Care in the Hispanic Community, known as…

Argues that community-based organizations can improve the quality and relevance of school-to-work programs, integrating secondary schools into broader community economic development initiatives. Case studies of four school and community-based organization partnerships illustrate the process in action for school-to-work programs. (SLD)

The principles espoused by the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) may lead to a severe negative effect on Hispanic American participation rates. Decentralization erodes Federal oversight over targeting and monitoring efforts, thus endangering equal access to training programs by the disadvantaged and minorities. Hispanic, small, and minority…

The study of four community-based organizations (CBOs) participating in the Attendance Improvement Dropout Prevention program in New York City illustrates that it is important to distinguish among the characteristics of CBOs when schools think about forming collaboratives with them. CBOs may serve very different purposes for school needs. (SLD)

Harm reduction is fundamentally a movement intended to empower the patient and consumer of health services. This project applied harm reduction theory as a strategy to empower collaborating community partners and researchers to overcome their preconceptions about each other in order to create a successful HIV prevention intervention and evaluation…

This article introduces an approach to service learning based on students' collective engagement with a range of community organizations. We explore the particular benefits of this comparative collective community-based (CCC) learning model through a discussion of the "Possibilities for Change in American Communities" program, which was begun by…

Evaluation data are reported from two examples of a comprehensive approach to urban school reform that attempted to involve the full range of stakeholders, including parents, in school reform. The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation awarded grants to five urban school districts to improve middle schools by focusing on high expectations, high content,…

This study used multiple methods to assess basic community needs and attributes of community atmosphere (cohesion, religious involvement, and recreational activities) in two psychometric studies. Part 1 revised self-report community assessment measures, developed multi-item scales for each construct, and tested reliabilities and factor structures…

A study evaluated the use of the request for proposal (RFP) process as a method of distributing federal vocational education and job training funds in Minnesota. Thirty-seven employees of Minnesota technical colleges, community-based organizations, service delivery areas, and state agencies who had actually prepared proposals requesting Job…