Youth obesity is a major public health problem in the United States, especially among urban-based, minority youth. The B'More Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK) trial worked at multiple levels of the food environment, including carryouts, to increase access to and demand for healthy, affordable foods. The objective of this article is to describe…

Young people in the U.S. are falling behind their peers in the rest of the developed world in science, technology, engineering, and math. The Program for International Student Assessment study, conducted every three years, ranked the U.S. 24th in math and science out of 29 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development…

This report identifies the different settings in which summer programs for disadvantaged youth most commonly take place--schools, parks and recreation departments, community--and faith-based organizations, and child-care programs-- and examines the limitations and opportunities presented by each in building better programming. It reviews broadly…

The National Summer Learning Association is the only national organization that focuses exclusively on learning during the summer months. It works to ensure that children and youth in high-poverty communities have access to quality summer learning opportunities that support their academic performance and healthy development through hands-on…

The juvenile justice system is exploring alternatives to the use of secure facilities as a means of juvenile crime control. Some of these alternatives are known as diversion programs. This bulletin offers an overview of the diversion programs and evaluation findings from the Detention Diversion Advocacy Project (DDAP), a disposition case advocacy…

Describes how Youth for Oakland United is working for positive alternatives to crime and incarceration. It argues for a critical need for safe common spaces for teens and cites preventive measures in cities across America. It documents how research on Oakland recreation centers resulted in a successful citizen ballot initiative for youth…

The Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Initiatives for Children and Families is a forum in which persons involved in the current generation of community-based cross-systems can engage in discussion about their work. Roundtable members, now numbering 30, meet biannually to share lessons they are learning and to work on common problems they face.…

The Children-at-Risk program (CAR), a drug and delinquency prevention program, targets high-risk adolescents aged 11 to 13 who live in distressed neighborhoods. The program features integrated delivery of comprehensive services that are tailored to the community and involve close collaboration with other services providers. The Urban Institute is…

To learn more about how welfare reform affects children, a child-focused study was conducted as part of the larger Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) evaluation. This study assess the impacts of mothers' mandatory participation in welfare-to-work programs on outcomes for children using a sample of 790 participants. It provides an…

Presents findings of a study that focused on two "I Have a Dream" programs. Identifies factors related to the demonstrated success, including high school graduation rates, of these 2 programs in comparison with 10 others and discusses the importance of social capital in the support of youth in inner-city contexts. (SLD)

In 1987, the Annie E. Casey Foundation invited 10 medium-sized U.S. cities to apply to be part of the "New Futures" project, a program designed for cities that showed willingness and capacity to experiment with comprehensive, collaborative, public-private approaches to the multiple problems of at-risk children. Eventually, five cities…

Describes and evaluates an adolescent health promotion program that uses the Nguzo Saba and African philosophy to address violence and attitudes that reinforce the use of violence. Results from public housing adolescent reports indicate that the Nguzo Saba had a strong, positive influence resulting in fewer delinquent/violent acts. (GR)

This paper presents a comparison of performance auditing and evaluation. It is the product of a collaboration between the senior evaluator from the Office of Research and Evaluation in the Austin Independent School District (Texas) and the senior auditor of Austin's City Auditor's Office. These officials were required to work together when the…

This project, referred to as the Aviation Careers Accessibility Program (ACAP) established a model program for inner-city minority high school students that would allow them information and accessibility to careers and opportunities in the aviation industry. The project featured two program components: an academic year component during and a 5- or…

Mentoring has a mystique that only good can come from it, that at the worst, mentoring programs will not accomplish all that they could, but the youth served will at least be better for the experience. Both impact and process evaluations are needed to answer questions about the real benefits and any potential adverse effects of mentoring. The…