The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship

This is an important subject whose time has come. Several folk - including Peter Drucker, Amy Sherman and Shirley Brice Heath have recognized the value of this subject.

I am excited to say that this is a concept that resonates deeply with The Salvation Army historically, and is a subject that is being discussed by both academics and practitioners in The Salvation Army.

The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship is a great article by Gregory Dees on this subject.

I think that this is an important subject for youth workers to be thinking about - how do we provide viable solutions to youth who live in economically impoverished conditions and who are searching desperately for a way out that does not inevitably lead to jail (i.e., selling drugs, delinquency, etc.).

Saturday Night Live Spoofs The Salvation Army

This was an incredible FUNNY spoof of Salvation Army kettle season. It came on this past Saturday night. I think this is based on my brother-in-law, Cadet Keith Maynor's, singing outside Rockefeller! Congratulations Sinatra!

Latest Edition of the Journal of Aggressive Christianity

I have contributed an article (which was previously posted on this blog) to the latest edition of the Journal of Aggressive Christianity. My hope is that this article will help to stimulate thinking on youthwork in The Salvation Army.

Enjoy!

The State of America's Children

Marian Wright Edelman has founded the Children's Defense Fund that advocates for children who are at-risk in America. This is their report on The State of America's Children the year 2005. It is a great resource for understanding what the critical needs are for youth in America.

Simply Sanctified, Organic Radicality: Negotiating Revolutionary Salvationism

I recently read a Youth Specialties article a friend sent to me which the late Mike Yaconelli wrote back in 2001 entitled, Youth Ministry Rant. In this article, he questions what's going on in the commodified version of youth ministry he was witnessing. In this rant (which he recognizes as a rant - which God gracefully allows us to sometimes do - look at the Psalms!), he critiques Christian Colleges:

"What is the deal with Christian colleges, anyway? Shouldn’t they be graduating students who are revolutionary, anti-institutional, anti-cultural extremists? Isn’t anyone else upset that most of our Christian colleges are graduating compliant, materialistic, irrelevant students who don’t have a radical bone in their bodies? Who will push the envelope in the generations to come?"

This paragraph got me thinking - this is what I have come up with in response:

Simply Sanctified, Organic Radicality
As I think about this statement, I find myself resonating with Mike Yaconelli's recognition of the problem. I agree that in many ways our colleges have become domesticated. Like genetically modified food, our idea of the development of Christian leaders has been watered-down into something that is tasteless, mass-produced, but cosmetically-cleaned up.

However, this response is more from my own discontent as part of an ideological group that would lean more towards storming the bastille than conceding to such ideas! I agree with Yaconelli, but I don't know if Jesus would agree with me! I think this perspective represents a very subversive human response that is more reflective of culture than it is Christ. This is the typical "Christian-hippy-gone-wild-in-the-China-Shop" response which (when I think about it) doesn't seem to be as radical as one would suppose.

I agree that there is a problem with graduating compliant, materialistic, irrelevant students, but at what point do we part from a typical (and predictable) "rage-against-the-machine" response? Should we be graduating students that are revolutionary, anti-institutional, and anti-cultural... what does this mean? (Let alone, can one ever be truly anti-cultural?)

More importantly, how does this relate to the type of programs like Project 1:17 that are emerging the The Salvation Army? Are these groups intended to be simply an obnoxious, knock-off Christian version of whatever is the latest form of cultural rebellion? Are we intended to graduate students who are going to proclaim to other Salvationists their irrelevancy, compliance and materialism? Are we seeking to cultivate a rebellious people or a prophetic people? This might be one of the greatest temptations Satan uses to derail the possibility of a more profound simple, sanctified, organic radicality that Christ clearly modeled for us.

Jesus seems to offer a much more radical alternative - his team of disciples included revolutionary, anti-institutional, anti-cultural zealots and compliant, materialistic, irrelevant tax collectors and Pharisees! We never hear of Matthew and Simon the Zealot clashing anywhere in Scripture! How did Jesus get this right? Somehow, Jesus saw things through an alternative lens - a third alternative to cultural co-optation and cultural subversion. This comes closer to the ideal I think that we should pursue.

Jesus revolution was pro-cultural. It wasn't really anti-institutional. It wasn't materialistic or irrelevant. I think that Jesus was about raising up a prophetic people - who would concede giving to ceasar that which was ceasar, but radically protest the stoning of an adulterous woman. Cultural theorists Stuart Hall and David Morely talks about how in culture there are "dominant hegemonic" and "counter-hegemonic" groups, but how there is also a third group which he calls "negotiative." (If you want to delve into the mind-bleeding world of cultural studies, check out Semiotics for Beginners). I think Jesus chose the critical position of the negotiative - a much more radical position that invited both the zealot and tax collector into dialogue - recognizing strengths and weaknesses in both groups.

I would naturally resonate with 90% of what Mike Yaconelli is saying, but this doesn't necessarily make me right. I have to submit my own, fallen conception of radicality to the radicality of Christ. Jesus revolution will look foolish to this world. Remember: Jesus went to war on a Donkey, didn't use a great deal of rhetoric with Pilate, and chose to hold off 10 000 angels when his life was being sacrificed - not exactly the Robert's Rules of Revolution! ...and yet this far more brilliant strategy set in place the greatest revolution in history. I want to be part of that Army!

Will Video Games Reshape Education

Learner-centric Design of Digital Mobile Learning

This is a fascinating article on how mobile phones, iPods, PDAs, etc. could be utilized as tools for learning. They are calling this "m-learning" - the next evolution beyond e-learning!

Learning "In Situ": From Archaeology to Pedagogy to Youth Work

I have been fascinated with the concept of "In Situ" in recent days (see Wikipedia description). This concept has been used in architecture, biology, chemistry, computer science, linguistics, law, etc.

Here's one expansion of this idea: "In archaeology, in situ refers to an artifact that has not been moved from its original place of deposition. An artifact being in situ is critical to the interpretation of that artifact and, consequently, to the culture which formed it. Once an artifact's provenance has been recorded, the artifact can then be moved for conservation, further interpretation and display. An artifact that is not discovered in situ is considered out of context and will not provide an accurate picture of the associated culture. However, the out of context artifact can provide scientists with an example of types and locations of in situ artifacts yet to be discovered."

"Situated learning" is something that has become a keyword in pedagogical studies - fueled by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger. I have recently begun to think about how this term relates to integrated mission - and how this would differ from ideas such as contextualization.

Just a seed thought, but I am interested in exploring the expansion of this idea particularly how this would work when it comes to missiological theories of youth work:

• When we engage in youth work, how do we ensure that we remain conscious of communicating and learning?
• How do we understand the concept of transformation in situ?
• How does a youth worker who is from a different culture commit themselves to the process of development without taking that development out of context?

I don't think that there are easy answers to these questions. It requires a great deal of intentionality and commitment...

There's a lot to think about on this subject...

Peter Jackson says He Won't Make "The Hobbit"

Anyone who has visited Sharon's and my house will know that we are fans of The Lord of the Rings - the swords and toys in the dining room give it away!

Sad news just came out on AP to announce that Peter Jackson will not be making The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings prequel. Apparently New Line has not fully paid him for the first trilogy - up to $100 million!

This is a shame as Jackson was a true master at bringing Tolkien's visions to life. My fear is that they end up botching any further films...

Come on New Line - fulfill your deal and try not to destroy the magic of this brilliant partnership!

Also see theonering report.

Gaming Wins New Advocates: Charities Building Younger Constituencies

Major Ron Foreman sent a copy of the latest copy of "The NonProfit Times."

The cover story is by Mark Hrywna on the latest Games for Change conference. This is a sign that the use of gaming has become a critical tool in nonprofit groups.

My hope is that we can tap into this momentum and create an online role-playing game that will seriously alter the destiny of high-risk youth.

You Won't Find Jesus on My Space

Eli Sparks sent this link to me. I think this is an incredibly thought provoking poem and alternative take on Myspace:

You won't find Jesus on Myspace
(by Jude Simpson)

Jesus doesn’t have a Myspace page.
He doesn’t sit at his personal computer
for hoursmaking lists
of his favourite lists.

Jesus doesn’t have a Myspace page.
He hasn’t composed a profile
which sums him up in fifty excruciatingly well-chosen words,
making him sound like God’s gift.

Jesus doesn’t have a Myspace page.
and he doesn’t get worked up
at how both Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise
both list him as their number one friend
in the world ever,
or that they schmooze him daily
by email
to try and get him to make them his
number one friend in the world ever
in return.

Jesus isn’t even particularly bothered
that both Madonna and Michael Jackson
have already appropriated “the Messiah” as their MySpace i.d.
Jesus doesn’t have to prove himself electronically.
He doesn’t have a funky alias.
like sinforgiver or waterwalkingdude.
He hasn’t listed his interests
as home brewing,
complementary medicine, and
extreme fishing.

Jesus won’t email you every week
with a “hilarious” new photo
of him wearing a funny outfit,
or a video of his pet goldfish doing synchronised swimming
across the sea of Galilee.

Jesus is not the sort of friend who instant-messages you
twice a year to say, “hey we should meet up some time!”

Jesus didn’t employ an army of A&R men to
use his Myspace page to
broadcast clips of him preaching in his basement
and then write stories of how he went from no-one to world fame in
three short years.

Jesus claims to be only two steps away from Kevin Bacon,
but no-one’s ever seen him prove it.

Jesus doesn’t have a Myspace page.
and Jesus isn’t owned by Rupert Murdoch
thank God.

Jesus knows that you’ve never read the whole of Catch 22
even though it’s listed as one of your favourite books,
and do you know what? He doesn’t care.
If you look for Jesus on MySpace,
Jesus isn’t there,
because Jesus doesn’t have a MySpace page,
even though it’s fast, fun and easy.
Jesus shut down his p.c. before p.c.s were invented
and he put on his sandals, with or without socks,
and he walked to your door, and sat by your heart,
and invited you to be his friend.
That was like, 2,000 years ago –
and he still hasn’t had a reply.

He’s probably standing at your door right now
while you’re sat staring at your screen,
listening to the tune on somebody’s MySpace
and making them your two thousandth friend.

Lolli-Pop Spirituality: Why Youth Are Crashing From Sugar-Coated Christianity

[This is an article I wrote that grew out of an e-mail conversation with Major Rick Munn. Enjoy!]

“Show the world a real, living, hardworking, toiling, triumphing religion. Show them anything less and the world will turn around and spit upon it.”
Catherine Booth

“We don’t want God to work unless He can make a theatrical production of it. We want Him to come dressed in costumes with a beard and with a staff. We want Him to play a part according to our ideas. Some of us even demand that He provide a colorful setting and fireworks as well!”

A.W. Tozer

Major Rick Munn, the Program Secretary for The Salvation Army’s USA Eastern Territory recently sent to me an article from Time Magazine (Time, 2006) on how “…sugar-coated, MTV-style youth ministry is over”, and “Bible-based worship is packing teens in the pews.” When I read this article, I resonated with what was being written. In response, I wrote the following as a reflection on the implications of this shift in youth culture. They are going through a spiritual sugar-crash and are looking for something of greater substance that will sustain them through the challenges of living out their faith in a consumer-driven world.

The candy-coated version of youth ministry has been a homogeneous formula that has been sold as youth ministry for the past 25 years. This paradigm of youthwork suggests that the deepest, Maslowian "felt need" of adolescents is to be entertained. As a result, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars have been invested in trying to entertain our kids into the kingdom.

My problem with this strategy is that:

(1) We will never be able to compete with Hollywood, but Hollywood is competing with us. A W Tozer speaks about those of us in the church creating "second-rate talent shows" to attempt to match up to what the media industry is able to produce. Therefore we have created an entire Christian consumer subculture which, ironically, has become so lucrative (middle-class Christian teens have quite amount of disposable income!) that even the major media moguls have caught onto this. Most Christian brands from Veggietales to Youth Specialties products are now subsidiaries of larger companies such as NewsCorp and Viacom. Even Hollywood has noticed how consumer-driven Christians are - and have begun to set aside "Passion dollars" for ideologically Christian stories - because we evangelicals LOVE to be entertained!

At what point do we begin to recognize this as a form of hegemonic co-optation? Are we giving glory to Jesus or to Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone? At what point do we begin to realize that this as a form of gospel domestication? I'm all up for going to the movies and listening to well-produced artists singing songs which reflect the kingdom - but this is very different to lolli-pop spirituality! If we were in Africa - Christianity that is uncritically synergized with culture is considered syncretism. At what point do we begin to examine our own ‘cultural accretions’ - our own syncretisms?

The Israelites in the wilderness longed for the benefits of slavery in Egypt - the food and treasure... these were concessionary bribes from Egyptians that were intended to win the consent of the people of Israel. The provision of the slave-lord can often be more alluring that the provision of God... but at the price of what? Our freedom? Our destiny? Similarly, we evangelicals need to seriously begin to ask whether commodified Christianity is going to be what truly satisfies this generation?

The French philosopher Guy Debord refers to America as a "society of the spectacle" (Debord, 1995). Unfortunately, those most attracted to this dangling carrot-spectacle happens to be lucrative evangelicals! The only problem is that this next generation is one of the most consumer-savvy cultures out there - they are "the iPod generation" - a generation that has the market tailored to their own desires. The only problem is that youth are beginning to sniff out that such me-centered worlds ("I"/Me + Pod/Mini-World) are simply a tailor-made prison that brings little satisfaction. In essence, the need for satisfaction is sent into an abusive, spiraling, addictive race to keep up with whatever is the latest and greatest.

If all that we (as the Church) have to offer to youth is a Christian, sanitized, knock-off version of these tailor-made, me-centered consumer prisons, they will quickly reject Christianity. Therefore, the solution for youth ministry is not to create better products and more entertaining programs - what this Time article is articulating is that youth workers are beginning to realize that these are simply hollow solutions to a much deeper need.

(2) "To be Entertained" is a misinformed goal of today's generation. We have missed the mark if we think that youth desperately want to be entertained - as I have mentioned in the previous point, they have, to use a Neil Postman concept, been "amused to death" (Postman, 2005). So what is their deepest desire? I believe there are three deep longings:

(a) They do not want to be entertained - they want to be challenged. Statistics have shown that more and more teens and young adults are getting involved in philanthropic volunteerism. Civic engagement has been steadily increasing as youth become bored with the physically solitary life of X-Boxes, computers, delivery food and Tivo. Recently, one of our students gave up their X-Box and television and came to Project 1:17 choosing to live a solitary, monastic lifestyle - with a focus on being trained to service the poor in the name of Jesus!

I believe that we are in a perfect position in The Salvation Army to take full advantage of this. With our wholistic view of spiritual/social mission, we can meet this need in today's youth. Issues of social justice such as addressing poverty, illiteracy, delinquency, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, human trafficking and the exploring community-based solutions to the HIV epidemic are among the noble philanthropic causes for an individual to commit themselves to. To do this "in the name of Jesus" - and to share the faith, hope and love available through salvation makes this type of service not just temporally, but also eternally effective.

This generation believes that they can change the world! This can be perceived of as a utopian optimism that will quickly be shattered by the harsh realities of life... or it could also be understood as a cultural opportunity which, when linked to a solid eschatology and missiology, could be seen as a God-moment

(b) They do not want to be entertained - they want to know 'why?' This generation is a deep thinking group of young people. Often, we mistake our youth's refusal to participate in something/or do something as rebellion. Most youth today are driven by a great desire to know "why" they should do things - they require a rationale and logic. A group of people that have been inundated with every form of mass-marketing are provided all sorts of rationales for why they should watch television shows, buy certain brands of clothing, click on certain websites, listen to types of music, etc. etc. that they have become what Maire Messenger Davies has called "critical connoisseurs of media" (Davies, 1997) The critical skills have made them sophisticated in their decision-making process. Gone are the days of "do this because I am telling you to." They need to know why - or they'll not buy in.

Unfortunately, in the church, we have also been going through a bit of an identity crisis. Modernity has swept the church for the past 50 plus years to the point that we celebrate the contemporary or the new that we have become disconnected with our history. As a result, once two or three generations removed from anything that even mildly represents "tradition" - we have no reason why we do what we do! So we end up having Corps which are a hybrid of Salvationism mixed with a hodge podge of contemporary church models ranging from charismatic, conservative, liberal, emergent, mega, homogeneous (ad nauseum!) Our churches look more like a Baskin Robbins after a busy streak than a community that knows who it is!

So what happens when a young person chooses to become a part of our movement? They enter into soldier's classes being trained by people who don't know what a soldier is. They sit in youth programs being run by people who don't know why what they are doing is critical to the mission of The Salvation Army. They worship in Corps that have lost focus, don't understand the difference between a holiness and salvation meeting, and have never done an open air in their lives! When they begin to ask why we are doing what we are doing... they are answered with a "just do it" response. Our youth are not going to stick around long until they are able to understand why we do what we do!!

The Salvation Army used to put out a manual called "The Why and Wherefore of The Salvation Army" - the intention was to give people a rationale for why we do what we do. This needs to be pulled out, dusted off, and taught once again. Like the temple builders who discovered the law afresh, we need to rediscover why we do what we do! We need to re-educate ourselves on the methods behind the madness of what makes Salvationism so effective. Then we need to be willing to sit down with our youth and have long conversations with them - where they are welcome to test the validity of our rationale. I have confidence in what we are doing so much that I would invite any young leader to test our philosophies and theologies, principles and procedures. Once they discover how solid things are, they will be willing to give their lives to serving gone in this amazing vehicle of the gospel.

At Project 1:17, we have incorporated a soldier's training class. One of our students soldiership was limited to being shown a picture of William Booth and being told what the flag represents!! Majors Bob and Donna Green have been relaying the foundations in this class - seeking to ensure that we send out of our program students who have had the freedom to explore deeply the why's and wherefore's. Philosopher Alisdair MacIntyre has commented that controversy and questioning is not an enemy, but an ally to tradition. Apathy will kill any sense of heritage, but asking why will produce a great sense of allegiance (MacIntyre, 1984).

An entertainment-driven youth work will repel youth from future involvement in our movement. The coliseum was created to distract the masses from asking why questions. Similarly, a trip to the movies might ward off questioning for today, but the insatiable hunger to know 'why' will not be satisfied by cracker-jack prizes - it will only be satisfied by the meat of true, rigorous engagement.

(c) They do not want to be entertained - they want to be engaged by a vibrant and authentic spirituality. A generation that has grown up after the death of God is hungry for authentic spiritual encounter. Physical entertainment will not satisfy metaphysical desires. Catherine Booth was prophetic when she said "show the world a REAL, LIVING, hardworking, toiling triumphing religion. Show them anything less and the world will turn around and spit upon it!"

We are fools if we think that the chocolate-coated, fool's golden calf of entertainment is going to satisfy the deep need for genuine spirituality. One thing which has worried me in recent years, though, is that there has emerged a commodified version of spirituality. Sometimes I will stand in the middle of a youth-oriented worship gathering and turn on the anthropologist that exists in me... and I wonder, "what social experiment am I in???" I have discovered that I can travel from Africa, to England, to the East and West of America, from community to community and find similar patterns of youth worship sub-culture! There are codes to our worship, certain CDs, atmospheric pre-requisites and emotional reactions that parallel themselves in almost all of these communities - almost a global youth spirituality culture. Is this what we understand to be "authentic spirituality?" I think the answer is both yes and no. We all create contexts, ceremonies, traditions, rites of passage - this is the essence of culture. There have been many 'skins' that have clothed the church - globally and historically.

The issue of spirituality has less to do with the skin which embodies worship than it has to do with the posture of the worshipper. Youth are looking for people who can help to lead them into the presence of God. They don't care whether this is being done by through a tattooed and tongue-pierced worship leader or through a retired Salvation Army officer - what they desperately need is not the cultural skin, but rather the bones and sinew of authentic spirituality! So many youth are being attracted to the most liturgical worship settings - not because "retro ecclesiology" is "in" - but because they are able to meet with people who are deep and contemplative in their spirituality. This is why I will often find myself chatting for hours to a Lt-Colonel Lyle Rader. We might be cultural opposites in our expression of spirituality - but we are attracted to similar things when it comes to the 'sinews and bones of salvationism.'

The Time magazine article recognizes accurately that there is a malcontent with an entertainment-driven youth ministry. Our goal in the Army - I would argue - would be to ensure that in our youth work we are creating opportunities for intentional engagement in local marginalized contexts (maybe a league of mercy for youth); increased critical dialogue on foundational issues of salvationism (Corps Cadets does a great job of this already, but maybe also relooking at soldier's training); and a deepening of our spirituality (24/7 Prayer Weeks, Prayer Weekend etc.).

In The Salvation Army, we saw the redemptive value of the circus-as-context-for-missional-engagement. We used innovation, new technology, entertainment and the absurd as tools-with-a-purpose (Winston, 2002). They were a means to an end. They were part of our Muktifaj contextualization strategy - as William Booth has said, "attract their attention." However, without “gaining their confidence; saving their souls; and training them to live for God and the salvation of the world”, attraction is simply an empty opportunity - an iPod without music!

If we are going to allow this generation to “taste and see that the Lord is good” and therefore “…take refuge in Him” (Ps. 34:8), then we must ask ourselves the hard question, “What are we inviting this generation to taste?” My prayer is that youth workers in The Salvation Army will learn to balance the sweetness of culturally adaptable methodologies and tactics with the meatiness of our time-tested biblical and practical orthodoxy. Let’s show the world what we’re really made of!

References

Davies, M.M. (1997). Fake, fact, and fantasy: Children’s interpretations of television reality. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Debord, G., & Nicholson-Smith, D. (1995). The society of the spectacle. Cambridge, MA: Zone Books.

MacIntyre, A. (1984). After virtue: A study in moral theory. Fair Haven, CT: University of Nortre Dame Press.

Postman, N. (2005). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. NY: Penguin.

Time Magazine. (2006). In touch with Jesus: Sugar-coated, MTV-style youth ministry is over. Bible-based worship is packing teens in pews now. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1552027,00.html. (Accessed: November, 2006).

Winston, D. (2002). All the world’s a stage: The performed religion of The Salvation Army 1880 – 1920. In S.M. Hoover & L.S. Clark, Practicing religion in the age of the media: Explorations in media, religion, and culture. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

I'm Back!

Friends,

After making it through our first semester as Directors of Project 1:17, I finally have a few minutes on my hands to give attention to my much-neglected blog. I am going to try to regularly update my blog from this point on. However, this might not be the daily experience it once was.

All that being said, I look forward to our dialogue and discussions.

Steve

SAYTunes

Friends,

Fulton Hawk, a friend of mine from Los Angeles has just finished the graphics for a collaborative project which The Salvation Army in the Western Territory is doing called SAYTunes which is a music-sharing website where Salvationists can share some of the innovative music they have been developing.

What's nice about this site is that like other social networking groups, this is a consumer-driven site that simply provides artists from The Salvation Army a platform to share their music - exposing this to a much wider audience.

Whether you are a part of The Salvation Army or just like good music - check this site out.

Steve

Keys to Quality Youth Development

Ellen Key's - The Century of the Child

Ellen Key's The Century of the Child is critical historical piece to read for anyone interested in youthwork. This highlights the utopian vision of youthwork that was evident at the beginning of the 20th century - a typical attribute of the modernity of that age. However, this optimism was quickly crushed by problem-centric, anti-social policies and practices that perceived of youth as a danger to society.

Key takes a very antagonistic posture toward Christianity in this book. It's rather ironic that most approaches to positive youth development these days recognize the role of faith as critical to increasing possibility and fostering resiliency.

Either way, she is a pioneer in youthwork - and for that, I tip my hat.

A Systems Model of Human Behavior

This is an excellent summary of Urie Bronfenbrenner's theory by W. Huitt regarding the ecology of human development. It is one of the most standard models incorporated into youth development models.

What is Positive Youth Development?

Positive youth development is a policy perspective that emphasizes providing services and opportunities to support all young people in developing a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging, and empowerment. While individual programs can provide youth development activities or services, the youth development approach works best when entire communities, including young people, are involved in creating a continuum of services and opportunities that youth need to grow into happy and healthy adults.

Simply put, youth development is a life process that everyone goes through. The goal of the positive youth development approach is to ensure that all adolescents experience this life stage positively.

Positive Youth Development in the United States: Research Findings on Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs

This paper was writted in November 1998 by the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington [Including Richard Catalano, Lisa Berglund, Jeanne Ryan, Heather Lonczak and David Hawkins].

Here are the links:

Preface
Executive Summary
Chapter One: Origins of the Positive Youth Development (PYD) Field
Chapter Two: Defining and Evaluating Positive Youth Development
Chapter Three: Empirical Evidemce on Positive Youth Development Programs and Evaluations
Chapter Four: Summary and Conclusions
References

Amazing Grace - The William Wilberforce Story (In Theaters Spring 2007)

Amazing Grace is a film which is set to be released in movie theaters in the Spring of 2007.

It is based on the true story of William Wilberforce, a British statesman and reformer from the early part of the 19th century. This feature film will chronicle his extraordinary contributions to the world, primarily his 20-year fight to abolish the British slave trade, which he won in 1807. He was also instrumental in passing legislation to abolish slavery in the British colonies, a victory he won just three days before his death in 1833.

This is going to be a pretty amazing film which addresses issues of faith and social justice. Something worth planning to see!

The Web of Life: Weaving the Values That Sustain Us - Richard Louv

The Web of Life: Weaving the Values That Sustain Us by Richard Louv is a collection of gentle reflections on family, friendship, neighborhood, community, and other topics.

Peter Benson (President of The Search Institute) in What Teens Need to Succeed has said that "Louv's book invites us to see ourselves as strands in a web, connecting and supporting each other in the world."

As we consider ways to build a sense of purpose into the teens we are working with, this book could provide a critical reflection point.

My Future - Tools to Help Adolescents Figure Out Their Future

I recently came across this website: My Future. This site is designed for teens who are considering what they wish to become and provides them a load of resources on career options, financial aid, scholarships, building a resume, managing their money, and so much more.

As youthworkers, this could serve as a great year to help teens think about something beyond just the present... a means to dreaming about possibilities - while providing the scaffolding to attain such.

Check it out!

School Violence Prevention - Resilience

This paper has been put together by Nancy L. Davis on Resilience.

Table of Contents
Part I: Status of Research
People at Promise
Defining Resilience
Risk and Protective Factors, Processes, and/or Mechanisms
The Issue of Risk
The Issue of Protection
Correlations or Causes?

Characteristics of Resilient Individuals
Physical Competence
Social and Relational Competence
Cognitive Competence
Emotional Competence
Moral Competence
Spiritual Competence

Protective Processes within Families
Protective Processes within Schools
Interaction of Family and School Protective Processes
Protective Processes within Communities

Part II: Status of Research-Based Programs
Research-Based Programs That Foster Resilience
A General Approach Applied in Different Settings

Health Realization/Psychology of Mind
Programs that Target Families
Family Skills Training
Strengthening Families program
Focus on Families
Families and Schools Together
Family Effectiveness Training
Behavioral Family Therapy
Structural Family Therapy
Functional Family Therapy
Parenting Adolescents Wisely

Early Childhood Programs

Zero to 3 Years Old
Kempe Prevention Research Center for Family and Child Health
The Infant Health and Development Program
Dare to Be You

Preschool: Ages 4 and 5
Perry Preschool Project

Programs Beginning when Children are in Kindergarten or Elementary School
Be A Star

Programs Beginning when Children are in Middle and/or High School
Learn and Service America
Say It Straight
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America
Adventure Education and Outward Bound

Part III: Recommendations for Future Research

Part IV: References

The Asset-Based Community Development Institute

At the School for Officer Training, we have been focusing on Asset-Based Community Development. This website will provide all that you need to know about this group. It provides an introduction to these ideas - as well as a host of resources that are an incredible asset (no pun intended!) for youthworkers.

Bonnie Bernard, the author of "Resiliency: What We Have Learned" acknowledges the invaluable contribution of this group.

Anyone involved in faith-based community youth initiatives will want to look at this group. There are multiple case-studies to illustrate different ways in which these forms of community organization can occur. Youthworkers - these are great tools which can easily be applied to what we do.

Here's a description:

The Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD) is co-directed by John L. McKnight, director of community studies at IPR, and his long-time collaborator in community research, John P. Kretzmann , an IPR senior research associate. Challenging the traditional approach to solving urban problems, which focuses service providers and funding agencies on the needs and deficiencies of neighborhoods, Kretzmann and McKnight have demonstrated that community assets are key building blocks in sustainable urban and rural community revitalization efforts. These community assets include:

• the skills of local residents
• the power of local associations
• the resources of public, private and non-profit institutions
• the physical and economic resources of local places.

For more information, please click here...

Discipline with Dignity - Richard Curwin and Allen Mendler

I just received a copy of Richard Curwin and Allen Mendler's book, "Discipline with Dignity" - I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into this book. It provides a model for how to create safe spaces by involving youth in defining procedures, rules and consequences based on values or principles compatible with learning. I think that this could be an invaluable resource for youthworkers - particularly for those of us who work with kids who live in high-risk environemnts.

It takes into consideration the work of Howard Gardner on multiple intelligences and the need for difference in teaching strategies - something which has been championed by constructivist educators.

They also explore strategies for working with children who are physically aggressive and explode without provocation, One of my major fears for youthworkers is the danger of not having an effective, strength-based strategy for dealing with anger in our after-school programs. Having a community center serve as a safe space is paramount to having a program that is transformational. This book can help move us all in such a positive direction.

Here's a neat poem written in 1988 by a high school senior from Houston, Texas. This poem is used at the beginning of the book (p.1f.). It captures the tension between teacher and student, or in the case of my line of work, youthworker and youth:

Silent Defiance

I'm the one who watched,
As you laughed;
I'm the one who listened patiently,
While you talked unceasingly;
I'm the one who sat silent,
As your shouts grew louder;
I'm the one who always came,
While your chair sat empty;
I'm the one whose dreams were hidden,
as yours were fulfilled;
I'm the one who cared,
while you butchered knowledge;
I'm the one who watched your petty wars
over something you couldn't understand;
I'm the one who reasoned,
as you discussed,
I'm the one who will remember
when all of you will forget.

Dedicated to Laura - who understood

(Curwin & Mendler, Discipline with dignity, 1999, 1f.)

Janusz Korczak's Declaration of Children's Rights

I came across the writings of Janusz Korczak while reading the work of Larry Brendtro. Korczak is a Jewish youthworker from Poland who lived during the travesties of WW2. His biography, The King of Children by Betty Jean Lifton is a powerful portrayal of a man whose life is lived out for others. Korczak is noted as saying, "The lives of great men are like legends - difficult, but beautiful.

Here is an exert from Lifton's appendix on Korczak's work on the rights of the child:

As a children's advocate, Janusz Korczak spoke of the need for a Declaration of Children's Rights long before any such document was drawn up by the Geneva Convention ( Korczak: 1924) or the United Nations General Assembly ( Korczak: 1959). The Declaration he envisaged-not a plea for good will but a demand for action - was left uncompleted at the time of his death. Culling through: "How to Love a Child", "The Child's Right to Respect", and other works, I have compiled the rights that Korczak considered most essential:

• The child has the right to love.
  ( Korczak: "Love the child, not just your own.")
• The child has the right to respect.
  ( Korczak: "Let us demand respect for shining eyes, smooth foreheads, youthful effort and confidence, Why should dulled eyes, a wrinkled brow, untidy gray hair, or tired resignation command greater respect?")
• The child has the right to optimal conditions in which to grow and develop.
  ( Korczak: "We demand: do away with hunger, cold, dampness, stench, overcrowding, overpopulation . ")
• The child has the right to live in the present.
  ( Korczak: "Children are not people of tomorrow; they are people today.")
• The child has the right to be himself or herself.
  ( Korczak: "A child is not a lottery ticket, marked to win the main prize.")
• The child has the right to make mistakes.
  ( Korczak: "There are no more fools among children than among adults.")
• The child has the right to fail.
  ( Korczak: "We renounce the deceptive longing for perfect children.")
• The child has the right to be taken seriously.
  ( Korczak: "Who asks the child for his opinion and consent?")
• The child has the right to be appreciated for what he is.
  ( Korczak: "The child, being small, has little market value.")
• The child has the right to desire, to claim, to ask.
  ( Korczak: "As the years pass, the gap between adult demands and children's desires becomes progressively wider.")
• The child has the right to have secrets.
  ( Korczak: "Respect their secrets.")
• The child has the right to "a lie, a deception, a theft".
  ( Korczak: "He does not have the right to lie, deceive, steal.")

How to understand this:

• The child has the right to respect for his possessions and budget.
  ( Korczak: "Everyone has the right to his property, no matter how insignificant or valueless.")
• The child has the right to education.
• The child has the right to resist educational influence that conflicts with his or her own beliefs.
  ( Korczak: "It is fortunate for mankind that we are unable to force children to yield to assaults upon their common sense and humanity.")
• The child has the right to protest an injustice.
  ( Korczak: "We must end despotism.")
• The child has the right to a Children's Court where he can judge and be judged by his peers.
  ( Korczak: "We are the sole judges of the child's actions, movements, thoughts, and plans . . . I know that a Children's Court is essential, that in fifty years there will not be a single school, not a single institution without one.")
• The child has the right to be defended in the juvenile-justice court system.
  ( Korczak: "The delinquent child is still a child . . . Unfortunately, suffering bred of poverty spreads like lice: sadism, crime, uncouthness, and brutality are nurtured on it.")
• The child has the right to respect for his grief.
  ( Korczak: "Even though it be for the loss of a pebble.")
• The child has the right to commune with God.
• The child has the right to die prematurely.
  ( Korczak: "The mother's profound love for her child must give him the right to premature death, to ending his life cycle in only one or two springs . . . Not every bush grows into a tree.")

People of Faith Mentoring Children of Promise: A Model Partnership Based on Service and Community

This manual is designed as a guide for those who have chosen to take the incarceration of a child’s parent as a point of intervention, with mentoring as a vehicle. The document uses the Amachi program as a model to show how faith-based organizations, secular nonprofits, and public organizations can work together to provide caring and trusting relationships for these children. The first section outlines the need, highlighting the distressing statistics (an estimated 1.5 to 2 million have at least one parent in prison) and the traumatic and lasting effect on a child’s life when his or her parent is incarcerated. “An Answer” describes responsible mentoring and how it can benefit the children, the mentors, and the entire community. The remainder of the document reviews the Amachi model, taking the reader step-by-step through planning the effort; recruiting the participants (religious leaders, mentors, parents, children, and caregivers); implementing the program; and monitoring the program and evaluating the results. Resources include helpful organizations and publications. Forms used in the Amachi program appear in the appendices.

Starting a Mentoring Porgram - National Mentoring Center

The National Mentoring Center's training curriculum is a 10-module tool for training program staff and mentors in effective program practices. Written by Public/Private Ventures, the curriculum draws on the latest in mentoring research to help programs improve. The first half deals with program development issues such as recruitment and screening, while the last 4 modules focus on training of mentors.

Module 1: Targeted Mentor Recruiting

Module 2: Screening Mentors

Module 3: Making and Supporting the Match

Module 4: Forming and Maintaining Partnerships

Module 5: Measuring Outcomes

Module 6: Marketing and Fundraising

Module 7: Preparing to Facilitate

Module 8: JUMPstarting Your Mentors

Module 9: Connecting and Communicating

Module 10: Keeping the Relationship Going

Marketing for the Recruitment of Mentors - A Workbook for Finding and Attracting Volunteers

This is a good resource from the National Mentoring Center

Big Brothers/Big Sisters Mentoring: The Power of Developmental Relationships

This is a report on some of the benefits of mentoring programs.

A Systems Model of Human Behavior

Community-Based Approaches to Preventing Child Maltreatment

In the past, efforts to prevent child maltreatment have been hampered by a failure to address the structural social forces and the community-level factors that impact on children, families and the propensity for maltreatment. This paper provides a review of the theoretical constructs underpinning recent efforts to prevent child maltreatment holistically, and identifies a current emphasis on health promotion strategies and efforts to develop healthy, resilient communities. Three major interventions, perceived to be key components of any attempt to reduce maltreatment at the societal and community levels, are described: early intervention projects, cross-sectoral collaboration, and 'whole of community' initiatives. Overall, the authors support the adoption of a developmental prevention approach, where effective child abuse prevention requires acknowledgement of the inter-relationship between risk and resiliency, and solutions are developed to address the former and to promote the latter.

Click Here for Full Article

Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence - A New Search Institute Initiative

With major support from the John Templeton Foundation, Search Institute is launching the Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence to advance knowledge, practice, and international interest in the spiritual development of children and adolescents. The Center is designed to become an international hub of theory, research, and practice in this important domain in human development.

FOCUS AREAS

• Advancing the scientific study of spiritual development—Aided by partners in multiple fields and nations, the Center will develop major advances in the theory, definition, and measurement of spiritual development, including an exploratory study on several continents.
• Building an interdisciplinary, international field of scholarship—The Center will cultivate a broad network of scholars, philanthropists, and other partners through symposia, conferences and distinguished advisors. It will also create an online community for scholars as well as a searchable database of available literature on spiritual development around the world.
• Strengthening practice across traditions and sectors—Based on the emerging research, the Center will develop tools, resources, and partnerships to help youth workers, parents, and others more effectively nurture the spiritual lives of children and adolescents.
• Public communications—The Center will utilize print, electronic, and mass media to position spiritual development as an essential aspect of child and adolescent development.
• Developing new partnerships—The Center will actively seek opportunities to collaborate on additional projects that build knowledge and strengthen practice within particular contexts, cultures, and traditions.

Spirituality: Its Role in Child and Youth Development

This is an interesting series of presentations on spirituality and child and youth development that was conducted at Tufts University in November 2003.

There are some interesting powerpoint presentations to review from Peter Benson and others.

Resilient Children: Literature Review and Evidence from the HOPE VI Panel Study

The HOPE VI program targets the nation's most distressed public housing - impoverished communities with substandard housing and extreme levels of drug trafficking and violent crime. Created by Congress in 1992, the HOPE VI program was designed to address not only the bricks-and-mortar problems in distressed public housing, but also the social and economic needs of the residents and the health of surrounding neighborhoods. The programs major objectives are:

• to improve the living environment for residents of severely distressed public housing by demolishing, rehabitating, reconfiguring, or replacing obsolete projects in part of whole
  
• to revitalize the sites of public housing projects and help improve the surrounding neighborhoods
  
• to provide housing in ways that avoid or decrease the concentration of very low-income families
  
• to build sustainable communities

The HOPE VI program can profoundly affect the lives of children, who are the most vulnerable residents of distressed public housing and particularly likely to suffer from stress of relocation. Children growing up in these distressed developments confront many obstacles, all of which place them at risk for serious consequences including developmental delays, behavior problems, and poor school outcomes.

Click here for more

Emmy Werner - Studying Resilient Children and Youth

Emmy E. Werner and Ruth S. Smith have written a critical piece of literature in the study of resiliency and high risk youth called Vulnerable but Invincible: A Longitudinal Study of Resilient Children and Youth.

Here's a sample quote on the importance of a community working together to help parent a child - an alternative to a more individulatistic model:

When asked what helped them succeed against the odds, resilient children, youth, and adults overwhelmingly and exclusively gave the credit to members of their extended family, to neighbors and teachers, to mentors and voluntary associations and church groups.

Keith Price - Thirsting After God

I have recently been reading a book by Keith Price called Thirsting for God. I met Keith Price when I was a student at Ontario Bible College (now Tyndale College). I was part of a mission conference called Student Mission Advance and Mr. Price would take us through some brilliant passages.

One time I met him just after I had preached for the first time in a preaching lab. I had shown him what I had prepared. He took it from me, looked it over, and then said, "Can you summarize this in one sentence?" That day, I learned to always make sure I stuck to the point when communicating! :)

When I saw that Mr. Price had now written a book with his sermons transformed into meditations, I picked this up and have been working through it for my own quiet time. I highly recommend it!

Here's a prayer by Keith Price:

O Lord,
I have been living
for so long
in the lowlands of mediocrity.
I am disappointed and ded up.
I simply can't keep up the show
any longer.
I want my life to count;
I want to be like Jesus.
Would you show me then
just what I must do?
And also give me the strength
to do it?
Amen.

Also a quote he draws on from Abraham Joshua Heschel:

He who is satisfied has never truly craved,
and he who craves for the light of God neglects his ease for ardor,
his life for love,
knowing that contentment is the shadow,
not the light...

And when the waves of that yearning
swell in our souls,
all the barriers are pushed aside.

Crash - Reflections from the Oscar's 2006 Best Film - Now Available at The Rubicon

I just received word that my paper on the film Crash has been published in The Rubicon.

Check out this link to read it. I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this piece I wrote.

Steve

Samuel Johnson on the Power of Example

Example is more efficacious than precept.

Samuel Johnson

A Whirlwind Weekend: Graduation, Commissioning and the Future of Project 1:17

Well, this has been a bit of a whirlwind weekend!

This past weekend, we graduated nine students from Project 1:17. It all started last Thursday night with our five year reunion. It's hard to believe that 117 is now entering into its' sixth year!
We had 102 friends and family attended our dinner.

Here's some of the highlights:

• Sharon put together an incredible video of William Booth's actual voice mixed with video and photographic images - challenging people to consider the work the Salvation Army does in reclaiming children and families that live in at-risk communities. This video made plainly clear that what Project 1:17 has been doing is nothing new - it's simply what The Salvation Army has been doing for 141 years! There's very little that's different about what we do - we just need to get back to doing what we've always been doing, but adapting this to the particular challenges of emerging generations.
  
• Commissioner Larry Moretz followed this up with a powerful charge to our students - challenging them to renewal, revelation, and revolution. He emphasized that although the tactics and technologies might have changed, our mission and purpose remains steadfast.
  
• Mhari Smeaton prayed a beautiful prayer - that Scottish accent is so cool!
  
• Supper was incredible - Nyack Seaport is a beautiful restaraunt on the Hudson River. We had a gorgeous view of the famous Tappan Zee Bridge.
  
• Our own professional comedian and P117 graduate Brian Smith performed - the place erupted with laughter as Brian debuted his Project Song poking fun at staff and reminding all the graduates to look for good jobs because there's no money in comedy! We know Dave and Brian have been having a series of great successes in their ministry to comedians. Brian just came back from a tour in California where they received extremely positive reviews.
  
• Paul Dymott challenged the students to always remember to "be there." It was a great reminder that there's no way we're going to be able to effect positive change unless we get out into our communities and be there for when our kids and communities really need us.
  
• April Griffiths - one of our first graduates - read from the Scripture. It was wonderful to see her commissioned as a Captain this weekend to Corning, New York. She's going to do a fantastic job - we'll be praying for ya!
  
• Major Mark Tillsley sealed the evening off with a challenging message. He spoke from Titus on being spirit-filled subversives - subverting the evil and injustice which exists in our world as a result of sin and rebellion. He reminded us that our rules of engagement are not the same as the world's modus operandi. Rather than using power, we are called to serve and love.
  
• Jewela presented Larry and Janet with a collage of graduation photos of our 45 students. Many a tear was shed - Larry called this evening a six-hankey night!

The next morning was the commencement and graduation of the cadets and P117. There were also some surprises to be announced:

• All the students looked really smart in their white shirts with red shields. We were all so proud of them as they each saluted the Commissioner and received their certificates of completion.
  
• After this was complete, the Commissioner called Sharon and I up to the stage. He announced that Sharon and I would be taking over the directorship of Project 1:17 - and on the spot performed a battlefield commissioning! We were commissioned Lieutenants! I think most of the folk were shocked at this decision, but it's something which we felt the Lord saying we needed to do about a year ago. The Commissioner was OK with us taking directorship of the program without this rank, but we chose to embrace this commissioning because we believe it is what God has been preparing us for and calling us to do. This Commissioner, being a practical man, felt no need to delay and surprised us all with the decision to do this Friday morning. What a blessing - we felt like we were in the old Salvation Army with such a battlefield style of commissioning!!!
  
  We are excited to tackle the challenges of the next five years of Project 1:17. Our hope is that we will be able to build on the tremendous foundation that Larry and Janet have laid. However, we humbly realize that there is no way that we can take on this position without the prayer support of a TON of people. We ask anyone and everyone to be praying for us as we face this daunting new challenge.
  
  It's going to be a busy year, but also an exciting challenge as Sharon, Louise and I face this new epoch. However, we will always miss our good friends and colleagues as they take on their next appointment. (See the tribute I wrote about Larry and Janet). Please also pray for them as they move to Cleveland.
  
• Jenn Colfill gave a nice testimony about the importance of breaking bread together.
  
• Gavin Hayden was the second recipient of the Timothy award.

The rest of the weekend was just as much a whirlwind. Friday night was the kickoff of the 24/7 prayer movement in the Eastern Territory. Saturday was the Hispanic Ministry celebration. Sunday was commissioning and appointment services.

Today is a sad day of farewells as our final student departed, and most of the first year cadets left for summer assignment. Our students gave us a cherished gift of their own words of thanks. Our hearts were warmed by the genuine comments from the students.

George Muller, the great Christian youthworker from the 19th century has said, "A servant of God has but one Master. It ill becomes the servant to seek to be rich, and great, and honored in that world where his Lord was poor, and mean, and despised." As the students depart and take up their new ministry posts; as Larry and Janet take up their new appointment; and as Louise, Sharon and I embrace the challenges of this next year at Project 1:17 - I pray that we all will seek to bring glory to God, lead boys and girls to the hope of salvation, and challenge the injustices that plague our local communities and put children and youth at-risk.

Steve

Circles of Care: Strengthening Community, Local Government and Traditional African Support for Vulnerable Children and Orphans in South Africa

2003 Research Report by Philip Cook & Lesley DuToit

A Project of the Child & Youth Care Agency for Development, South Africa

What's really interesting about this report is that many of the studies are based out of Qwa Qwa - an African village on the border of Lesotho where my brother- and sister-in-law, Captains Colleen and Darren Huke serve with The Salvation Army.

I am amazed that my studies into the work of Reclaiming Youth International would lead me right back to the work that members of my family are involved in! This really is a small world!

Steve

Overcoming Adversity With Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in the Indigenous South African Cultural Context by Philip Cook & Lesley DuToit

Reclaiming Children and Youth: The Journal of Strength-Based Interventions

Today, our library at the School for Officer Training - the site of Project 1:17 - received their order of Reclaiming Children and Youth Journals. We have copies back to 2000. The library is planning on purchasing the rest of the journals back to back to 1992 in August.

I have been so impressed with the writings of editors Larry Brendtro and Nicholas Long; as well as contributors such as Scott Larson, Nicholas Long, Martin Brokenleg, Steve Van Bockern etc. that I have been systematically working through several of their books. However, one of their most impressive resources is this journal. I was amazed to see the people who have written articles in these journals - Laura Bush, Desmond Tutu, Geoffrey Canada etc. etc. Every issue is packed with meaty material - immediately applicable to youthwork!

If you are close to our Training School, I invite you to come and check out a couple of issues. If you are at a distance, I would encourage you to order a subscription. Also, check out their past issues.

Here's their description of the journal:

Whether you are a seasoned educator, youth professional, mentor, parent, or university student, this journal is for you! From the very beginning, this quarterly publication was described as "practical," "powerful," and "positive." Now in it's 13th year, the journal continues to provide readers with concise, informative articles from leading educators and youth workers.

Reclaiming Children and Youth offers a vast array of strategies and solutions to many of the pressing problems of youth work today. Using tried and tested models, it presents techniques to reclaim even the most challenging children and youth.

Youth Today has called Reclaiming Children and Youth "one of the best publications in the field." With a world-class editorial board, this journal puts readers on the leading edge of positive youth development.

Helping Youth Succeed Through Out-of-School Time

This report reviews the current research and literature on out-of-school time (OST) programs especially with regard to their effectiveness; explores the range of OST programs and activities as employed by the various youth-serving sectors; considers the untapped possibilities of OST programs to meet the needs of young people.

Making a Difference: An Impact Study of Big Brothers Big Sisters

This is a re-issue of P/PV's 1995 impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Making a Difference, which proved that high-quality mentoring can have tangible and significant effects on the lives of youth. Researchers examined the lives of 1,000 10- to 16-year-olds who applied to Big Brothers Big Sisters for mentors. More than 60 percent of them were boys; more than half were members of minority groups, mostly African American. Over 80 percent came from impoverished families, approximately 40 percent were from homes with a history of drug or alcohol abuse, and almost all were being raised by a single parent. Half of these young people were matched with a mentor, while the rest stayed on the waiting list. Eighteen months later, the differences between the two groups were surprising. Weekly meetings with a mentor for (on average) a year had reduced first-time drug use by almost half and first-time alcohol use by a third, had cut school absenteeism by half, improved parental and peer relationships, and gave the youth confidence in doing their school work. The youth's grades even started getting a bit better.

Targeted Outreach: Boys & Girls Club of America's Approach to Gang Prevention and Intervention by Amy J.A. Arbreton & Wendy S. McClanahan

This report examines two initiatives developed by Boys & Girls Clubs of America, in cooperation with local clubs, to address the problem of youth gangs in their communities. One strategy is designed to help youth stay out of the gang lifestyle—Gang Prevention through Targeted Outreach. The second helps youth get out of gangs and away from their associated behaviors and values—Gang Intervention through Targeted Outreach. The findings indicate the initiatives are able to reach and retain hard-to-reach youth and have positive effects on those involved, including reduction in several delinquent and gang-associated behaviors and more positive school experiences.

Forum for Youth Investment - Moving Ideas to Impact

The Forum for Youth Investment is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping communities and the nation make sure all young people are Ready by 21™: ready for college, work and life. This goal requires that young people have the supports, opportunities and services needed to prosper and contribute where they live, learn, work, play and make a difference. The Forum provides youth and adult leaders with the information, technical assistance, training, network support and partnership opportunities needed to increase the quality and quantity of youth investment and youth involvement.

The Forum believes that all young people need and deserve intentional investments and opportunities for involvement through at least the first two decades of life. These investments must move beyond solving problems and promoting academic achievement to supporting a full range of positive outcomes — helping young people grow physically, socially, emotionally, personally, ethically, civically, vocationally and intellectually. Further, youth need more than just programs — they need a full range of basic services, formal and informal supports, and challenging opportunities. The various policies, systems, professionals and volunteers working for and with young people in the allied youth fields need support and encouragement in working together to improve the lives of the nation’s young people. The Forum uses the term "allied youth fields" to refer to the complex space where people such as child welfare advocates, service/learning researchers, after-school practitioners, prevention specialists, youth development funders and education administrators intersect.

Kaboom - A Great Place to Play Within Walking Distance of Every Child in America

KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Celebrating ten years of service in 2006, we rally communities to achieve better public policy, funding and public awareness for increased play opportunities nationwide; provide resources, including trainings, challenge grants, and publications for communities that wish to plan a new playspace on their own; and bring together children, business and community interests for a select number of community playspace builds each year. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago, Atlanta and San Mateo, Calif.

Youth Development: Issues, Challenges, and Directions

These past couple of days, I have been working through this massive document on Youth Development. It's a fantastic, and critical piece put together by Public/Private Ventures.

Here's a description:

During the past decade there has been considerable concern and discussion about what Americans can do to improve the lives and life prospects of our youth. The changing economy, the stress on family and community life that changing economy brings, concern about the adequacy of public education, the highly publicized incidents of gun violence in schools and the very large cohort of teenagers that this decade brings have only heightened the legitimacy, and the rhetoric, of that concern. In this volume of nine essays, leading researchers and practitioners in the field of youth development share what they have learned over the past decade about the potential challenges of the "youth development approach" and offer some suggestions about how to proceed in the coming decade.

Here's a list of the chapters:

1. Introduction

The Context for Moving Forward
2. Unfinished Business: Further Reflections on a Decade of Promoting Youth Development
(Karen Pittman, Merita Irby, Thaddeus Ferber)

3. The Policy Climate for Early Adolescent Initiatives
(Gary Walker)

4. The Cost of Financing of Youth Development
(Robert P. Newman, Stephanie M. Smith, Richard Murphy)

What We Know and Don't
5. The Scientific Foundations of Youth Development
(Peter L. Benson, Rebecca N. Saito)

6. Measuring Deficits and Assets: How We Track Youth Development Now, and How We Should Track It
(Gary B. MacDonald, Rafael Valdvieso)

Institutional Challenges
7. History, Ideology and Structure Shape the Organizatios that Shape Youth
(Joan Costello, Mark Toles, Julie Spielberger, Joan Wynn)

8. Juvenile Justice and Positive Youth Development
(Robert G. Schwartz)

9. Youth Development in Community Settings: Challenges to Our Field and Our Approach
(James P. Connell, Michelle Alberti Gambone, Thomas J. Smith)

10. The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same: The Evolution and Devolution of Youth Employment Programs
(Alan Zuckerman)

Mediasnackers and Phatgnat

Earlier this year, I received an e-mail from a fellow youthworker/media specialist named DK. He is the director of a company known as Phatgnat. He is really interested in bridging the gap between big business and community-based youth initiatives that utilize media/the arts.

It's great to have been able to find a kindred spirit across the ocean interested in issues of media literacy, social entrepreneurship, arts-based programming, youthwork etc. - particularly with how this works out in the UK context.

DK has just created a new initiative called Mediasnackers. This is a site/weblog/ project/call to action for people interested in how young people consume and create media.

Here's a blurb on the project:

Young people are the new ‘WWW’ generation—snacking whenever, wherever and whatever they like through the multi-channeled and many technological avenues available. Creating as much as they consume— constantly hungry, always ‘on’ and totally self-serving!
Please take the time to have a look at the site, especially the 'report' page which is the weblog, and let me have your views on how to develop and improve.

For those who would like to get involved and want to know more about the opportunities available, then there is a downloadable .pdf available - would love to explore the possibility of interviewing someone from your organisation?

Please feel free to forward this email to any individuals or organisations who you think would be interested in MediaSnackers and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

DK - thanks for being willing to collaborate with us, and for being willing to share these awesome resources.

Steve

Faith-Based Institutions and High-Risk Youth by Harold Dean Trulear

Many of the highest-risk youth in poor communities are not reached by traditional youth programs, but are served by churches and other faith-based institutions that are both well-established and seriously concerned about the welfare of these vulnerable youth and their families. This report, the first in a series from P/PV's National Faith-Based Initiative for High-Risk Youth, provides an initial overview of strategies employed by faith-based institutions in 11 cities, including lessons learned about the distinct contributions of faith-based institutions to the work of civil society, and the challenges of building partnerships between faith-based groups and other institutions--law enforcement and juvenile justice agencies, foundations and philanthropy, local government and community organizations.

Moving Beyond the Walls: Faith and Justice Partnerships Working for High-Risk Youth by Tracy A. Hartmann

This report examines the development of partnerships among faith-based institutions and juvenile justice agencies in a national demonstration intended to provide mentoring, education and employment services to young people at high risk of future criminal behavior. Given the range of services–and the needs of the young people–collaborations are critical to the communities' efforts. The report addresses the following questions: Can small faith-based organizations work together effectively? Can they develop effective partnerships with juvenile justice institutions? What are the benefits and challenges of both types of partnerships?

Reclaiming Our Prodigal Sons and Daughters Chapter Ten: Redeeming - Cultivating Commitment

Project 1:17 - Please post comments here...

References & Resources:
1. M. Scott Peck - Further Along the Road Less Travelled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth
2. Robert Coles - PBS Interview on Moral Life of Children
3. Robert Coles - The Spiritual Life of Children

In this chapter, Brendtro & Larson are emphasizing "...the importance of integrating the spiritual dimension into a holistic approach to positive youth development" (p.174).

Reclaiming Our Prodigal Sons and Daughters Chapter Nine: Reconciling - Cultivating Responsibility

Please post comments here

Photos from SWONEKY'S YOUTH COUNCILS

Circles of Care: Community Child Protection - South African Perspectives - Lesley Du Toit

America's Promise: The Alliance for Youth

Retired Gen. Colin L. Powell became America's Promise founding chairman serving in that capacity until 2001. The mission of America's Promise is to strengthen the character and competence of America's youth. We'd like to see every child in America have the fundamental resources he or she needs to be ready for the future. These Five Promises that all children should benefit from are:

1. Caring adults in their lives, as parents, mentors, tutors, coaches
2. Safe places with structured activities in which to learn and grow
3. A healthy start and healthy future
4. An effective education that equips them with marketable skills
5. An opportunity to give back to their communities through their own service

America's Promise is an Alliance that brings together communities, individuals, companies and organizations from all sectors to improve the odds for children and youth. Members of this Alliance work together to:

• Change the public policies affecting children and youth
• Change the scale and scope of resources devoted to helping young people achieve their full potential
• Change practice in the way that young people are served

The Good Behavior Game: A Best Practice Candidate as a Universal Behavioral Vaccine

A simple behavioral strategy called the Good Behavior Game (GBG), which reinforces inhibition in a group context of elementary school, has substantial previous research to consider its use as a behavioral vaccine. The GBG is not a curriculum but rather a simple behavioral procedure from applied behavior analysis. Approximately 20 independent replications of the GBG across different grade levels, different types of students, different settings, and some with long-term follow-up show strong, consistent impact on impulsive, disruptive behaviors of children and teens as well as reductions in substance use or serious antisocial behaviors. The GBG, named as a best practice for the prevention of substance abuse or violent behavior by a number of federal agencies, is unique because it is the only practice implemented by individual teachers that is documented to have long-term effects.

Helping America's Youth Initiative

Helping America’s Youth is a nationwide effort, initiated by President George W. Bush and led by First Lady Laura Bush, to benefit children and teenagers by encouraging action in three key areas: family, school, and community. The Community Guide to Helping America’s Youth helps communities build partnerships, assess their needs and resources, and select from program designs that could be replicated in their community.

It walks community groups through the steps necessary for building strong supports for youth

Solutions for America: What's Already Out There - A Sourcebook of Ideas From Successful Community Programs

This is a completely WILD resource for anyone starting a new community-based youth program. It's called Solutions for America: What's Already Out There - A Sourcebook of Ideas From Successful Community Programs.

There are a ton of time-tested programs such as:

1. Programs that help young people stay in school, off drugs, and on-track
2. Programs that create viable local economies
3. Programs that equip families for success
4. Programs that begin with neighbors
5. Programs that create collaborative change

Check it out - great for newly graduating Project 1:17 students!

Response Ability Pathways (RAP) -

The Reclaiming Youth Network offers basic training in Response Ability Pathways. This develops essential skills for success with children and youth who are experiencing difficulty in family, school, or community. How can we respond to a youngster's needs rather than react to problems?

For more information on this, read this PDF.

For seminars on the USA NorthEast, click here.

Holding California Afterschool Programs Accountable