Report/Paper

This commentary takes readers on a cross-country tour of after-school innovation – from northern and southern California to Chicago, New York and New Hampshire. In On the Ground we describe two very different school-based models in California.

The following documents are referenced during the February 4 Children's Cabinet Network Call.

Policymakers increasingly view youth development and after-school programs as solutions to a host of problems confronting youth, communities and our country overall. Yet, funds for these programs as a whole are scarce and when resources are devoted to training or workforce development, they appear to be included as afterthoughts or minor priorities.

Program quality assessment and improvement continue to be central themes in the after-school and youth development fields. In March 2007 we released the first edition of this report comparing the purpose, history, structure, methodology, content and technical properties of different program observation tools.

This volume pulls together a range of reflections from members of the International Learning Group (ILG) members, Latin American friends and staff. The bulk of the volume is devoted to the individual and collective essays, interviews, statements and reports written or inspired by the ILG members during and after the Latin American visit.

This guide provides a roadmap through many documents and several years of work on the Community and Youth Development Series that was published with the support of the Ford Foundation in an effort to consolidate answers to basic questions.

This report explores three important trends and their implications: 1) Our understanding of how to best address the problems and needs of youth, 2) there is interest within the field that provides fresh impetus for youth as change agents, and 3) youth are increasingly tackling challenges in their community.

To further the exploration of the changing role of community development organizations (CDOs) in youth development work, the Ford Foundation retained Community Development Associates, Inc., (CDA) in January of 1998 to conduct an investigation of the interconnection between youth development work and that of community-based organizations.