After-school programs, scout groups, community service activities, religious youth groups, and other community-based activities have long been thought to play a key role in the lives of adolescents. But what do we know about the role of such programs for today's adolescents? How can we ensure that programs are designed to successfully meet young people's developmental needs and help them become healthy, happy, and productive adults? Community Programs to Promote Youth Development explores these questions, focusing on essential elements of adolescent well-being and healthy development. It offers recommendations for policy, practice, and research to ensure that programs are well designed to meet young people's developmental needs. The book also discusses the features of programs that can contribute to a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. It examines what we know about the current landscape of youth development programs for America's youth, as well as how these programs are meeting their diverse needs. Recognizing the importance of adolescence as a period of transition to adulthood, Community Programs to Promote Youth Development offers authoritative guidance to policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and other key stakeholders on the role of youth development programs to promote the healthy development and well-being of the nation's youth.

Professionals in educational and recreational settings work hard to understand and address the problems faced by underserved youth. Yet the dedicated people in these institutions are often limited in what they can achieve because they tend to remain within the confines of their own work environment rather than sharing their expertise and resources. Instead of accepting this as an unfortunate fact of life, the coauthors of this book see the situation as an opportunity to develop an approach in which the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. In Youth Development and Physical Activity: Linking Universities and Communities, they draw on their considerable teaching experience to present innovative new ways to serve underserved youth. The book describes practical strategies for breaking down the walls between universities and communities so they can combine their strengths to improve young people's lives. You'll find a wealth of guidelines for creating physical activity programs that instill a sense of social and personal responsibility, including numerous real-life examples of successful programs. Youth Development and Physical Activity: Linking Universities and Communities is divided into four parts, each enriched with the colorful "voices" and stories of real kids and youth leaders who have put these ideas into practice: -Part I provides a sobering look at the challenges today's young people face and introduces positive ways to improve physical activity youth programs so they're meaningful in today's world. -In Part II, you'll learn how to move from "how it is" to "how it could be," using a breakthrough model for working with kids and building programs. Here the book provides a road map that shows the way for university students and faculty to connect with youth in their communities through service learning, internships, and other outreach programs -Part III spells out how to develop a variety of proven youth physical activity programs--from adventure experiences and Coaching Clubs to mentoring and teen parent programs. You'll find many great ideas that work in virtually any setting, including public schools, alternative schools, recreation programs, youth service groups, and social agencies. -Part IV provides a variety of helpful tools for evaluating programs and improving outcomes, as well as insights on how professionals can develop the skills they need to respond to the changing demands on youth leaders. Written by professionals with a combined 70 years of experience working with underserved youth, this book is must reading for both professionals and organizations practicing in a world where youth too often slip through the cracks. It provides a clear and hopeful framework for improving the lives of kids as well as the communities in which they live.

Out-of-school time (OST) settings are powerful contexts for youth development when programs and services are intentionally designed. Youth Development Principles and Practices in Out-of-School Time Settings was written to increase the capacity of students and professionals to facilitate youths optimal transition to adulthood through maximizing the developmental benefits accrued by participating in OST programs and experiences. Peter A. Witt and Linda L. Caldwell, two well-respected researchers in the youth development field, have brought together a group of outstanding authors who provide an exceptional blend of theory- and practice-based information critical to anyone seeking to conceptualize, design, and evaluate OST programs. All chapters are based on tenets of positive youth development necessary to enable youth to thrive. The book is divided into five sections: (1) youth development principles and foundational information (e.g., youth today as well as an historical perspective on youth work); (2) developing youths potential (including specific chapters on leisure and recreation, youth sport, nature-based activities and the arts); (3) systematic program planning and evaluation of youth programs. (4) the role of adults and families in the lives of youth; (5) issues of diversity in youth development (e.g., race and ethnicity, immigrant, LGBT, and ability level). A final chapter discusses the knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary to become a skilled youth professional. Each chapter ends with thought-provoking discussion questions and assignments that encourage application and further exploration of the chapters content. The book is a must read for students and practitioners seeking to understand youth today and support their development through out-of-school time programs.

This edited text focuses on positive approaches to youth development that are rapidly supplanting the traditional deficit-oriented, problem-reduction approach. The book addresses the question; what does it take to create a community that will promote the positive opportunities that can optimize the development of all young people? The book draws together the perspectives of top names and programs in positive youth development, thus assuring readers of authoritative, cutting-edge coverage.

"In recent years, the fields of psychology and human development have focused growing attention on issues of positive youth development. . . . This volume provides a tool that can be used by researchers, practitioners, and policy makers alike to build collective efforts to enhance the well-being of youth. . . . Professor Hamilton is one of the most respected scholars in the country. There is no doubt in my mind that this volume will not only make a significant contribution in the field, but more important, that it is a volume that will be utilized across disciplines and professions." —Francisco A. Villarruel, Michigan State University "The conceptualization and comprehensiveness are excellent. The book also deals with a newly emerging and exciting field and hence is at the forefront of research, policy, and practice. . . . a useful resource." —Lonnie Sherrod, Fordham University "Both timely and potentially very useful...nothing nearly as inclusive as this youth development handbook now exists." —John Kretzmann, Northwestern University "A handbook like this is a good idea because of the interest in communities and colleges in this topic and because of the number of programs being developed targeted at adolescents. . . . I believe the book will serve as a useful reference for scholars, policy makers, and program development specialists. . . . There are no other comparable resources that focus on exemplary programs and community development issues." —Philip Newman, University of Rhode Island What are the types of environments in which youth thrive? How do we cultivate such environments to promote optimal development and positive behavior in youth? The Youth Development Handbook: Coming of Age in American Communities provides youth and development practitioners access to current theory and research in the field of youth development, including illustrations of good practice, original case studies, and a contextual approach to such topics as youth participation and diversity. Because youth practitioners typically identify themselves with one or more contexts, such as youth-serving organizations or faith-based organizations, editors Stephen F. Hamilton and Mary Agnes Hamilton have arranged the book so that each chapter explores the application of youth development principles to its context, drawing on current research. Part I of the book is organized around contexts in which adolescents grow up, such as schools, workplaces, families, peer groups, youth-serving organizations, faith-based organizations, recreation groups, juvenile courts, health clinics, neighborhoods, and cyberspace. Part II addresses broader issues such as evaluation, funding, and community-wide initiatives and the concluding chapter identifies themes that cut across contexts, including mentoring, universal vs. targeted approaches, and evidence-based practice. Features of this volume: Chapters written expressly for the book by established scholars committed to learning from the field and making research useful to practitioners in everyday life. Rather than a "how-to" guide, the book is a source of information and ideas for use in planning programs, training practitioners, and understanding the perspectives of partners in community collaborations. Original case studies provide illustrations of good practice in working with youth to optimize growth and development in varied settings such as the family, school, youth organizations, and workplaces. Serves as both a useful reference and as a "state of the art" account of youth development as a field. The Youth Development Handbook is designed for scholars and researchers in applied developmental science as well as practitioners and policy makers who implement youth development initiatives. The book is also recommended for use in graduate courses on youth development in the fields of Psychology, Human Development & Family Studies, and Education.

It's not all "fun and games." A growing body of research suggests that recreation activities can be powerful development contexts when they are properly framed and intentionally designed. This volume highlights much of that research, and the articles that follow provide ample evidence that well-framed recreation activities and contexts can provide a range of positive developmental outcomes. Editors Lawrence R. Allen and Robert J. Barcelona draw on their own work in human and youth development and have assembled contributing authors who explore the important of meaningful recreation and leisure experiences in the lives of youth and the value of recreation from a developmental perspective. Chapters focus on the developmental potential of specific recreation contexts and settings and provide research and evidence-based strategies outlining the activities that best promote positive youth development. Finally, the volume demonstrates how recreation is being used to strengthen individual and community assets and its role as a contributor in addressing pressing social issues. This is the 130th volume of New Directions for Youth Development, the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series dedicated to bringing together everyone concerned with helping young people, including scholars, practitioners, and people from different disciplines and professions. The result is a unique resource presenting thoughtful, multi-faceted approaches to helping our youth develop into responsible, stable, well-rounded citizens.

The first Positive Youth Development title to focus on the role of sport, this book brings together high profile contributors from diverse disciplines to critically examine the ways in which sport can be and has been used to promote youth development. Young people are too frequently looked upon as problems waiting to be solved. From the perspective of Positive Youth Development (PYD), young people are understood to embody potential, awaiting development. Involvement with sport provides a developmental context that has been associated with PYD, but negative outcomes can also arise from sport participation and school PE. Sport itself does not lead to PYD; rather, it is the manner in which sport is structured and delivered to children that influences their development. Positive Youth Development Through Sport fills a void in the literature by bringing together experts from diverse disciplines to critically examine the ways in which sport can be and has been used to promote youth development.

Introduction to Recreation and Leisure, Third Edition, presents perspectives from 52 leading experts from around the world. It delves into foundational concepts, delivery systems, and programming services; offers an array of ancillaries; and helps students make informed career choices.