ABSTRACT
During the past few years public policy discussions both in New York City and on a national level have focused increasing attention on the need for programs and community supports for young people. Especially in urban settings, the widespread social problems affecting adolescents (school failure, violence, pregnancy, drug addiction, crime, etc.) have drawn ever-growing concern and research from private foundations, the popular media, and the political arena. As an example, the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development (1992) recently released a report on youth development and community programs titled A Matter of Time: Risk and Opportunity in the Nonschool Hours. After detailing the immense need for positive community involvement, adult guidance, and employment or preemployment opportunities for adolescents, the authors criticize current programs, describing them as “typically fragmented and uncoordinated … often address[ing] single problems … underfinanced,” as suffering from “low morale” among staff, and tending to serve “more advantaged families.” The authors state that:
The time has come to change these conditions dramatically. Youth-serving agencies, government, and all sectors concerned about youth must join in an effort to expand opportunities for young adolescents when they are out of school, improve program quality and increase program intensity, and extend these activities particularly to young adolescents who live in low income often high-risk communities, (p. 12)
