Afterschool programs have long been seen as exemplary delivery systems for safe, structured activities that prevent negative behaviors (i.e. substance use, delinquency) as well as promote positive youth development (Eccles & Gootman, 2002). However, researchers and advocates for youth-serving organizations point out the need for capacity-building with such programs as a way to increase their effectiveness and sustainability (Borden, Craig, & Villarruel, 2004; Bumbarger & Greenberg, 2002; Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, Hawkins, 2004; Johnson, Rothstein, & Gajdosik, 2004). At the same time, attention has turned to efforts to strengthen these organizations through impacting the social setting, rather than simply implementing new program activities, as a way to support positive youth-adult relationships, youth-centered norms, and opportunities for youth participation in organizational activities (Tseng & Seidman, 2007). The fusion of capacity-building efforts and a focus on settings is therefore seen as a key to harnessing the potential of such programs. However, there have been few if any randomized studies on the impact of such activities on afterschool settings. Based on the theoretical foundations of setting theories, the current research examined the effects of the Kansas Afterschool Leadership Development Initiative (KALDI) organizational capacity-building intervention on afterschool site settings. Fourteen afterschool sites were randomly assigned to an intervention or comparison condition. The primary focus of KALDI with the seven intervention sites was on strengthening positive youth-adult relationships, youth-centered norms, and youth participation in meaningful roles. Results indicated that while the intervention was useful in establishing basic capacity-building elements, it was not powerful enough to create setting-level changes. Process and setting-level outcomes, limitations and lessons learned in the implementation of KALDI are discussed.

Closing the gap between scientific research on afterschool programming and the practices occurring in these settings is the goal of this volume. Both sources of knowledge are critical to developing the afterschool workforce’s ability to provide high-quality programming. On the one hand, this means afterschool staff should not work with young people until they have been adequately prepared—which includes training in evidence-based practices—and properly supervised. On the other hand, it requires that scientists understand and study those aspects of afterschool programming most relevant to the needs of practitioners. This volume includes perspectives from the afterschool workforce, scientists who discuss the current research, and the practitioners who know how afterschool programs operate in practice. This is the 144th 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 first volume of this SpringerBrief presents a series of papers compiled from a conference about how after-school programs may be implemented to promote positive youth development (PYD) hosted by Youth-Nex, the University of Virginia Center to Promote Effective Youth Development. This volume reviews the importance of after-school programs for PYD and discusses key components of effective after-school programs. It also discusses issues related to the evaluation and measurement of quality in after-school programs. In addition, the brief presents suggestions for how researchers, policy makers, and practitioners can move the field forward and maximize the potential of after-school time and programs for promoting positive youth development for children and adolescents. Topics featured in this brief include: The history of the relationship between after-school programs and positive youth development. Specific features of programs that are important for advancing positive youth development. Issues in and approaches to measuring quality in after-school programs. The Quality, Engagement, Skills, Transfer (QuEST) model and its use for measuring effective after-school programs. A case study evaluation of the Girls on the Run program. After-School Programs to Promote Positive Youth Development, Volume 1, is a must-have resource for policy makers and related professionals, graduate students, and researchers in child and school psychology, family studies, public health, social work, law/criminal justice, and sociology.

Social settings have enormous power to promote or hinder positive youth development. Researchers and practitioners know a great deal about features of schools and programs for youth that affect development, but much less about how to transform settings to bring about these desirable features. This book shows how to harness the power of settings. It shifts the debate from simply enhancing youth outcomes at the individual level to improving the settings of youths' daily lives. The book offers researchers and practitioners blueprints for creating and changing influential settings including classrooms, schools, universities, out-of-school time programs, ethnic systems of supplementary education, and other community-based programs. Leading scholars in psychology, education, human development, sociology, anthropology, economics, law, and public policy discuss a wide array of social change strategies, and describe how to measure key features of settings as a target and guide for change. The authors also demonstrate how larger social structures - such as school districts, community coalitions, community data resources - can support change. Many of the chapters describe ways to make settings work for all youth, including those marginalized by reason of race, ethnicity, social class, or sexual orientation. Toward Positive Youth Development will guide researchers, educators, administrators and policy makers to improve schools and youth programs for all of America's youth.

The second volume of this SpringerBrief presents a series of papers compiled from a conference addressing how after-school programs can promote positive youth development (PYD) hosted by Youth-Nex, the University of Virginia Center to Promote Effective Youth Development. It examines summer learning and best practices for different types of after-school programs by drawing on the experiences of researchers, program staff, and youth participants. It also presents case studies of five specialized programs and discusses their strengths, limitations, and challenges. In addition, the brief offers recommendations drawn from across the two volumes for how researchers, policy makers, and practitioners can move the field forward and maximize the potential of after-school time and programs to promote positive youth development for children and adolescents. Featured case studies of specialized after-school programs include: Richmond, Virginia’s ROSMY. The Clubhouse: Where Technology Meets Imagination. The Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP). Whatever It Takes (WIT) Program. UTEC of Lowell, Massachusetts. After-School Programs to Promote Positive Youth Development, Volume 2, is a must-have resource for policy makers and related professionals, graduate students, and researchers in child and school psychology, family studies, public health, social work, law/criminal justice, and sociology.

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.