In this innovative book, elements of risk and resilience, positive youth development, and organizational collaboration are used to develop a comprehensive intervention framework, the Integrated Prevention and Early Intervention (IPEI) Model.

Students considered at-risk are defined as students who lack a sense of identity, personal connectedness, and personal power. Another characteristic of at-risk students is the role parents play or fail to play in the at-risk behavior. A case is made for all students being at risk at some point in their lives. Four programs were designed and implemented to help at-risk and marginal students at one junior high school. The four programs include the OK Club, the Quest for Success Skills Program, the I-CANN (Individualized Course Alternative, Now or Never), and the Student Assistance Council. The OK Club is designed to build self-esteem and to provide after school-support and requires a strong parental component. The Quest for Success Skills Program is a transition program which prepares at risk sixth-graders for junior high school. The I-CANN Program provides counseling, development of self-esteem, and a hands-on curriculum. It also has a strong parental component. The Student Assistance Council involves a staff team that assesses the needs of at-risk students and recommends actions to address those needs. A successful program must begin with an attitude of caring. This caring attitude must be reflected by the total school staff toward every student and his or her family. (ABL)

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.

Provides a review of new information regarding at-risk youth, including a synthesis of current research, evaluation of effective school programs and practices, description of promising practices still being evaluated, and a collection of the author's personal anecdotes and experiences with teachers

Rich with illustrative case material, this book guides mental health professionals to break the cycle of at-risk behavior by engaging adolescents and their families in home, school, and community contexts. The authors explore the multigenerational patterns that shape the lives of poor and ethnic minority adolescents and present innovative strategies for intervening beyond the walls of the agency or clinic. Grounded in research, the book shows how to implement both home-based family therapy and school-based achievement mentoring to provide a comprehensive web of support. Building on the earlier Reaching Out in Family Therapy, this book reflects the ongoing development of the authors' multisystems approach and many other important changes in the field; the majority of the content is completely new. It is an indispensable resource for beginning and experienced professionals or text for courses on adolescent intervention or adolescent mental health.

At least 7 million young Americansâ€"fully one-quarter of adolescents 10 to 17 years oldâ€"may be at risk of failing to achieve productive adult lives. They use drugs, engage in unprotected sex, drop out of school, and sometimes commit crimes, effectively closing the door to their own futures. And the costs to society are enormous: school and social services are overwhelmed, and our nation faces the future with a diminished citizenry. This penetrating book argues that the problems of troubled youth cannot be separated from the settings in which those youths liveâ€"settings that have deteriorated significantly in the past two decades. A distinguished panel examines what works and what does not in the effort to support and nurture adolescents and offers models for successful programs. This volume presents an eye-opening look at what millions of the nation's youths confront every day of their lives, addressing: How the decline in economic security for young working parents affects their children's life chances. How dramatic changes in household structure and the possibilities of family and community violence threaten adolescents' development. How the decline of neighborhoods robs children of a safe environment. How adolescents' health needs go unmet in the current system. Losing Generations turns the spotlight on those institutions youths needâ€"the health care system, schools, the criminal justice, and the child welfare and foster home systemsâ€"and how they are functioning. Difficult issues are addressed with study results and insightful analyses: access of poor youths to health insurance coverage, inequities in school funding, how child welfare agencies provide for adolescents in their care, and the high percentage of young black men in the criminal justice system.