A Portrait of Preteens in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties: What We Know About 9- to 13-Year Olds

This report, commissioned by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health and the Preteen Alliance, presents a profile of the preteen population in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in California. Data compiled from a wide variety of sources depict the demographic and economic characteristics of the preteen population in the two counties, as well as detailed information about their emotional, behavioral, physical and academic health compared to available data on preteens in the state and the nation. Recommendations to increase community awareness about the particular issues and needs of youth in this age range and to address gaps in available data are offered

Working Together to Build Beacon Centers in San Francisco: Evaluation Findings from 1998-2000

Since 1996, private and public funders in San Francisco have supported a city-wide Beacons Initiative. Eight Beacon Centers, located in public schools, serve 7500 youth and adults each year, providing a rich array of developmental activities in the non-school hours. This report looks at how the centers were created; it describes the centers' operation; and investigates the role of the initiative's "theory of change" in organizing and guiding the effort

Putting It All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After-School Programs Serving Preteens

Successfully navigating early adolescence depends, in large part, on the availability of safe and engaging activities and supportive relationships with adults, yet many preteens have limited access to positive supports and opportunities -- such as high-quality after-school programs -- that could put them on a path to success. Funders, policymakers and practitioners share the common goal of supporting strategies that will have the most long-lasting positive effects on young people.Recognizing this, the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health commissioned P/PV to identify the characteristics of quality after-school programs that are linked to positive outcomes for preteens. Based on the latest research and experience in the field, P/PV developed the publication, Putting It All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After-School Programs Serving Preteens, along with a companion Resource Guide (http://www.lpfch.org/afterschool/resourceguide.html) that includes links to research and tools to strengthen programs.Putting It All Together focuses on six after-school program components associated with positive outcomes for preteens:Focused and Intentional Strategy: Programs have a clear set of goals, target specific skills, and deliberately plan all aspects of the program with a youth development framework in mind.Exposure: Programs are designed to: a) provide preteens with a sufficient number of hours per week over an extended period of time, that matches program outcome goals; and b) allow preteens to attend a variety of activities.Supportive Relationships: Programs emphasize positive adult-youth relationships regardless of the curriculum.Family Engagement: Programs strive to include families through various strategies, such as clear communication and a welcoming environment.Cultural Competence: Programs have diverse staff whose backgrounds are reflective of participants and who create practices and policies that: a) make services available to and inclusive of a variety of populations; and b) help participants understand and value a broad range of cultures.Continuous Program Improvement: Programs strengthen quality through an ongoing and integrated process of targeted staff training, coaching and monitoring, and data collection and analysis.While a host of factors, including organizational capacity, the needs of the youth served and the resources available, all play a role in determining a program's ability to achieve its goals, research suggests that these guiding principles are essential for program quality. That quality, in turn, is the foundation for positive results for youth.NOTE: This version of Putting It All Together contains a full list of endnotes and references, which we chose to omit from hard copies of the report, in the interest of brevity

After-School Pursuits: The Executive Summary

This document summarizes the major findings from P/PV's Examination of Outcomes in the San Francisco Beacon Initiative

Testing the Impact of Higher Achievement's Year-Round Out-of-School-Time Program on Academic Outcomes

Presents findings from a multiyear evaluation of an intensive long-term OST program's effect on low-income middle school students' academic performance, attitudes, and behaviors. Outlines implications for financially strapped districts

Targeted Outreach: Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Approach to Gang Prevention and Intervention

This report examines two initiatives developed by Boys & Girls Clubs of America, in cooperation with local clubs, to address the problem of youth gangs in their communities. One strategy is designed to help youth stay out of the gang lifestyle -- Gang Prevention through Targeted Outreach. The second helps youth get out of gangs and away from their associated behaviors and values -- Gang Intervention through Targeted Outreach. The findings indicate the initiatives are able to reach and retain hard-to-reach youth and have positive effects on those involved, including reduction in several delinquent and gang-associated behaviors and more positive school experiences