The Forum for Youth Investment

America's Youth Councils Network, made up of youth councils from across the country, met in Washington, DC on October 25 & 26 to share best practices and gain national attention for youth councils.

States are struggling. Children’s lives, too often, are truly in the balance as states and localities decide where to make cuts, often sacrificing long-term investments to achieve short-term cost savings. And a new National League of Cities report, City Fiscal Conditions 2009, suggests that the situation will worsen over the next two years.

In this edition of Forum Flash, read Karen's latest Youth Today column that reflects on the similar challenges in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems and, if you haven't had a chance to join one, make sure to clear your calendar for the next Introduction to the Ready by 21 Challenge webinar.

This volume pulls together a range of reflections from members of the International Learning Group (ILG) members, Latin American friends and staff. The bulk of the volume is devoted to the individual and collective essays, interviews, statements and reports written or inspired by the ILG members during and after the Latin American visit.

This guide provides a roadmap through many documents and several years of work on the Community and Youth Development Series that was published with the support of the Ford Foundation in an effort to consolidate answers to basic questions.

This report explores three important trends and their implications: 1) Our understanding of how to best address the problems and needs of youth, 2) there is interest within the field that provides fresh impetus for youth as change agents, and 3) youth are increasingly tackling challenges in their community.

To further the exploration of the changing role of community development organizations (CDOs) in youth development work, the Ford Foundation retained Community Development Associates, Inc., (CDA) in January of 1998 to conduct an investigation of the interconnection between youth development work and that of community-based organizations.

This report is a compilation of three case studies of New York City organizations that have started Beacons, school-based community centers that offer young people and families a wide array of opportunities to engage in youth development and community building.