NCJ Number
168597
Date Published
1993
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This report analyzes changes in American society and how they are impacting communities and their youth, followed by descriptions of school-community partnerships support by the Mott Foundation that are designed to address these changes and foster positive community and youth development.
Abstract
Such factors as the labor force participation of women, weakened family structures, and growing childhood poverty rates have had a dramatic impact on the dynamics and interactions of the American family, and this has, in turn, impacted communities. From the Mott Foundation's perspective, if there is to be any hope of creating more livable communities for children, it will require partnerships between schools and communities. The concept of collaborating -- of bringing community interests together to leverage and maximize their strengths and impact -- is ingrained in Mott's grantmaking work. This report provides examples of collaboration programs that have been developed with funding from the Mott Foundation. Two of the programs are in New York City: the Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families and the Children's Aid Society (CAS). Both Rheedlen and CAS are large social welfare agencies with long histories of working in impoverished neighborhoods throughout the city. The two agencies have arrayed a host of activities and services in neighborhood schools to meet the social, physical, emotional, educational, and recreational needs of those living nearby.