This section investigates
a wide range of community supports for children, families, and people
of all ages and backgrounds.
It includes research
and information on community institutions, such as schools, clinics,
libraries, parks, faith-based organizations, cultural and civic centers,
and other places for human and social interaction. Safe neighborhoods,
good jobs, affordable housing, accessible public services, family-friendly
workplaces, quality education,and opportunities for civic engagement
are important dimensions of healthy communities.
General
National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth
The National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY) was established by the Family and Youth Services Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as a free information service for communities, organizations, and individuals interested in developing effective strategies for supporting young people and their families.
Rural School and Community Trust
The Rural Trust is the premier national nonprofit organization addressing the crucial relationship between good schools and thriving rural communities. Rural Roots is published six times per year by the Rural Trust.
"Facing Race" Campaign
A campaign of the Saint Paul Foundation that will trigger change in the nature of personal, organizational and institutional relationships—creating a more equitable, just and open community in which everyone feels safe, valued and respected.
An assessment of racism in Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties: Executive summary
This study, conducted by the Wilder Research Center, used a combination of racially and ethnically sensitive research procedures to document experiences and attitudes regarding race in the east metro. The findings helped to shape (and will help to measure impact of) a new Saint Paul Foundation anti-racism campaign called “Facing Race."
Homeless in Minnesota 2003: Key facts from the survey of Minnesotans
without permanent housing
Drawn from interviews with more than 3,000 homeless adults and youth
throughout Minnesota, this research describes some of the causes,
effects, and circumstances surrounding homelessness. The statewide
survey has been conducted by Wilder Research Center every three years
since 1991. The web site has the pdf version of this report available
for downloading and will also have other, issue-specific reports
posted based on further analysis of the 2003 survey.
Rebuilding Communities Initiatives -- The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Annie E. Casey Foundation works
in partnership with community-based organizations on comprehensive
strategies to reverse social isolation and disinvestment in low-income
neighborhoods.
Creative Partnerships:
Supporting Youth, Building Communities
Since 1994, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
has been a catalyst for innovative community policing practices,
facilitating local development of community-wide partnerships that
promote safe environments for youth.
Community Change For Youth Development: Ten Lessons From the CCYD
Initiative
Public/Private Ventures is a national nonprofit organization that
seeks to improve the effectiveness of social policies and programs.
CCYD, a development of P/PV, offers participating communities a framework
for promoting youth development: a set of research-based “core
concepts,” and a strategy for implementing them.
Rural Poverty Research Centers
RPRC is a community of policymakers,
practitioners and researchers seeking to understand how policy
and practice can reduce poverty across the rural-urban continuum.
Rural
Poverty Research Centers tackle poverty-related issues of regional
or state interest and seek to improve our understanding of the
nature, causes, correlates, and consequences of poverty and to inform
program
and policies to alleviate poverty.
Community-Based
Participatory Research
Community-based
participatory research is a collaborative approach to research
that equitably involves
all partners in the research process
and recognizes the unique strengths that each brings. The site was
developed by Community-Campus Partnerships
for Health (CCPH), a nonprofit organization that promotes
health through partnerships between communities and higher educational
institutions.
Commonwealth
Fund
The
Commonwealth Fund is a New York City based national foundation devoted
to helping Americans live healthy and productive
lives and to assisting specific groups with serious and neglected
problems. The Fund's current four national program areas are improving
health care
services, bettering the health of minority Americans, advancing the
well-being of elderly people, and developing the capacities of children
and young
people.
Asset-based
Community Development
Northwestern University’s
Institute for Policy Research has been studying successful community-building
initiatives in neighborhoods for over 30 years. It offers trainings
and technical assistance, conducts research, and publishes materials
through the Asset-based Community Development (ABCD) Center, directed
by John L. McKnight and John P. Kretzmann, authors of Building Communities
from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s
Assets.
Aspen
Institute Roundtable on Community Initiatives
The Roundtable
on Comprehensive Community Initiatives is a forum for people engaged
in the field of comprehensive community initiatives, which are defined
as neighborhood-based efforts to improve outcomes for individuals
and families by working across social, economic and physical sectors.
The site contains publications, working papers and project reports.
Family
Re-Union 8: Families and Communities
The national family
policy initiative, Family Re-Union, co-sponsored by the University
of Minnesota and Vanderbilt University, focused its 1999 conference
on the theme of Families and Communities. The conference identified
national models of successful programs and policies, and investigated
ten sub-themes through roundtable discussions. The conference web
site contains an overview.
Loka
Institute’s Community-Based Research in the United States
With grants from
The Aspen Institute's Nonprofit Sector Research Fund and the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation, the Loka Institute produced the 1998 study, "Community-Based
Research in the United States." Community-based research is defined
as research that is conducted by, with, or for communities, for example
with civic, grassroots, or worker groups. This study presents 12 case
studies of U.S. community research centers, one-third are located
at universities and the others are independent nonprofit organizations.
Included is a project conducted with the assistance of the University
of Minnesota sponsored Neighborhood Planning for Community Revitalization.
Chapin
Hall’s Community-Building Projects
The Chapin Hall
Center for Children at the University of Chicago was established in1985
as a research and development center dedicated to bringing sound information,
rigorous analyses, innovative ideas, and an independent perspective
to the ongoing public debate about the needs of children and families.
Chapin Hall's community-building work is concerned with evaluating
community change initiatives, and developing tools and resources for
community working to support children and families.
Search
Institute
The Search Institute
conducts research
and publishes resources
that help communities promote positive child and youth development.
Center
on School, Family and Community Partnerships
The Center on
School, Family and Community Partnerships conducts and disseminates
research to help communities improve schools and strengthen families.
See its site for a range of publications and promising practices.
Institute
for Responsive Education
Institute for
Responsive Education (IRE) encourages and supports partnership among
schools, families, and communities to enable high quality educational
opportunities for all children. For more than twenty-five years, IRE
has sponsored a wide range of research and policy studies, demonstration
projects, and publications that explore new ways to connect families
and communities to their schools. It is located at Northeastern University
in Boston, MA. IRE provides technical assistance to communities seeking
to form broad collaborations to improve equity in education.
The Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development
The Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development seeks,
tests, and promotes innovative concepts and practices, providing
cutting-edge tools for youth workers in diverse settings. They are
committed to youth participation at all levels.
Chicano Latino Affairs
Council
The 2002 Census listed approximately 144,000 Chicanos/Latinos living
in Minnesota. The Chicano Latino Affairs Council provides demographic
and background information about Chicanos and Latinos in Minnesota.
Guide
to Community Preventive Services
The community guide is being developed by a non-federal Task Force,
which has been appointed by the Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC). This group will provide leadership
in the evaluation of community, population, and health care system
strategies to address a variety of public health promotion topics.
Media
New
V-chip and TV rating study
New V-chip and
TV rating study released by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation,
July, 2001: Kids and Media and the New Millenium Study
The
Center for Media Education
The center is
a national nonprofit organization that gathers research on the effects
of electronic media on children and youth.
The
National Television Violence Study
The National Television
Violence Study, conducted from 1996-98, involved the efforts of media
researchers at four universities, and an oversight Council of representatives
from national policy organizations. Donald Shriftin, M.D., summarizes
the findings of the three year study foe the American Academy of Pediatrics,
August 1998 AAP
News.
Children
as a Special Audience
The extent to
which children have historically and around the world, been early
and heavy users of mass media is remarkable. This has been so since
the earliest days of film. And perhaps at least partly because of
this, there have been recurring public concerns about the social effects
of media use on children.
Electronic
Childhood
As parents, teachers
and television producers observe our children in this electronic world,
we are both awed by their agility with media that sometimes intimidate
us, and fearful of the ways those new media are changing, the nature
of children's lives and the society in which they grow up.
The
Effects of Media and Advertising on Children: an Action for Children
Brief
For over 30 years
a debate has persisted over the impact of media on our lives. This
has especially been true when it comes to children. When the Action
for Children Commission held discussions with citizens of Minnesota
in June of 1991 about their lives and the lives of their children,
many reported that the media has a tremendous influence on behaviors
and attitudes among children and youth.
