Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Speaking Out For Youth Service: It's Not Just The Thought That Counts, Youth Service America, Nittional Association Of Service And Conservation Corps

Conference Proceedings

Welcome to the Youth Service America conference on national youth service issues and policy. We are gathering in Washington at a time when interest in youth service is high and Congressional action possible. Together, at this conference, we have an opportunity to play a central role in expanding the diversified field of youth service and translating successful youth service strategies into a national policy that will make the ethic of service an integral part of growing up in America.

Fostering Intergenerational Relatiollships For At-Risk Youth, Marc Freedman

Intergenerational

Many at-risk youth are growing up isolated from the range of caring and consistent adult relationships so important for navigating the treacherous course from adolescence to adulthood. An accumulation of research from the social sciences suggests that adult relationships-provided not only by parents. but by grandparents, neighbors and other interested elders-are a common factor among resilient children, who achieve success despite growing up under disadvantaged and stressful circumstances. An important. and not often addressed, question for social programs and policy is whether the circumstances of more at-risk youth could be improved through efforts designed to provide greater access to helping …

National Youth Service: The Proposed Legislation, Robert H. Atwell

Special Topics, General

I'm very happy to be back in sunny Arizona. I was here just a few weeks ago for another meeting, but this week I'm especially glad to be out of Washington, where the weather has been dreary and some of the political debate even drearier.

Because I work in Washington, everybody always wants to know what's really going on in the nation's capital, and why the government can't seem to get anything right. So I thought I'd begin by telling you about something you didn't read in the newspapers, and that's a meeting that took place the other day at …

"Person-To-Person": A Community Service Guide For Youth Groups Visiting Senior Residences, Susan Chandler

Intergenerational

The purpose of this guide is to assist you in the development and implementation of intergenerational projects in which youth groups visit senior adult residences. These "youth in service to elders" projects are designed to meet a variety of needs. Through them, young people learn to give of themselves and their time in a significant and positive way. With our mobile society, young people often do not have the opportunity to spend time with their elders; and as a result are deprived of an awareness of the aging process and of the wisdom which older people possess. Conversely, older people …