Resources and Publications
Hard Work and a Fair Shot: Helping California's Low-Income Working Families Make Ends Meet
A large number of Californians have jobs that do not pay sufficient wages to support a family. Moreover, forecasts suggest that low-wage jobs will continue to account for a significant share of California’s economy. Thus, millions of Californians will continue to work in jobs that fail to provide income sufficient to raise a family, let alone achieve economic self-sufficiency. The strategies described in this report from the California Budget Project can help California’s working families make ends meet despite low earnings from work. Click here to download the full report.
Today’s family resource centers (FRCs) are a key prevention strategy for addressing many of the challenges that face families, whether they live in rural, suburban or urban areas. The goal of FRCs is healthy families in healthy communities. To improve outcomes for both families and communities, a family resource center brings together services and activities that educate, develop skills and promote moving in new directions for families. This increases the capacity of families to be healthy, involved members of dynamic communities. This unique approach of involving families in problem solving while at the same time developing skills, abilities and talents, works to create healthy and functioning families and communities. Read the full report from The California Family Resource Center Learning Circle.
Building Assets While Building Communities: Expanding Savings and Investment Opportunities for Low-Income Bay Area Residents
In the past decade, a national asset-building movement has been working to increase opportunities for low-income families to build financial assets — cash savings, stocks, bonds, home, business and real estate equity. Interest in asset building as an anti-poverty strategy has been fuelled by increasing public awareness of the importance of financial assets, as well as income, in building economic security. Click here to read a full report about this important strategy.
Education and Youth Development Resources
Implications of the National Research Council's Study: Community Programs to Promote Youth Development
The National Research Council report is a major contribution to advancing our understanding of healthy adolescent development. The report affirms that youth development is grounded in definitive, evidence-based research and can be used to educate the field about our current youth development knowledge-base. The Committee that was assembled to conduct the NRC study on Community-Level Programs brought together researchers from across disciplines (sociology, psychology, education, etc.) to look at the existing theory, research, data and practical experience on youth development. This presentation includes:
• The key findings and recommendations of the National Research Council’s report
• Implications of the report for policymakers, funders, practitioners, researchers and evaluators
Click here to download the presentation.
Making the Difference: Research and Practice in Community Schools
Making the Difference outlines the advantages of community schools and the conditions for learning that these advantages create. It reviews the research on which these conditions are based and illustrates the extent to which community schools make a difference to students, schools, families and communities. Click here to dowload the full report.
Youth Involvement Bibliography
This is The Freechild Project’s Youth Involvement Bibliography, the most comprehensive youth involvement bibliography available today. You will find dozens of publications, including articles, books, and journals and their web- and real addresses for easy reference. Click here to download the full report.
Working the Middle: Roles and Challenges of Intermediaries
Intermediaries are people and institutions that add value to the world indirectly, by connecting and supporting—i.e., by enabling others to be more effective. Intermediaries may act as facilitators, educators, capacity builders, social investors who pool funds, performance managers, coalition builders, organizers of new groups, and more. Click here to download the full report.