Program Development

The primary mission of the firm is to contribute to a better formulation and better execution of anti-poverty policies and programs in the United States. Toward those ends, we strive to convert the experiences, lessons and findings from our research into practical program and policy applications.

• In 2003, the Family and Youth Services Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded our firm a 5-year contract to assist it in designing, assisting and evaluating a 5-year, 9-state, youth development project - the Positive Youth Development State and Local Collaboration Demonstration. Major components of the demonstration - state/local partnership, community-level collaboration and the focus on increasing youth opportunities - were heavily influenced by the firms youth development and community building findings.

• Lessons drawn from the firm's research into issues affecting minority men and their communities led to the design for the Community Service Gateway Project (CSGP) in 2007. CSGP is an intervention aimed at using community service to promote positive community values and positive self development among poor minority men who are ex-offenders and troubled young adults. The project has been adopted by Oakland, CA and is being planned as a collaboration of four city departments (The Mayor's Office, the Oakland Police Department, the Department of Human Services and Parks and Recreation) and Alameda County's Department of Public Health . (To read more about this project in Oakland, CA see our News section.)