Abstract
Risk, Resilience, and Positive Youth Development: Developing Effective Community Programs for At-Risk Youth: Lessons from the Denver Bridge Project is a welcome example of how theory and practice can work together to develop effective programs for at-risk youth. The book presents the Integrated Prevention and Early Intervention (IPEI) model of community-based programming for at-risk children youth building on theories of risk and resilience, positive youth development (PYD), and interorganizational collaboration. The Denver Bridge Project, a collaborative effort between academia and community, is used as a case example of how this model can be effectively implemented into prevention programming efforts.
Part one of the text reviews the three theories serving as the basis of the IPEI model. In the Chapters 1 and 2, risk and resilience and PYD theories are given a critical review, concluding with an integration of the two that builds on the strengths of each theory. Perhaps the most interesting information in this section is in Chapter 3, in which the authors provide a good review of organizational theory and its role in program development and implementation in community collaboration. Specific attention is paid to the importance of interorganizational coordination, which adds an important element to moving from theory to community practice.
Part two details how all of the previously discussed ideas and models are combined into the IPEI model and details the implementation and evaluation of the Denver Bridge Project as a case example of how this approach can be used to develop effective services for at-risk youth. In Chapter 4, the IPEI model is detailed and illustrated through initial presentation of the Denver Bridge Project. The Bridge Project offers educational opportunities to children in public housing neighborhoods and is designed to increase high school graduation rates and provide youth with the opportunity to attend college or learn a trade. This is accomplished through after school, summer, and scholarship programs supported by community partnerships. Contained within the information concerning the Bridge Project are specific examples that include commentary from administrators, community partners, and participants. This commentary highlights specific challenges and accomplishments that occurred in the program’s history. This is particularly valuable in understanding how the IPEI model can be used to overcome obstacles faced during the implementation process.
Chapter 5 presents an overview of evaluation methods for community projects illustrated by examples from the Bridge Project. A cogent argument is made for mixed methods, and a practical discussion of the strengths and limitations of the various methods should prove particularly useful to community practitioners. Chapter 6 presents the results of the evaluation for the Denver Bridge Project. The chapter begins with a clear presentation of the community study and follows with an in-depth presentation of both qualitative and quantitative elements of the study of participants and programs. The qualitative presentation is particularly illustrative of the voices of the stakeholder groups. Unfortunately, although the quantitative study is presented clearly and the discussions do not move beyond the data, the choice of a pre-/postmethod for measuring change is somewhat at odds with the careful description of evaluation methods in Chapter 5 and the extensive appendices detailing procedures. Additionally, the data analyses presented are relatively simple (primarily descriptive statistics and univariate analyses), which should prove extremely useful for the broader community but are frustrating to a researcher interested in a more sophisticated and integrated use of the extensive data. The final chapter of the text offers clear recommendations for developing community-based programs to improve outcomes for at-risk youth. The authors recommend several specific actions based on the IPEI model and their findings from their evaluation of the Denver Bridge Project.
Risk, Resilience, and Positive Youth Development will appeal to a broad community audience. Leaders and program managers of youth service organizations will benefit from the book’s extensive explanation of the IPEI model. The information on the evaluation methods included within the text and in the appendices, particularly the use of mixed methods, should be of interest to researchers in social work, psychology, criminal justice, and education. Finally, educators who teach prevention, evidence-based practice, and program evaluation will find this book useful in their classrooms.