Hirsch, Barton J. A Place to Call Home: After-School Programs for Urban Youth

Adolescence, Fall, 2005

HIRSCH, Barton J. A Place to Call Home: After-School Programs for Urban Youth. New York: Teachers College Press, 2005. 176pp. $21.95 (p).

Across the political spectrum, there is enormous interest in how local community organizations can help raise children who are growing up in poverty. This book examines the processes and outcomes at six inner-city Boys & Girls Clubs--one of the leading youth development organizations in the country. Featuring critical analysis and practical guidelines from a well-known authority on early adolescence, this volume: demonstrates how after-school programs emphasizing staff mentoring can provide critical resources for helping urban youth navigate the tumult of early adolescence; includes engaging stories, the voices of adolescents, examinations of their interaction with staff, and analysis of the linkage between these relationships and youth well-being; examines how savvy staff embrace positive dimensions of youth culture to enhance program effectiveness; includes specific guidelines for how these types of after-school programs can build on what they do best, including how to incorporate selected aspects of more structured approaches; and investigates how gender shapes after-school programs.