Faith-Based Initiatives and At-Risk Youth Memor

New governance, as described by analysts, calls for the development of policies that target social problems at the ôstreet levelö and which address such problems in the context of the communities in which they occur (Maynard-Moody, Musheno, & Palumbo, 1990). To accomplish this goal, the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, under your direction has implemented a number of programs that specifically target at-risk youth, a growing segment of the American population not limited, as has often been asserted, to poor, urban and/or minority communities. Indeed, as William J. Bennett, John J. DiIulio and John P. Walters (1996) have cogently noted, while crime in general has declined in the U.S., juvenile violence and crime have increased; occurring simultaneously are new and higher-than-acceptable rate of academic failure and dropout, teenage unemployment and teen pregnancy û all problems that bode poorly for the future of the United States.

Multiple Faith-Based and Community Initiatives targeting at-risk youth û from delinquents to school dropouts and underachievers, youth in gangs, youth involved in drug and alcohol use, and children suffering from abuse and neglect or in need of safe, secure homes û are now being provided with governmental aid and financial assistance in the form of formula and other grants (Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, 2003). While many voices have been raised in American society in b

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on. In essence, an organization that is to provide academic tutoring services to youth identified as at-risk for academic failure, underachievement, or dropout must be able to document the pedagogical instructional competencies of its staff. Similarly, any organization that receives funding for programs targeting children who are abused, neglected, or abandoned must also demonstrate that it has the ability to deliver professional services in a manner that is capable of meeting the standards required of state regulated public agencies at a minimum. Another challenge identified over 50 years ago by Philip Selznick (1949, p. 251) emanates from the recognition of the fact that ôall formal organizations are molded by forces tangential to their rationally ordered structures and stated goals.ö Organizations, including faith-based entities, are ôembedded in an institutional matrixö and ôtherefore subject to pressures upon it from its environment (Selznick, 1949, p. 251).ö This can translate into pressures placed upon members of faith-based organizations to promulgate a specific religious value system or theological posture which may or may not be appropriate within the context of the program at issue. Finally, Irving L. Janis (2
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Approximate Word count = 1584
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)