1

WHO’S MINDING THE NEIGHBORHOOD?

TOO MANY HURDLES, TOO LITTLE HELP

Kids who leave school before

graduating face much more adversity

than their peers who graduate on

time.

| Don’t Quit On Me 2

TOO MANY HURDLES, TOO LITTLE HELP

3

Below 100% poverty 400%+ above poverty

0 Adversities 26% 68%

1-2 Adversities 46% 27%

3+ Adversities 28% 5%

4

RELATIONSHIPS MATTER

The SOURCE and TYPE matter.

5

Source Type

Parent (family) Emotional

Adults in school Instrumental

Adults outside of school Informational

Peers Appraisal

An ANCHOR is not enough. Young people need a web of support.

AN ANCHOR AND A WEB

6

7

8| Adult Capacity Study

Can the adult capacity in a community be implicated in the reduction in the disconnected youth rate within urban neighborhoods?

ADULT CAPACITY STUDY

• Community capacity associated with developmental outcomes of a community’s youth (Leventhal, Dupere & Brooks-Gunn, 2009). 

• Youth-focused neighborhood assets substantive predictors of youth’s educational success (Zaff & Smerdon, 2009; Zaff, 2010).

• These assets are predicated on the adults within them.

| Adult Capacity Study 9

RELEVANT RESEARCH & THEORY

| Adult Capacity Study 10

ANALYSIS

• Decennial Census data from 1970-2010

• Adult-to-Youth ratio as proxy for community’s adult capacity

• Examined relation between Adult-to-Youth Ratio and Rate of Youth Leaving School

| Adult Capacity Study 11

KEY FINDINGS

Trends in Rates of Youth Leaving School

• Steady improvement in disconnected youth rate since 1970.

• Substantial variation between state, within state, and within city in neighborhood-level change rate.

| Adult Capacity Study 12

KEY FINDINGS

Adult capacity

• 1 percent increase in Adult-to-Youth ratio related to 1 percent decrease in rate of youth leaving school –7 more adult adults in a community related to one fewer young person leaving school.

• Effect more pronounced predominantly African American communities– 30% greater effect (5.4 more adults to one fewer young person leaving school).

• Effect more pronounced in higher income communities – 12% greater effect.

| Adult Capacity Study 13

COMMUNITY COMMONS LINK

BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LEARNING