Last winter the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) released the results of a three-year national study that demonstrates the benefits of arts programs for at-risk youth. The YouthARTS Development Project, a test model developed by the NEA in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice, Americans for the Arts, and regional and local arts councils, evaluated three successful arts programs that target at-risk youth.

The study was conducted in Fulton County, Georgia, where arts programs served truant "status offenders" 14 to 16 years of age; Portland, Oregon, where the program was designed for youth 14 to 17 who had been adjudicated for juvenile crimes; and San Antonio, Texas, where youth 11 to 13 were referred to after-school arts education programs by principals and teachers as a preventive measure.

Evaluators studied the programs and compared academic and juvenile court records for test groups of peers who did not participate in the arts programs. Findings show that youth involved in arts programs significantly decreased their frequency of delinquent behavior and experienced fewer court referrals. Other benefits were increased communication skills and improved ability to stick with tasks from beginning to end.

North Carolina organizations have also developed model programs. See Stop Violence Through the Arts to read about several of them.

A multi-media tool kit to guide communities in creating effective youth arts programs is available from Americans for the Arts at (800) 321-4510, ext. 241.

Interested in learning more about community art projects both in North Carolina and across the nation? Check out APInews, a regular electronic newsletter about community-based art. You can subscribe to receive it by email or you can read it on the Web. To subscribe, send email to lp2@ebbs.english.vt.edu with the following message: SUBSCRIBE API YourFirstName YourLastName, or visit the Web site at www.communityarts.net and follow subscription instructions.