Inner-city youth development organizations: Strengthening programs for adolescent girls

The challenges of early adolescence are intensified for girls of color who live in disadvantaged urban communities. One response to the needs of these girls comes from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) a youth developm ent organization that has a long-standing presence in inner-city neighborho ods. A gender equity initiative designed to strengthen programming for mino rity girls at a BGCA affiliate in a major urban center was examined. Drawin g on initial qualitative findings, a conceptual framework is presented for understanding the ways in which the clubs can affect urban early adolescent girls' self-esteem. Several strategic choices confronting this initiative then are considered. The authors emphasize The creation of a "home place" t hat enables the development of self via organizational responsiveness to gi rls' voices, strong bonds between girls and staff adaptive peer friendship cliques, and the development of programs that fuse the interests of girls a nd adult staff.