1. Community Capacity for Children, Youth and Families Robert Chaskin The University of Chicago

2. No individual can live alone, no nation can live alone, and anyone who feels that he can live alone is sleeping through a revolution. - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This is the world as it is. This is where you start. - Saul Alinsky

3. Overview Community as an organizing principle Defining community capacity Strategies for building community capacity Promise, limitations and challenges

4. Why community? Where needs and circumstances come together

5. Why community? Where needs and circumstances come together Manageable scale

6. Why community? Where needs and circumstances come together Manageable scale Assets and influences: –Built environment –Organizations and institutions –People and relationships

7. Community Influences on Family Functioning and Child Well-Being

8. Compositional factors –Poverty –Crime, safety, physical disorder –Racial isolation –Residential stability

9. Community Influences on Family Functioning and Child Well-Being Compositional factors –Poverty –Crime, safety, physical disorder –Racial isolation –Residential stability Processes and mechanisms –Social ties and value consensus –Institutional resources –Routine activities and resource use

10. Orientations to community

11. As context

12. Orientations to community As context As target of intervention

13. Orientations to community As context As target of intervention As unit of action

14. Community Capacity The interaction of human capital, organizational resources and social capital that can be leveraged to solve collective problems and improve or maintain the well-being of a given community

15. Community Capacity Characteristics of Community Capacity Sense of community Commitment Ability to solve problems Access to resources

16. Community Capacity Characteristics of Community Capacity Sense of community Commitment Ability to solve problems Access to resources Levels of Social Agency Individuals Organizations Networks

17. Social Networks

19. Community Capacity Characteristics of Community Capacity Sense of community Commitment Ability to solve problems Access to resources Levels of Social Agency Individuals Organizations Networks Functions Planning, decision making, and governance Production of goods and services Information dissemination Organizing and advocacy Conditioning Influences Safety Residential stability Density of acquaintance Structure of opportunity Patterns of migration Race and class dynamics Distribution of power and resources Strategies Leadership Organizational development Organizing Organizational collaboration Other Outcomes Better services Influence on decision making Economic well-being

20. Strategies Leadership

21. Strategies Leadership Organizational development

22. Strategies Leadership Organizational development Interorganizational collaboration

23. Strategies Leadership Organizational development Interorganizational collaboration Community organizing

24. Challenges and Limitations People versus place

25. Challenges and Limitations People versus place Contested ground

26. Challenges and Limitations People versus place Contested ground Limitations of the local

27. Promise Context of opportunity Addressing basic needs Connecting to broader spheres Foundation for action, planning and advocacy