America's Promise Alliance for Youth is keeping track of how young people, businesses and organizations in their network are taking action in response to the attacks on September 11.

For many of us, summer calls to mind picnics, hikes, days on the water and nights chasing fireflies under the stars. The Sierra Club's Youth in Wilderness Project helps connect urban and low-income youth to the great outdoors, first-hand. Learn more about Sierra Club efforts to give all kids access to nature.

Youth Venture helps young people create their own enterprises, and in so doing, to take greater responsibility for their lives and communities.

The arts not only help children achieve in all areas of development, but they can help revitalize entire communities. Listen and look at successful arts programs, in audio and video.

On June 16, communities across America will come together for Join Hands Day, a national event that unites young people and adults in an effort to make their neighborhoods better. Find out how you can get involved.

The association's membership includes more than 7,000 practitioners, policy makers, and administrators representing all public, private, and community-based sectors of after-school and out-of-school time programs, as well as school-age and after-school programs on military bases, both domestic and international.

The Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development published a comprehensive report in 1994 on the challenges facing teenagers and the need for safe places and structured programs. This is still a landmark study of the challenges and some success stories.

This landmark 1994 report, released by the Carnegie Corporation in April 1994, provides research evidence on the "quiet crisis" that young children face in the U.S. It offers a comprehensive set of recommendations to meet young children's needs, including promoting responsible parenthood, ensuring good health care for all infants and toddlers, and guaranteeing quality child care choices.

Children in child care benefit from positive interactions with caregivers and good language stimulation—but interaction between parents and babies in the first three years is still one the most important predictors of cognitive development. For more details, read the report of a study conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

This organization acts as a resource for parents and professionals who work with children aged 0 to 3. The site offers networking opportunties and resources including advice on choosing quality child care and information on brain development.