Wichita youth empowerment partnership: a community assessment of District 1

Paper presented to the 4th Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex, Wichita State University, April 25, 2008.Research completed at the Department of Psychology, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and SciencesDistrict 1 of Wichita, Kansas is primarily formed by African American population and faces multiple economic and social challenges that require greater collaboration and improved capacity of local faith-based (FBO) and community-based organizations (CBO). The Wichita Youth Empowerment Partnership (WYEP) is an initiative facilitated by the Center for Community Support & Research (CCSR) and includes 10 partnering faith-based and community-based organizations (FBCBOs) that address youth violence and gang activity in the mentioned district. A participatory community assessment was conducted to obtain information and establish future directions for services and activities of the organizations, from the youth’s perspective. Community assessment was a participatory process that integrated mixed methods to collect information: youth survey, focus groups, photovoice, and archival data. Information obtained was quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. Adult collaboration and inclusion of a youth research team were central aspects