Print

Acknowledgments First and foremost we express our deepest gratitude to the many authors of this three-volume collection who exhibited undue patience during the years it took us to complete the project. Through all the starts, stops, restarts, and changes of direction, the work took on a life of its own and that life inevitably intersected with the many challenges that emerged in the rest of our lives—job changes, illnesses, and the loss of loved ones, among others. In that vein, we feel particular gratitude to our friend and colleague, Dr. Steven Brion-Meisels. Steven was a primary instigator of this project through his work with youth and colleagues in many parts of the world, including Latin America and the Middle East. His work on the Israel chapter in volume 3 helped launch the entire project. Sadly, Steven passed away before he could see the finished product. This book, this work with youth and their communities, we dedicate to him. Similarly, we owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Carol Kelly and to Dr. Peter Benson, who also passed away during the writing of this collection. On behalf of the Association of Child and Youth Care Practice, Carol was a powerful and relentless advocate for vulnerable young people, serving as ambassador to child and youth care work organizations around the world. Over the decades she built relationships with many of the con- tributors to these books, especially through The International Federation of Educative Communities. Through his work at Search Institute, Peter was among the first and most influential scholars and advocates to encour- age all of us to think in strength-based ways about adolescence and spe- cifically about notions of developmental assets that ground such work. We cannot adequately express the appreciation we feel toward Debbie Carvalko, our editor with Praeger/ABC-CLIO. Like our authors who hung in there with us through the lengthy incubation and production periods, Debbie paved the way forward with just the right blend of encouragement