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Boys And Girls Club Case Study

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The social welfare program for children, youth and/or families that I feel best exemplifies the application of the risk and resilience framework is the Boys and Girls Club of America. The mission of the Boys and Girls Club of America is “to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.” (BGCA. www.bgca.org) The Club was originally named the Boys Club of America and was founded in 1860, in Hartford Connecticut. Mary Goodwin, Alice Goodwin, and Elizabeth Hammersley were the founders of the Club. The original Club focused on keeping young gentlemen off of the streets. The point of founding this club was for the young boys to have other activities to participate in. This could build their self-confidence and enable them to make better choices in their lives. (BGCA. www.bgca.org) I believe that this original goal of the Club falls into the risk and resilience framework because the reason for founding the Club was that a risk was identified and protective factors were put into place. The risk was that young boys were out on the streets, engaging in behaviors that were not of a positive nature. Protective factors are defined as “resources that minimize the impact of risk.” (Jenson and Fraser (2016) p. 11) The protective factors of the Club allowed the youth of that time to achieve self-confidence and positive guidance to create their own choices. They had the power, with the help of the Club,

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