Background and Purpose MISSION The 4-H Center for Youth Development (CYD) conducts and promotes collaborations in research and evaluation between UC Cooperative Extension professionals and UC campus-based scientists that deepen our understanding of youth development in the contexts of family and community. The mission of the CYD is to: Facilitate collaborations for and conduct research and evaluation that increases understanding of youth development in the contexts of family and community, Extend knowledge to UC Cooperative Extension and other youth professionals in the science of youth development, applied research, and evaluation, Provide communications to a broad range of stakeholders about the research, evaluation, education, and training activities of the CYD, Provide campus-based support that facilitates the ongoing research, evaluation, education, and training of UC Cooperative Extension professionals. Research and Evaluation: The focal point of the mission of the CYD is basic and applied research and program evaluation that deepens our understanding of youth in the contexts of family and community. The goal of all research and evaluation activities at the CYD is the extension of the results of these activities to academic, practice, and lay audiences. Research and evaluation projects are conducted primarily in collaboration with UC Cooperative Extension professionals and UC campus-based scientists. When appropriate, these collaborations may involve other community collaborators (e.g., collaborating agencies and youth professionals, scientists from other institutions, UC Cooperative Extension Program Representatives, community stakeholders and decision-makers, youth program volunteers, and youth). Extending Knowledge: To support the research and evaluation mission, the CYD extends knowledge by providing education on research-based knowledge of children, youth, families, and communities, and by publishing monographs, reports, fact sheets, and abstracts of research. The CYD also provides training on applied research and program evaluation. The target audience for education and training efforts conducted by the CYD is UC Cooperative Extension Youth Development Advisors. FOCUS (the CYD monograph series), Research You May Have Missed, and CYD Reports (working paper series) are published with the goal of meeting the education mission of the CYD. Communications: The CYD provides regular communications regarding its research, evaluation, education, and training activities. Audiences for these communications include UC Cooperative Extension professionals, UC campus-based scientists, other youth professionals, scientists from other institutions, youth program volunteers, youth, community agencies, stakeholders, and decision-makers. The Update (quarterly newsletter), the CYD Bulletin (electronic email bulletin), and the website are produced with the goal of meeting the communications mission of the CYD. Support: Our location on the UC Davis campus allows the CYD to provide limited campus-based support to UC Cooperative Extension Youth Development Advisors for such needs as library access, Internal Review Board (IRB) human subjects protocol document preparation and submission assistance, and basic training on commonly used campus resources (e.g., library literature searches).