Common Purpose: Strengthening Families and Neighborhoods to Rebuild America Book

In her previous book, Within Our Reach, which has shipped more than 70,000 copies, Lisbeth Schorr examined small-scale social programs that succeeded in reducing child abuse, school dropout rates, teenage pregnancy and juvenile crime, identifying the specific attributes that made these programs successful. But less than half the programs celebrated in , Within Our Reach survived when they became part of mainstream bureaucracies. In Common Purpose, Lisbeth Schorr identifies the efforts by dozens of large school systems, welfare systems, and child protection agencies she has researched over the past seven years that have shown that effective programs can be sustained expanded, and replicated. From reformed social service bureaucracies in Missouri, Michigan and Los Angeles to "idiosyncratic" but accountable public schools in New York City, she shows how mainstream bureaucracies have been made hospitable to programs that incorporate flexibility; community roots; a clear, long-term mission; and well-trained staff able to exercise individual judgment. She shows how "what works" in small-scale hot house conditions can be combined to transform whole inner city neighborhoods.At a time when welfare as we know it is coming to an end, Common Purpose is a welcome antidote to our current sense of national despair, proof that America's institutions can be made to work to assure that all the nation's children will come into adulthood prepared to share in the American Dream. Read More