Learn about our current Keystone Community Partnerships and projects in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Philipsburg.
Improving Youth Outcomes
In partnership with Parents and Children Together (PACT), this initiative strengthens community-led impact in the Harrisburg region by enhancing communications, evaluation tools, and organizational capacity to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families.
Key Partners
- Parents and Children Together (PACT)
- Penn State researchers
- Community organizations
Keystone Community Scholars
- Becca Lim
Background
PACT is a research initiative at Penn State that fosters collaborative projects between researchers and community organizations to support the well-being of children, youth, and families in the greater Harrisburg region. In partnership with Penn State Outreach, PACT is working to strengthen its capacity to lead public impact research that drives meaningful, measurable improvements for local communities.
The collaboration focuses on three core goals: amplifying stories of community impact through strategic communications and established networks, advancing shared tools and strategies to evaluate and report the collective impact of PACT’s work, and increasing organizational capacity among PACT’s community partners to pursue funding and grow their own impact.
This effort is part of a broader commitment to build strong, reciprocal relationships and improve outcomes for families across the region.
Five Conditions for Success
- Common Agenda: Partners are aligned around a shared goal to enhance community well-being through public impact research and collaborative engagement.
- Shared Measurement: The initiative supports the development of consistent metrics and evaluation tools to assess and communicate impact across all PACT projects.
- Mutually Reinforcing Activities: Communications, research, and capacity-building efforts are coordinated across academic and community partners to strengthen outcomes at multiple levels.
- Continuous Communication: Partners engage in ongoing dialogue to ensure goals remain aligned and efforts are responsive to both research insights and community needs.
- Strong Backbone: Penn State Outreach provides coordination and strategic support to sustain and scale this work in collaboration with PACT and its network.
Pre-Escalation Training
This pilot program brings together law enforcement and community members in North Philadelphia to build trust and communication through “Talk to Me,” a pre-escalation training grounded in neuroscience, self-awareness, and community engagement.
Key Partners
- Penn State Justice and Safety Institute (JASI)
- Penn State Fayette and Penn State Abington faculty
- Philadelphia Police Department
- Delaware County Police Department
- One Day at a Time (ODAAT)
- Hope for Kids (HFK)
- Community members
Keystone Community Scholars
- Rachel Layvey
- Emma Steely
Background
This pilot program is an innovative approach to police training that emphasizes pre-escalation—teaching law enforcement officers to recognize and manage stress, communicate effectively, and avoid escalation before it begins. The training, called “Talk to Me: Effective Communications Skills for Law Enforcement,” integrates brain science, communication style, and self-awareness to improve police-community relationships and outcomes.
Led by instructors from JASI and faculty from Penn State Fayette and Penn State Abington, the training brought together five officers and nine community members, including staff and youth from ODAAT and Hope for Kids, for shared learning and trust-building. Keystone Community Scholars supported the project through qualitative research and community engagement.
This effort is part of a broader goal to build lasting, reciprocal relationships in North Philadelphia and scale the training to other high-stress professions and industries in the future.
Five Conditions for Success
- Common Agenda: Police officers and community members came together around a shared vision—improving public safety and community trust through pre-escalation training and effective communication. The training was co-designed to align with both law enforcement and community priorities.
- Shared Measurement: Pre- and post-training evaluations helped assess participant growth in communication skills, stress awareness, and relationship-building. This data will inform future program refinement and scaling.
- Mutually Reinforcing Activities: Each partner played a distinct and aligned role—from JASI’s evidence-based instruction to community organizations’ participant engagement and Penn State faculty’s research and curriculum development.
- Continuous Communication: Ongoing dialogue among law enforcement, community leaders, and Penn State partners ensured transparency, built trust, and allowed the training to respond to community needs in real time.
- Strong Backbone: Penn State Outreach provided the structure, coordination, and strategic support needed to launch and sustain the pilot, laying the groundwork for future replication and expansion.
Learn More at Penn State News
Bridging the communication gap between police and the community
Positive Youth Development Program
Rooted in youth-led research and community collaboration, this project empowers young people in Philipsburg to co-design solutions and develop leadership skills using the frameworks of youth participatory action research and positive youth development.
Key Partners
- DiamondBack Covers / The DiamondBack Foundation
- Philipsburg-Osceola School District
- UNESCO Youth as Researchers
- The Philipsburg Revitalization Corporation
- Local youth and community members
Keystone Community Scholars
- Rachel Layvey
Background
The Philipsburg Keystone Community Partnership is a collaborative, long-term effort to strengthen youth leadership, community voice, and sustainable development in Philipsburg, PA. Guided by the principles of youth participatory action research (YPAR) and positive youth development (PYD), the project empowers local high school students to conduct research on their community and co-create solutions alongside local leaders.
At the center of this work is the Philipsburg Keystone Community Partnership steering committee—a dedicated group of stakeholders committed to advancing community-identified goals in areas like youth opportunity, economic development, and civic engagement. The steering committee governs the partnership, ensuring that University resources align with local needs and priorities. Their first initiative, a youth-led survey, is already generating data to inform future projects.
Through positive youth-adult relationships, leadership development, and community-based engagement, this initiative aims to promote the Six Cs of PYD: competence, confidence, character, connection, caring, and contribution.
Five Conditions for Success
- Common Agenda: All partners are committed to a shared vision of youth empowerment, rooted in research, local leadership, and sustainable development.
- Shared Measurement: Youth development outcomes are assessed using Richard Lerner’s PYD framework, while youth-led research also informs community-level evaluation.
- Mutually Reinforcing Activities: YPAR, community outreach, and academic collaboration are integrated to support both individual youth growth and broader community change.
- Continuous Communication: Ongoing dialogue between youth, partners, and the community ensures that program design and implementation remain aligned with real-time needs and opportunities.
- Strong Backbone: Penn State Outreach provides coordination and support to align research, resources, and relationships across the University and local community.
Current Activities
The Philipsburg steering committee is actively guiding the direction of the partnership, using insights from a youth-led research project to identify priorities and shape future initiatives. This collaborative approach ensures that the voices of young people are at the center of community and economic development efforts.