Community Centered Research
The Place Matters team uses community centered, participatory practices to conduct research whenever possible. Our goal is to use research to lift up the existing assets, needs, and opportunities for Maine’s local communities.
Continuum of Care
The foundational Place Matters report, Aligning Investments in a Community-Based Continuum of Care for Maine Youth Transitioning to Adulthood (2019), proposed a continuum that includes the following categories: prevention, early intervention, intervention, intensive intervention, out-of-home treatment, and reintegration. These categories are based on national examples of systems of care and consultation with local and national experts. Read the Place Matters report for more information about this framework which informed the national Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Continuum of Care model that was adopted in 2024.
Community Asset Mapping
The Place Matters team has been working to map assets in local communities throughout the state of Maine. With the generous support of our funders, we have been able to map assets for transition aged youth in all 16 counties. The asset lists are available for the public to access for the purpose of finding resources in their local communities to make connections and help youth. Most of the information in these lists was gathered between 2019-2022 and are not actively updated on a regular basis. These assets have been gathered through a series of virtual surveys, interviews, and in-person events. For more information about our methods, please read one of our case study reports. As we engage in additional asset mapping activities we may periodically add new information. The community assets map is a searchable tool of named assets from our community asset mapping work in each county. Click on your county for asset information.
Asset Mapping Case Studies
