Center for Youth Development and Policy Research

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National Leadership Summit on Improving
Results Building a Youth Development
Infrastructure Bonnie Politz September 18, 2003

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• Four Realities
• Fixing Youth
• Global Economy
• Television and Computers
• Time

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How Do Youth Spend Their Time?
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?-21
Asleep-38
3,285 Hours 1,200 Hours 2,355 Hours 1,920 Hours
Ideally with Family- 27
In School-14
Source A Matter of Time Risk and Opportunity in
the Non School Hours, Carnegie Council 1992
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Addressing Youth Problems is Critical...
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But, Problem Free is Not Fully Prepared
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Common Core of Prevention Strategies
Pregnancy
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Delinquency
Core Supports Opportunities
Violence
Dropouts
Substance Abuse
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Common Themes in Prevention Programs
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• SKILL BUILDING- building social skills,
  problem-solving skills and communication skills
• PARTICIPATION- engaging youth through offering
  real opportunities for participation (e.g. youth
  led discussion, real choices), leadership (e.g.
  youth as peer counselors, tutors, contributors)
• MEMBERSHIP- creating a sense of membership within
  the group and/or a sense of commitment to school,
  culture, community
• NORMS AND EXPECTATIONS - establishing new norms
  and expectations for behavior that are sanctioned
  by the group
• ADULT-YOUTH RELATIONSHIPS- establishing deeper
  and different ways for youth and adults to relate
  through the creation of different structures for
  interaction and specific training for adult
  leaders
• INFORMATION AND SERVICES- providing
  problem-specific information and services or
  access to services

Source Adolescents at Risk, Dryfoos 1990
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Traditional Views of Youth Services
Music/Art Creative Writing Community
Service Leadership Training Outdoor
Education Career Guidance
Pregnancy Prevention Tutoring Counseling Drug
Prevention Mentors
Pregnancy Prevention Tutoring Counseling Drug
Prevention Mentors
Vocational Education Violence Prevention Remedial
Education Crisis Intervention Gang Prevention
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• Youth Development is
• the ongoing process in which all youth are
  engaged in attempting to
• meet their basic personal and social needs to be
  safe, feel cared for, be valued, be useful and be
  spiritually grounded and
• build skills and competencies that allow them to
  function and contribute in their daily lives.

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• What Opportunities Do Young People Need?
• To learn and build skills, test and explore ideas
• To express themselves and be creative
• To experience a sense of group membership
• To contribute and be of service to their
  communities
• When appropriate, to learn about working and to
  be employed

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Seven Elements of a Youth Development
Infrastructure
Participatory Strategic Planning for
Public/Private/Nonprofit Sectors
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Identifying, Redirecting and increasing Financial
Commitment to Youth Development
Information Development and Dissemination of
Baseline Youth Development Data
What it Takes
Supporting and Increasing the Number of Direct
Service and Capacity Building Organizations at
the Local Level
Building an Informed Constituency Through Civic
Participation and Advocacy
Increasing the Amount of and Access to
Public/Private Space for Youth
Research, Documentation and Evaluation of Best
Practices and Lessons Learned
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Lack of Easily Accessible Information On any
given Saturday night in a major city, we can
generally find out in a matter of moments how
many young people were arrested, their age, their
gender, their ethnicity, where they live, etc.
However it would take weeks, if not longer, to
know this kind of information about young people
who attend a youth organization on any given
Saturday night. (Source A Matter of Money The
Cost and Financing of Youth Development, 2001)
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Dangerous Information

• It is dangerous to not have enough information.
• It is dangerous to have wrong information.
• It is dangerous to have irrelevant or out of date
  information.
• It is dangerous to have too much information.

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COMMUNITY YOUTHMAPPING (CYM) www.communityyouthmap
ping.org The CYM strategy involves young people
gathering information by locating and documenting
in a given locality, "places to go and things to
do. This Website allows communities to easily
map, sustain and manage data as well as make data
accessible to the entire community.
Center for Youth Development and Policy
Research Database Driven
PROMISING PRACTICES IN AFTERSCHOOL
(PPAS) www.afterschool.org The PPAS System is a
process to identify and disseminate promising
practices that underlie quality afterschool
programs. This Website provides a searchable
database of practices, links to resources and
discussion forums for program directors and other
key stakeholders in afterschool.
WEBSITES
TRANSFORMATIONAL EDUCATION (TED) www.TEDWeb.org T
he TED initiative is designed to document and
foster discussion on educational practices with
significant implications for the education,
positive development and successful outcomes of
young people. This Website is designed to share
the knowledge and expertise of practitioners and
advocates that work directly with youth.
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New Youth Development Community Indicators
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Draft
Draft
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• Youth Development Bumper Stickers
• Problem free is not fully prepared. Preventing
  high risk behaviors, even if achieved, is not the
  same as helping young people prepare for the
  future. Preparation requires an equal commitment
  to helping youth understand lifes challenges and
  responsibilities and to teach the necessary
  skills for success.
• Preventing problems does not necessarily promote
  development and is usually not enough to fully
  prepare youth for adulthood. A young persons
  not getting pregnant, using drugs, or joining a
  gang does not mean that person has the skills,
  knowledge, or attitudes to make it.
• Youth development (such as working towards
  developmental outcomes) is the best strategy for
  problem prevention. Striving for more positive
  goals that promote development often gives youth
  the skills and motivation they need to adopt
  healthy life styles.
• Youth development is the best strategy for
  achievement. Striving for more positive goals
  that promote development often gives youth the
  skills and motivation they need to achieve
  milestones, such as high school graduation and
  employment.
• The goal is not to fix youth but to develop them.
  Adults often work from a deficit or problem
  prevention mode. The result is that young people
  get clearer messages about what they should not
  do, think, or become than what they should do.

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