©2002 the forum for youth investment/impact strategies, inc.. all rights reserved. the forum for...

©2002 The Forum for Youth Investment/Impact Strategies, Inc.. All rights reserved.

The Forum for Youth Investment

Impact Strategies, Inc.

Washington, DC


Bringing Principles into Policies:

Taking the Youth Development Movement to the Statehouse


The Paradigm The Paradigm Shift: Shift:

Establishing New Establishing New PrinciplesPrinciples

Phase I


Addressing youth problems is critical…

Positive Development

Primary Prevention

High Risk

TreatmentBut, problem free is not fully prepared.

Broaden the Goals: Beyond Prevention


Preparation

Participation

Power Sharing

…Even Beyond Preparation

But, young people need to be fully engaged.

Better preparation is critical...

Primary Prevention

High Risk

Treatment


Cognitive

Social/Emotional

Physical

Cultural

Civic

Vocational

Moral/Spiritual

Core Functional Areas

Broaden the Outcomes: Beyond Academics



Behavioral Outcomes

Competence

Character

Connection

Confidence

Contribution

…and Beyond Competence



Outcomes

Inputs

Services, Supports,

Opportunities

People, Places,

Possibilities

The 5 Resources

The 40 Assets

Broaden the Inputs:Beyond Services



Outcomes

Inputs

Pathways

Across Settings

Ove

r T

ime

Broaden the Strategies:Beyond Programs to Pathways for Development

Good programs are not enough, especially for young people who cannot see a clear and positive future. Pathways are essential.


Institutions & Communities

Families

Youth

Remember the Contexts in Which Development Happens

SPACE

TIME


Broaden the Evidence Base: The National Research Council Affirms Youth Assets

Personal & Social Assets that Facilitate Youth Development

Physical development • health habits, risk management skills

Intellectual development • life skills, vocational skills, school success, critical thinking,

decision-making, navigation Psychological & emotional development

• good mental health, positive self-regard, self-regulation, coping skills, autonomy, time use

Social development • connectedness, sense of place, attachment to pro-social

institutions, navigate cultural contexts, commitment to civic engagement


NRC Features of Positive Developmental Settings

Physical & psychological safety Appropriate structure Supportive relationships Opportunities to belong Positive social norms Support for efficacy & mattering Opportunities for skill-building Integration of family, school & community efforts


Broaden the Assumptions: Beyond Youth as Recipients

Fixing Youth Problems

Preventing Youth Problems

Promoting Youth Preparation

Promoting Youth Participation

Promoting Youth as Problem Solvers


Cognitive

Social/Emotional

Physical

Cultural Civic

Moral/Spiritual Vocational

Basic Functional Areas

Competence

Confidence

Character

Connections

Contributions

Desired Outcomes

Services

Supports

Opportunities

Key Community Inputs

ClearPATHWAYSfor success

Pathways

Problem Reduction Prevention Preparation Participation

To

ward F

ull E

nga

gem

ent

ADDING IT UP:Building Blocks of Youth Development


The Policy Shift: Assessing the Adequacy of Supports and Opportunities

Phase II


Making Mandates Out of What We Know about Children & Youth

Young people need & deserve supports & opportunities throughout their waking hours.

Young people deserve early & sustained investments throughout at least the first two decades of life.

Young people need investments & involvement to help them achieve a broad range of positive outcomes from academic to physical to civic. (This requires a steady focus on protection, prevention, preparation & participation within each area.)


Putting Shape to What We Know:Defining Developmental Space

From their earliest years until their twenties,

children, teens & young adults awaken every morning looking for

people to talk to, places to go & things to do that will help them feel that

they matter.

This is a developmental

imperative. Times of Day

Outcome Areas

AgeThis is

developmental space


Schools Fill Some, “After-School Programs” A Bit More


A Hodgepodge of Other Programs Fills theRest of the Space for Teens & Young Adults

DiversionPreventionYouth

DevelopmentYouth

EmploymentServiceRecreationEnrichment


Youth, families, peer groups

Schools & training organizations

Youth-serving organizations

Media/entertainment

Faith-based organizations, CBOs

Businesses

Libraries, parks, recreation departments

Community-based health & social service agencies

Law enforcement, juvenile justice

Who Is Responsible for Fillingthe White Space?

? ?

?


All of Us. None of Us.

It is a truism that it takes a village to raise a child. But in the U.S., the villagers rarely come together

to take stock of their efforts.

When General Powell and America’s Promise challenged the country to provide every young person with five fundamental resources, communities had no idea how many resources their young people commonly had. There are no mechanisms to track the quality or even quantity of support young people receive across systems. All children and youth are worse off because of this, but it is especially problematic that the supports offered to low-income teens just don’t add up to what they should.


The Dangers of Not Adding Things Up

A false sense of accomplishment • Busyness is not the same as effectiveness. There are many, many policies,

programs and initiatives addressing youth problems &, to a lesser extent, supporting preparation & participation. But these efforts are not evenly distributed within & across sub-populations.

Unchecked support for narrow interests • Our chronic inability to ask what all of our efforts add up to suggests that there are

reasons why no one really wants to know. Need arguments can be made for almost any program or policy if they are made in a vacuum.

Unleveraged resources in scarce times • Our growing inability to help all young people succeed, despite rhetoric to the

contrary, suggests that communities & states have no choice but to call the question:

Are we doing the best that we can by all of our youth?


It Is Time to Call the Question

There has been too much talk & not enough action in the youth fields.

It is time to decide not only that every child counts & every dollar counts but that every opinion, every meeting, every report, every evaluation counts.

It is time to bring discipline & direction to meandering discussions about how to support young people’s growth & development.

This doesn’t necessary mean more planning, but it does mean more precision.


Questions Are the Wonder Drug

Seek Clarity Surface Tensions Share strategies Shape agendas Scrutinize policies


Learning school achievement, basic skills

Thriving physical, behavioral health/risks

Connecting social/emotional well-being

Working employment & career experience

Leading civic & community engagement

Lock in Commitments to Improving a Linked Set of Outcomes

++++


Promote a Youth Policy Dashboard,Not Just a Report Card

Cars are ComplicatedDrivers Monitor their Progress by:

Odometer

Speedometer

Fuel Gauge

Octane

Distance Traveled

Rate of Speed

Quantity of Fuel

Quality of Fuel

Quantity of Services, Supports & Opportunities

Quality of Services, Supports & Opportunities

Rates of Growth (indicators)

Age of Young Person

Children are More ComplicatedCommunities Should Monitor Policies by:

++

+


Define Outcomes Across the Age Span

SAMPLSAMPLEE

Develo

pm

en

tal A

reas

Early Childhood (0-5)

Elementary Age (6-10)

Middle School (11-14)

High School (15-19)

Young Adults (20-24)

Learning(Basic and

Applied Academics)

All Young Children Ready to Learn

All Children Developing Basic

Skills and Competencies

All Youth Are Succeeding in

School

All Young People Are Fully

Prepared for Higher

Education or Work

All Young Adults Enter Workforce or

Higher Ed With Marketable Skills

Thriving(Physical Health)

All Young Children Fully Immunized

All Children Meet Physical Standards for Developmental

Age

All Youth Develop Proper Nutrition,

Hygiene, and Exercise Routines

All Youth Are Engaged in

Physical Activity and Avoid Risk-Compromising

Behaviors

All Young Adults Have Good Health and Health Habits

Connecting(Social/

Emotional Well-Being)

All Young Children Have Appropriate Attachment to a Significant Adult

All Children Have Positive Self

Awareness, and an Ability to Express

Themselves

All Youth Engage in Socially Acceptable Behavior and Have

a Healthy Self-Concept

All Young People Have a

Sense of Independence

as Well as Positive

Relationships With Those

Around Them

All Young Adults Foster Personal and

Social Growth in the People In Their

Lives

Working(Vocational

Career Experience)

All Young Children Have Awareness that

Adults Work

All Children Have Positive Attitudes

Towards The Employment of Adults

in Their Lives

All Youth Are Aware of Possible Career

Paths that Give Them Hope and

Purpose

All Young People Make a

Successful Transition to

Adulthood

All Young Adults Are Employed With a Living Wage And

Benefits

Leading(Civic and

Community Engagement)

All Young Children Feel Supported By a Community Around

Them

All Children Accept Rules and Social

Boundaries

All Youth Demonstrate Attitudes and

Behaviors of Civic Responsibility

All Young People Are Involved in

Programs to Give Back

All Young Adults Are Making a

Difference in Their Community


Define the Full Range of Indicators For Each Age Group (Shown for 15-19 Year-Olds)

SAMPLESAMPLE

DEVE LOPMENTAL

AREAS

GEARS

Protecting/ Punishing

Preventing Promoting Participating

Learning(Basic and Applied

Academics)

% of Students Who Are Not Enrolled in School

% of Students Who Skipped Or “Cut” Classes or School Days in the Last Three Weeks

% of Students Achieving at Grade Level

% of Students Actively Involved in Service Learning Programs


Rates of Youth Deaths % of Youth Who are Overweight or Obese, Have STDs, Use Tobacco or Illicit Substances, or Binge Drink.

% of Youth Reporting Regular Exercise, Healthy Diet, and Reproductive Health

% of Youth Who are Active in Programs to Promote Physical Health Among their Peers

Connecting(Social/ Emotional

Well-Being)

Suicide Rates % of Youth Who are Reported to be Sad, Unhappy or Depressed

% of Youth Reporting “Adults in My Community Care About People My Age,” and “Students in my School Treat Each Other With Respect”

% of Youth Serving as Peer Tutors and Counselors

Working(Vocational and

Service)

Number of Youth in Hazardous and Illegal Working Conditions

Unemployment Rate Among 16-19 Year Olds

% of Youth With Workplace Skills

% of Youth Engaged in Workplace Activities

Leading(Civic and


Number of Violent Juvenile Arrests Per 100,000 Juvenile Population

% of Youth Who Report Physical Fighting

% of Youth Who Participate in One or More Community Organizations

% of 18-24 Year Olds Voting


Check the Fuel Tanks: Monitor Inputs across Systems

DEVELOPMENTAL

AREAS

SYSTEMS

Child Welfare

Education Health and Human

Services

Employment Juvenile Justice

Community Based

Organizations

Learning(Basic and

Applied Academics)

Promotion


Protection

Prevention

Connecting(Social/

Emotional Well-Being)

Protection

Prevention Promotion

Working(Vocational and Service)

Promotion

Leading(Civic and


Protection/ Punishment

Participation


Mix the Fuel: Analyze Mix of Inputs from Each System (Education System Shown, High School Ages Shown)

SAMPLESAMPLEDEVELOPMENTAL

AREAS

GEARS

Protecting/

Punishing

Preventing Promoting Participating

Learning(Basic and

Applied Academics)

Ending Social Promotion

Remedial Education Academic Courses

Active Learning


Reporting Suspected Abuse

Sexual Education School Clinic

Physical Education Team Captains

Connecting(Social/ Emotional Well-Being)

Reported Suspected Neglect

Counseling Student Clubs Peer Tutors

Working(Vocational and Service)

Workers Rights Class

Remedial Education Vocational EducationCareer Awareness

Community InternshipsSchool-To-Career

Leading(Civic and


Expulsion Policies for Dangerous Youth

Conflict Management Training

Civics Education Student Council Service Learning


Harmful Minimal Optimal

Physical and Psychological Safety

Physical and health dangers, fear, feeling of insecurity, sexual and physical harassment, verbal abuse.

Safe and health-promoting facilities; practice that increases safe peer group interaction and decreases unsafe or confrontational peer interactions.

Appropriate Structure Chaotic, disorganized, laissez-faire, rigid, overcontrolled, autocratic. Limit setting, clear and consistent rules and expectations, firm-enough control, continuity and predictability, clear boundaries, and age-appropriate monitoring.

Supportive Relationships Cold, distant, overcontrolling, ambiguous support, untrustworthy, focused on winning, inattentive, unresponsive, rejecting

Warmth, closeness, connectedness, good communications, caring, support, guidance, secure attachment, responsiveness

Opportunities to Belong Exclusion, marginalization, intergroup conflict Opportunities for meaningful inclusion, regardless of one’s gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disabilities; social inclusion, social engagement and integration; opportunities for socio-cultural identity formation; support for cultural and bicultural competence.

Positive Social Norms Normless, anomie, laissez-faire practices, antisocial and amoral norms, norms that encourage violence, reckless behavior consumerism, poor health practices; conformity

Rules of behavior, expectations, injunctions, ways of doing things, values and morals, obligations for service

Support for Efficacy and Mattering

Unchallenging, overcontrolling, disempowering, disabling. Practices that undermine includes motivation and desire to learn, such a excessive focus on current relative performance level rather than improvement

Youth-based, empowerment practices that support autonomy, making a real difference in one’s community, and being taken seriously. Practice that is enabling, responsibility granting, meaningful challenges. Practice that focus on improvement rather than on relative current levels

Opportunities for Skill Building

Practice that promotes bad physical habits and habits of mind; practice that undermines school and learning.

Opportunities to learn physical, intellectual, psychological, emotional, and social skills; exposure to intentional learning experiences; opportunities to learn cultural.

Integration of Family, School, and Community Efforts

Discordance, lack of communication, conflict Concordance, coordination, and synergy among family, school, and community

Check the Octane: Do the Places Where Young People Spend their Time Really Support Their Growth? Quality Counts


Broaden the goals: beyond prevention

Broaden the outcomes: beyond academics

Broaden the inputs: beyond services

Broaden the strategies: beyond programs

Broaden the settings: beyond schools

Broaden youth roles: beyond recipients

Broaden accountability: beyond lists & promises

Promoting Youth Development: A Quick Summary of Ideas


Successful children remind us that children grow up in multiple contexts – in families, schools, peer groups, baseball teams, religious organizations… – and each context is a potential source of protective factors as well as risks…

Lessons from Resiliency Research

– Masten and Coatsworth, The Development of Competence in Favorable and Unfavorable

Environments…, 1998


– Masten and Coatsworth, The Development of Competence in Favorable and Unfavorable

Environments…, 1998

Development is biased toward competence, but there is no such thing as an invulnerable child. If we allow the prevalence of known risk factors for development to rise while resources for children fall, we can expect the competence of individual children and the human capital of the nation to suffer.


Getting There from Where We Are

Saturating neighborhoods with effective & sustainable services, supports & opportunities can only be achieved if communities:

Strengthen infrastructures for coordinating, managing, delivering, monitoring & sustaining efforts

Create a climate conducive to action for & with young people.


Clarifythe message:

what, why,how, for whom?

Counter negative

perceptions of youth

Connect to popularissues, institutions

& strategies

Build vocal, savvy

constituencies

Build sustainable

local intermediaries

Monitor resources, outputs & outcomes

Define & strengthen public & private delivery

systems

Saturateneighborhoods

with solid supports & opps

Strengthen & interpret

the evidence base

Recognize What It Takes

Saturate neighborhoods…

Strengthen infrastructures…

Create a climate for action…


Realize the Power of Young People

©2002 the forum for youth investment/impact strategies, inc.. all rights reserved. the forum for...

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