Youth Development

Youth Development is the name given to an approach to working with young people that focuses on their development instead of their problems or deficits. Based on research into human resilience, the principles and practices of the Youth Development approach have become a recognized best practice for youth programs, and an approach required by many public and private funding sources.

Youth Development is still in its own infancy in terms of universally agreed upon structures and definitions. The InterNetwork for Youth borrows from a range of perspectives in presenting its version of the Youth Development approach. For purposes of definition, we use the term 'Youth Development' to refer not only to a youthwork approach, but also to a process of growth in which all young people are seeking ways to meet their physical and social needs and build competencies. Our interpretation of the Youth Development approach is based on the belief that all choices and decisions made by young people are a result of this process, and that by assisting youth in their development we impact them more positively than we can by focusing on their problems.

While there is no universally accepted 'template' for implementation, all Youth Development literature tends to share common themes. The information contained in this introduction is a composite of those themes, with much influence from the Advancing Youth Development curriculum created by the Academy for Educational Development/Center for Youth Development and Policy Research, in collaboration with the National Network for Youth, which was the product of a 3-year project funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) at the U.S. Department of Justice. Information from that curriculum has been significantly modified and merged with other resources and original work by JT (Jerry) Fest, and is presented here with grateful acknowledgement to everyone who has contributed to the Youth Development body of knowledge.

The Youth Development approach is grounded in decades of research into human resilience. Just as human beings are 'hard wired' with a will to survive, it is also our nature to overcome and grow from the challenges we face. However, there are environmental factors that tend to inhibit our ability to face and surmount challenges. These inhibiting environmental factors are called Risk Factors, and refer to such things as neglect, poverty, domestic violence, physical/sexual abuse, family separation and conflict, alcohol and drug use/abuse, school performance problems, etc.

Research has uncovered that there is also a category of environmental factors that tends to foster and support innate resilience, enabling people to be more successful when dealing with their personal difficulties. These fostering environmental factors are called Protective Factors and, where they exist, they are able to negate the effects of Risk Factors in a person's environment, allowing that person's innate resilience to help them succeed.

Protective Factors is one area of the Youth Development approach that may be presented in somewhat different ways depending on the source. The lack of uniform presentation does not represent a lack of consistency between the sources. Regardless of how Protective Factors are presented, the presentations are saying the same things in different ways. The InterNetwork for Youth presents Protective Factors as three specific criterion:

Ü Caring, Supportive Relationships
Ü High Expectations
Ü Meaningful Participation

For a description of these Protective Factors download the free Word document handout at end of this article.

The bottom line of all youth work is the outcomes that are produced. Outcomes are generally measured in terms of an increase in observable accomplishments (achievement outcomes, such as jobs, diploma's, etc.) or a decrease in future undesirable effects (prevention outcomes, such as pregnancy, drug use/abuse, recidivist behaviors, etc.). The Youth Development approach differs from other youthwork disciplines in that achievement and prevention outcomes are not the focus. Instead, Youth Development focuses on Developmental Outcomes (referred to as 'DO's' as a reminder that this is what we are trying to 'do'). DO's are beliefs, behaviors, knowledge, and skills that result in a healthy and accomplished adolescence and adulthood.

This is not to say that achievement and prevention outcomes are unimportant. It simply represents the belief that the best way to obtain achievement and prevention outcomes in a meaningful and lasting way is to focus on DO's, for if a young person successfully develops positive beliefs, behaviors, knowledge, and skills, the result will be that they begin to accomplish goals and establish successful lives.

DO's is another aspect of the Youth Development approach that is represented differently by different sources. One of the earliest presentations of Developmental Outcomes was created by Dr. Maria Montessori in the early part of the 20th century. Montessori defined outcomes in 4 'dimensions' (emotional, moral, cognitive, and social) across 4 'planes' of development (birth-6, 6-puberty, puberty-18, and 18-24). As Youth Development came into practice as a recognized approach, many researchers described Developmental Outcomes as "The 5 C's" (Competence [academic, social, and vocational]; Confidence [positive self-concept]; Connections [to community, family, and peers]; Character [positive values, integrity and moral values]; and Contributions [active, meaningful roles in decision-making, and facilitating change]). Some researchers substitute Caring for Contributions, while others add it to the list as a 6th "C". One of the better known representations is the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets. As with Protective Factors, different sources are not contradictory, but are simply different representations of similar concepts. Regardless of the way DO's are described, the concept is to focus on who a young person is becoming, as opposed to what a young person is doing. The InterNetwork for Youth presents DO's as 2 categories, each including 6 outcomes, based on Developmental Outcomes as presented in the Advancing Youth Develpment curriculum. To see these outcomes download the free Word document at the end of this article.

Implementing the Youth Development approach is a matter of focusing on DO's while building an environment of Protective Factors. As such, the Youth Development approach is not so much what you do as it is how you do it. Different programs can all be Youth Development programs based not on similarity of program model, but rather on similarity of program approach. That approach is called (s)OS, or (services), Opportunities & Supports.

This, by the way, is two (not three) different concepts. The first is (services), which is set in parentheses' and uncapitalized to indicate that is is often an important foundation for, but is not, Youth Development. Services are things that we do to or for young people, such as providing them with shelter and meeting other basic needs. When we do to or for, we do not assist with someone's development, we simply provide for their needs. The Youth Development approach is to minimize (services) and to maximize the second concept; Opportunities & Supports.

Opportunities and Supports should be considered a single concept as they are two sides of the same coin, and successful implementation requires that they depend on each other. An Opportunity is anything that is done by youth; that is, they are in the driver's seat and have a direct link to the responsibility for the action. The other side of the coin is the Support, or things that we do with youth. While they are in the driver's seat, we are on the passenger side providing encouragement, knowledge, and resources. An Opportunity without a Support is a set up for failure, and a Support without an Opportunity is simply adult-directed activity.

The idea behind Youth Development is to turn as many (services) as feasible into Opportunities & Supports -- thus addressing the Protective Factor of offering youth opportunities for Meaningful Participation. This is where Youth Development's emphasis on Youth Participation comes from, and why the creation of successful youth/adult partnerships is so critical to the successful implementation of the Youth Development approach.

Most traditional youth programs are structured to provide services that target achievement and/or prevention outcomes. A Youth Development program will create Opportunities and provide Supports that assist young people with their growth and development.