U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
Family and Youth Services Bureau

FYSB Update
A Research Summary

May 2006

Collaborating To Promote Positive Youth Development at the State and Local Levels

In places as different as the Grove Hall neighborhood of Boston, a group of four rural counties in Nebraska, and the Murphy School District in Phoenix, a similar pilot venture has begun.

These communities and six others across the country are participating in a 5-year demonstration project funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) and aimed at increasing opportunities for young people to learn and grow, feel useful and connected, and make successful transitions to adulthood.

Called the Positive Youth Development (PYD) State and Local Collaboration Demonstration Projects and launched in 2003, these efforts have already made strides testing ways that adults and youth, community- and faith-based organizations, and local and State governments can work together to coordinate services for young people and involve them in improving their communities.

Grantees are State-level agencies that collaborate with local nonprofits and the community’s FYSB-funded runaway and homeless youth provider to build relationships with neighborhood organizations, local government agencies, nonprofits, schools—and, of course, young people. The shared objective: give youth more opportunities to use their time in positive ways and to put their considerable energy and ingenuity to work—through education, employment, community service, sports, the arts, and other endeavors.

The goals of the demonstration are:

• To encourage collaboration, among State and local or Tribal agencies and communities, that will increase opportunities for PYD for young people;
 
• To facilitate communication and cooperation among the State, local communities, and youth-serving agencies, including FYSB runaway and homeless youth program grantees, to address the needs and issues of adolescents and young adults;
 
• To promote an ongoing community presence and participation in the planning and execution of strategies aimed at PYD; and
 
• To educate local constituencies, including residents, community-based and faith-based organizations, and service providers, about PYD.

An Ongoing Investment in Collaboration for Youth

The Positive Youth Development (PYD) State and Local Collaboration Demonstration Projects are the extension of a previous demonstration that the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) funded to sponsor collaborative approaches to youth development at the State level. Thirteen States (Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, and Oregon) participated in this demonstration, strengthening existing youth development strategies and identifying new ones. Nine of those States have been selected to participate in the current demonstration exploring how local communities can benefit from the successes of the State-level projects.

Thinking Positively About Young People

FYSB's demonstration projects promote Positive Youth Development, often referred to as PYD. This approach to working with young people suggests that helping them achieve their full potential is the best way to prevent them from engaging in risky behaviors. Organizations and communities that promote PYD give youth the chance to exercise leadership, build skills, get involved, and make a difference in their communities. The self-confidence, trust, and practical knowledge that young people gain from these opportunities help them grow into healthy, happy, self-sufficient adults.

We all want to improve opportunities and services for young people, but we're still learning the best ways to go about it. In some States and communities, agencies that support young people might do so without coordination. This duplicates efforts or leaves some important needs unaddressed. The nine FYSB-funded demonstration sites are looking at ways to streamline PYD activities and to include young people in decisionmaking.

In devising this demonstration, FYSB made an underlying assumption: every community has different problems and strengths; therefore, youth development strategies will be developed and implemented best when coordinated locally, with support from State agencies and officials. In each of the nine sites taking part in the demonstration, schools, communities, families, and young people play an important role in pinpointing the unique problems their community faces and the solutions that will work best. Federal funding from FYSB has successfully enabled these communities to leverage resources from State and local partners (in the form of financial support, volunteers, and donations of space and materials) and further expand the PYD movement.

The Projects

Arizona: Murphy School District, Phoenix
About 90 percent of residents are Latino in this urban neighborhood surrounded by industrial zones and a freeway. The collaboration encourages members of the community- including youth, adults, businesses, and schools-to look at young people as assets, resources, and partners. Collaborators have asked young people to identify and map the things they consider important. The project will show that young people can contribute positively to their neighborhoods and communities.

Illinois: Bronzeville Neighborhood, Chicago
A rich history and strong community groups are helping this largely African American neighborhood face urban challenges such as crime, unemployment, school closings, and gentrification. The Bronzeville partnership works to give young people a say in what's happening in their neighborhood and a part in rebuilding the community. Organizers hope to find ways to create similar leadership opportunities for youth throughout Illinois.

Iowa: Southeast Iowa City, Iowa City
A neighborhood with higher poverty rates than the surrounding communities and at least two schools on the U.S. Department of Education's "watch list," Southeast Iowa City also has a transient public housing population. The Iowa collaboration promotes PYD in State policies and programs and helps communities like Southeast Iowa City improve the well-being of young people by emphasizing four key areas: education and workforce development, prevention of risky behaviors, systems that deal with children and youth, and youth leadership.

Kentucky: Martin Luther King and Woodhill Neighborhoods, Lexington
The Kentucky project hopes to impact Lexington’s Martin Luther King and Woodhill neighborhoods, which represent a diverse population of youth and have a high incidence of minority youth confinement. The collaboration has five goals: involving young people in youth policy and services; informing youth, families, and communities about PYD; coordinating youth services in the State; providing training and technical assistance to the youth service field; and adopting State-level policies based on the youth development approach.

Louisiana: East Baton Rouge Metro-Council District 7, Baton Rouge
This urban school district struggles with problems such as poverty, high dropout rates, low graduation rates, and a large number of students above the traditional age for their grades. Led by the Louisiana Workforce Commission and Career Builders, a local nonprofit, the collaborators seek to improve workforce education and training in the district. Partners include schools, businesses, and community organizations. The collaboration's work builds on the Workforce Commission's statewide efforts to improve workforce education and training.

Massachusetts: Grove Hall Neighborhood, Roxbury, Boston
Grove Hall suffers from health care and economic challenges and high crime. At the same time, the neighborhood boasts strong faith- and community-based organizations and community associations. The collaborators, along with other State and local entities, are assessing what Grove Hall youth need and what opportunities exist for them. They aim to increase the role that young people from Grove Hall and other Boston neighborhoods play in identifying and solving local problems.

Nebraska: Box Butte, Dawes, Scotts Bluff, and Sheridan Counties
This rural community has a large Native American population, mainly Lakota people from the Pine Ridge Reservation, who lack resources such as health services, housing, and elder care. To help Native youth feel more welcome in their communities and schools, the collaborators aim to change adult attitudes toward youth by engaging young people in positive activities in the community and helping them recognize their own strengths and achievements.

New York: Rochester County, Sector 8
Rochester's northeast quadrant, Sector 8, has many runaway youth and a high incidence of crime and delinquency. Together, the county and city governments have committed to increasing opportunities for young people by building the community's ability to address its own problems. The project works to increase youth involvement in existing neighborhood associations, encouraging places of faith, businesses, and law enforcement to recognize the contributions that young people can make.

Oregon: City of Eugene
Located in the fertile Willamette Valley, Eugene is Oregon's second largest city. While economic indicators are positive in areas of the city, there are rising tensions between different socioeconomic classes and ethnic communities. The Oregon collaboration aims to increase PYD opportunities in Eugene by supporting community and youth mobilization, providing supports and opportunities for young people, and developing leadership among youth and adults.

For more information about each project, go to www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/fysb/content/youthdivision/index.htm.

Making It Work: Strategies For Building Collaboration

Now in their third year, the nine demonstration sites are using a number of strategies to build youth involvement, community partnerships, and State and local government support.

Youth Involvement Strategies

• Give young people the tools to develop and administer a “youth development survey” that addresses what services and opportunities other young people in the neighborhood would like to have available to them.
 
• Establish youth leadership development training.
 
• Create a youth advisory board that voices young people’s concerns to the general community.
 
• Support youth board members through a monthly stipend system (developed by the young people themselves) and through the fulfillment of individual development plans for planning community events and projects.
 
• Tap young people to cochair a community collaboration of youth and adults. (Youth are likely to feel more comfortable holding this responsibility with a peer.)
 
• Hold a youth-run competition in which young people apply for minigrants to fund their community improvement projects.
 
• Give youth guidance as they research and write brochures on topics of interest to their peers, such as young people’s rights and protections under the law.

Community Partnerships

• Involve schools, communities, and families at the earliest stages of collaboration.
 
• Listen to what communities want rather than imposing solutions. For instance, hold a communitywide retreat in which adult and youth neighbors identify ways to improve the community, or work with youth to develop a community survey.
 
• Rather than creating new programs, work with existing programs and organizations to increase youth involvement and incorporate the youth development approach.
 
• Provide training sessions on PYD for youth workers, teachers, parents, and community members.
 
• Work in partnership with youth to host a community event centered on a cultural celebration (such as a powwow) or a social need (such as wellness).
 
• Plan and conduct community events that inform youth and their parents about summer camps and other enrichment programs and opportunities available to them.
 
• Create programs that provide support to families, such as family group support sessions and healthy marriage initiatives.
 
• Involve youth in the work of neighborhood development organizations and councils.
 
• Schedule meetings at times when working families and community members can attend, and provide family supports such as child care and transportation assistance.
 
• Develop partnerships with schools by forging relationships with administrators and parent-teacher associations.

State and Local Government Support

• Hold a decisionmaker’s forum in which local government officials (such as the mayor and representatives from the county council), the school board, the sheriff’s office, and the departments of parks and recreation, human services, and workforce development meet with youth to discuss issues and come up with specific solutions.
 
• Build relationships and understanding between youth and police by hosting a roundtable or forum.
 
• Mandate family and youth involvement in State planning and policy review.
 
• Improve information sharing among the State’s education, child protection, and juvenile justice agencies.
 
• Assess programs serving youth in the State.
 
• Create a statewide definition of PYD and desired outcomes for youth development and educational attainment, and get agency heads across State government to agree to shared goals for young people.

Challenges

Despite differences among their local communities, many of the sites have faced similar challenges as they work to build collaboration among diverse people, organizations, and government agencies. Some common issues include:

• Changing adults’ attitudes toward young people and letting youth take a lead role
  
  
• Helping young people to feel respected and listened to in their community
  
  
• Explaining PYD to community stakeholders, government officials, and the general public
  
  
• Identifying youth who have leadership potential but who are not already involved in community service
  
  
• Garnering community interest and combating adult apathy
  
  
• Communicating with parents and community members who are not native English speakers
  
  
• Finding space for concerned community members to meet and youth to hang out in neighborhoods with no recreation center Keeping enthusiasm and participation high among collaborators
  
  
• Respecting the “turf,” boundaries, and roles of community organizations participating in the project while at the same time supporting collaboration efforts
  
  
• Creating a decisionmaking process that respects the interests and rules of government agencies and the motivation and commitment of community members
  
  
• Managing staff turnover among collaborators
  
  
• Making the most of limited resources (such as finances, personnel, or space)
  
  
• Measuring the collaboration’s effectiveness

Moving Forward Together

FYSB encourages communities other than those participating in the PYD State and Local Collaboration Demonstration Projects to launch new collaborations to improve the well-being of our Nation’s young people. Communities can take the following steps to get started, then use strategies like those outlined above as they move forward:

• Identify a State agency that will play a lead role in the collaboration.
  
  
• Identify a local agency that will take the lead in coordinating the project while sharing decisionmaking with the other collaborators.
  
  
• Involve at least two collaborative partners.
  
  
• Assess community needs and resources to best focus your efforts.
  
  
• Engage youth, families, and community members from the outset, and base the collaboration’s goals on the needs they identify, either through neighborhood forums, surveys, or community mapping.
  
  
• Make connections with individuals at different levels of government; high-level officials provide backing and exposure, while mid-level officials can give ongoing, day-to-day support to collaborations.
  
  
• Listen to youth and give them true leadership roles in the collaboration, as well as the adult guidance and training they need to be successful.

Resources on PYD and Community Development

America’s Promise
www.americaspromise.org
Brings together communities, individuals, companies, and organizations to improve the odds for children and youth. The Communities of Promise initiative supports local collaborative efforts to address the needs and develop the assets of young people.

American Youth Policy Forum
www.aypf.org
Educates policymakers on youth issues such as education, training, transition to employment, and national and community service.

Asset-Based Community Development Institute
www.northwestern.edu/ipr/abcd.html
Promotes the Asset-Based Community Development, or ABCD, approach to building communities, and produces practical resources and tools for identifying, nurturing, and mobilizing neighborhood assets; based at Northwestern University’s Institute for Policy Research.

Corporation for National and Community Service
www.nationalservice.org
Provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to engage in service.

Forum for Youth Investment
www.forumforyouthinvestment.org
Research, education, and training to make sure that all young people are ready for college, school, and life by age 21.

Helping America’s Youth
www.helpingamericasyouth.gov
Nationwide effort, initiated by President George W. Bush and led by First Lady Laura Bush, to benefit children and teenagers by encouraging action in three key areas: family, school, and community. Web site includes the Community Guide to Helping America’s Youth, a step-by-step guide to building strong supports for youth.

The Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development
www.theinnovationcenter.org
Promotes community and youth development and increases youth involvement.

National Community YouthMapping
www.communityyouthmapping.org
Promotes community youth mapping, a strategy through which youth and adults identify resources and opportunities that exist in their community.

National Conference of State Legislatures
www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/youth.htm
Addresses youth issues such as out-of-school time, youth violence, civic and policy engagement, youth in transition, and youth at risk.

National Governors Association
www.nga.org
The association’s Center for Best Practices is working with the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Forum for Youth Investment to provide State policymakers the tools and supports necessary to strengthen youth policies and programs.

National League of Cities
www.nlc.org/iyef
The National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education, and Families helps municipal leaders take action on behalf of the children, youth, and families in their communities.

Public/Private Ventures
www.ppv.org
Works to improve the effectiveness of social policies, programs, and community initiatives, especially as they affect youth and young adults.

Search Institute
www.search-institute.org
Promotes research and collaboration around the idea that young people need “developmental assets,” positive experiences and personal qualities that help them grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.

Youth on Board
www.youthonboard.org
Prepares youth to be leaders and decisionmakers in their communities and strengthens relationships between youth and adults.

Youth Service America
www.ysa.org
Trains youth launching innovative service organizations and sponsors National Youth Service Day.

For a more comprehensive list of youth development resources, visit the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth at ncfy.acf.hhs.gov.

FYSB Update is developed for the Family and Youth Services Bureau by Johnson, Bassin & Shaw (JBS), Inc., under Contract # GS10F0205K from the Administration on Children, Youth and Families; Administration for Children and Families; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to manage the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth.

National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth
P.O. Box 13505
Silver Spring, MD 20911-3505
Tel./TTY: (301) 608-8098
Fax: (301) 608-8721
E-mail: ncfy@acf.hhs.gov
ncfy.acf.hhs.gov