In April 2008, Public Private Ventures issued a report commissioned by the Packard Foundation on the best ways to promote quality while serving preteens in afterschool programs. The report, Putting It All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After School Programs Serving PreTeens provides a succinct look at five essential elements that will help preteen make the important transition from their elementary school through their middle school years.
Grounded in youth development research, the six elements as quoted from the report are having a:
1) Focused and intentional strategy - programs have a clear set of goals, target specific skills and deliberately plan all aspects of the program with a youth development framework in mind.
2) Exposure, duration and breadth - programs are designed to: a) provide preteens with a sufficient number of hours per week over anextended period of time to achieve program outcome goals; and b) allow preteens to attend a variety of activities.
3) Supportive relationships - programs emphasize positive adult - youth relationships regardless of the curriculum.
4) Family engagement - programs strive to include families through various strategies, such as clear communication and a
welcoming environment.
5) Cultural competence - programs have diverse staff whose backgrounds are reflective of participants and who create practices and policies that: a) make services available to (and inclusive of) a variety of populations; and b) help participants
understand and value a broad range of cultures.
6) Continuous program improvement - programs strengthen quality through an ongoing and integrated process of targeted staff training, coaching and monitoring, and data collection and analysis.
Showing posts with label Youth Development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Youth Development. Show all posts
Monday, June 9, 2008
Afterschool Voc-Ed Program Teaching At-Risk Youth to Repair Computers
The Fundamentalist, which is the Jewish Telegraphic Association's (JTA) new philanthropy blog, reported yesterday about an exciting effort combining afterschool, career development and training for "at-risk" youth.
On a recent media tour to Negev, correspondents toured Net@. According to their blog entry, "Net@ is a four-year-long after-school program run in lower-income areas that teaches high school students how to become computer repair technicians. When the students complete the course, they receive an internationally recognized certificate that qualifies them as IT techs. Open to “at-risk” students, the program seeks not A+ students, but those just a cut below, according to Net@ officials. The idea is to help students who might not have great financial prospects to find good-paying middle class jobs. And, it tries to attract girls, who are normally less likely to go into the IT filed."
According to their report, 100 youth are served with a budget of $175,000. However with the falling dollar, they may have to reduce the program by half in the coming year.
This model may provide some ideas about the best ways to help teens develop new skills in your community while preparing them to compete in the global economy.
To read more about this compelling program, click here.
On a recent media tour to Negev, correspondents toured Net@. According to their blog entry, "Net@ is a four-year-long after-school program run in lower-income areas that teaches high school students how to become computer repair technicians. When the students complete the course, they receive an internationally recognized certificate that qualifies them as IT techs. Open to “at-risk” students, the program seeks not A+ students, but those just a cut below, according to Net@ officials. The idea is to help students who might not have great financial prospects to find good-paying middle class jobs. And, it tries to attract girls, who are normally less likely to go into the IT filed."
According to their report, 100 youth are served with a budget of $175,000. However with the falling dollar, they may have to reduce the program by half in the coming year.
This model may provide some ideas about the best ways to help teens develop new skills in your community while preparing them to compete in the global economy.
To read more about this compelling program, click here.
Teens Making Better Decisions
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released findings from the 2007 Youth At-Risk Behavior Survey of high school students in the United States. Conducted every two years, this survey charts how teens make decisions as they contemplate engaging in at-risk behaviors such as smoking, premarital sex, drinking and taking drugs.
As reported by USA Today, the latest survey reveals that overall fewer teens across the United States are drinking, smoking and having less sex than their peers in 1991. Other data indicate the following: :
TEENS' RISKY BEHAVIOR
Rarely or never wore a seat belt (when riding in a car driven by someone else):
1991: 25.9%
2007: 11.1%
Rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol
1991: 39.9%
2007: 29.1%
Current cigarette use (smoked cigarettes on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey)
1991: 27.5%
2007: 20.0%
Current alcohol use (had at least one drink of alcohol on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey
1991: 50.8%
2007: 44.7%
Used a condom during last sexual intercourse (among students who were sexually active)
1991: 46.2%
2007: 61.5%
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Reviewing this data more closely may help providers of teen providers determine the best strategies to engage youth to help prevent these behaviors while focusing promoting their leadership ability.
To read more of the USA Today report, click here. To review the CDC Youth Risk Surveillance Data, click here..
As reported by USA Today, the latest survey reveals that overall fewer teens across the United States are drinking, smoking and having less sex than their peers in 1991. Other data indicate the following: :
TEENS' RISKY BEHAVIOR
Rarely or never wore a seat belt (when riding in a car driven by someone else):
1991: 25.9%
2007: 11.1%
Rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol
1991: 39.9%
2007: 29.1%
Current cigarette use (smoked cigarettes on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey)
1991: 27.5%
2007: 20.0%
Current alcohol use (had at least one drink of alcohol on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey
1991: 50.8%
2007: 44.7%
Used a condom during last sexual intercourse (among students who were sexually active)
1991: 46.2%
2007: 61.5%
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Reviewing this data more closely may help providers of teen providers determine the best strategies to engage youth to help prevent these behaviors while focusing promoting their leadership ability.
To read more of the USA Today report, click here. To review the CDC Youth Risk Surveillance Data, click here..
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Youth PSA Competition - Deadline August 31, 2008
Looking for a way to involve youth this summer? The Afterschool Alliance reports on their website that "the By Kids for Kids and DoSomething.org are encouraging youth to discover the social issue or cause that matters most to them and then "Do Something" to raise awareness about it. Youth are invited to create Public Service Announcements (PSAs) for the "Advertise Your Cause: Media Challenge. Organizers will award the most clever and powerful PSA that has the broadest impact..
Contest winners will receive $10,000 and national media exposure for the winning PSA. The deadline is August 31. The competition is open to students ages five through 19 who have not yet graduated from high school.".
Text courtesy of the Afterschool Alliance.
Contest winners will receive $10,000 and national media exposure for the winning PSA. The deadline is August 31. The competition is open to students ages five through 19 who have not yet graduated from high school.".
Text courtesy of the Afterschool Alliance.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Seeking Young People ages 12 - 25 to Participate in an International Survey on Spirituality
I received an e-mail today from a colleague who heads up the New England Network on Children, Youth and Families. The Search Institute has contracted with them to help conduct an international survey on youth and spirituality. (See description below.) They need a lot of young people, ages 12-25, to fill it out in the next six weeks. The survey is not being confined to young people who attend afterschool or other programs, but even your own kids can participate!
I've been informed that the survey is long -- but it’s interesting. It can be done individually/ electronically, or printed out on paper and done in a group setting. They need 250 kids and they are reaching out to everyone to help gather data on this compelling topic.
If you can help them, please contact Melanie Wilson, mwilson@nenetwork.org. To view the survey, click here:
MEANING, PURPOSE, JOY: ARE YOUR YOUNG PEOPLE FINDING IT?
Where are you on your lifelong journey toward meaning, joy and hope? Where are the young people in your care? As someone who has contact with young people, we are asking for your help in involving them in an international research effort that investigates how young people ages 12-25 think about and use spirituality in their daily lives. Research shows a clear connection between spiritual development and pro-social behaviors in young people, and child development experts now consider spiritual development to be a critical part of the journey to maturity.
The project, led by the Minneapolis-based Search Institute, is aimed at understanding spiritual ideas and development in young people across cultures. Search Institute is one of the country’s leading researchers on child- and adolescent well-being. It also has a long history of work with faith communities; two years ago it launched a Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence.
In this new project, Search treats spirituality as a broad concept that includes both religious and non-religious beliefs. The survey is meant to capture many different cultural concepts, beliefs and attitudes, meaning that all youth, religious or not, are welcomed and encouraged to take it. The survey will be administered to thousands of youth in the US, Canada, Australia, Thailand, Ghana, Ukraine and other countries, making it the largest effort of this sort ever undertaken. The New England Network (NEN) also has a national reputation for its research on spirituality and young people. NEN has published three groundbreaking studies on spirituality and at-risk youth, and offers trainings youth-serving organizations and congregations to help integrate this and related research into their youth development work.
Search has contracted with NEN to be one of several research partners in this study. We are asking you to administer the survey to young people who participate in your programs. The survey can be taken online or on paper, individually or in groups, and makes an excellent springboard for group discussions. NEN will sponsor a pizza party for groups of five or more young people who take the survey. To arrange "pizza money" and/or to receive paper surveys, contact Melanie Wilson at mwilson@nenetwork.org or (603) 778-6010.
I've been informed that the survey is long -- but it’s interesting. It can be done individually/ electronically, or printed out on paper and done in a group setting. They need 250 kids and they are reaching out to everyone to help gather data on this compelling topic.
If you can help them, please contact Melanie Wilson, mwilson@nenetwork.org. To view the survey, click here:
MEANING, PURPOSE, JOY: ARE YOUR YOUNG PEOPLE FINDING IT?
Where are you on your lifelong journey toward meaning, joy and hope? Where are the young people in your care? As someone who has contact with young people, we are asking for your help in involving them in an international research effort that investigates how young people ages 12-25 think about and use spirituality in their daily lives. Research shows a clear connection between spiritual development and pro-social behaviors in young people, and child development experts now consider spiritual development to be a critical part of the journey to maturity.
The project, led by the Minneapolis-based Search Institute, is aimed at understanding spiritual ideas and development in young people across cultures. Search Institute is one of the country’s leading researchers on child- and adolescent well-being. It also has a long history of work with faith communities; two years ago it launched a Center for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence.
In this new project, Search treats spirituality as a broad concept that includes both religious and non-religious beliefs. The survey is meant to capture many different cultural concepts, beliefs and attitudes, meaning that all youth, religious or not, are welcomed and encouraged to take it. The survey will be administered to thousands of youth in the US, Canada, Australia, Thailand, Ghana, Ukraine and other countries, making it the largest effort of this sort ever undertaken. The New England Network (NEN) also has a national reputation for its research on spirituality and young people. NEN has published three groundbreaking studies on spirituality and at-risk youth, and offers trainings youth-serving organizations and congregations to help integrate this and related research into their youth development work.
Search has contracted with NEN to be one of several research partners in this study. We are asking you to administer the survey to young people who participate in your programs. The survey can be taken online or on paper, individually or in groups, and makes an excellent springboard for group discussions. NEN will sponsor a pizza party for groups of five or more young people who take the survey. To arrange "pizza money" and/or to receive paper surveys, contact Melanie Wilson at mwilson@nenetwork.org or (603) 778-6010.
Youth Development Approaches to Youth Violence Prevention Conference - June 2 at Holy Cross
Youth Development Approaches to Youth Violence Prevention Conference
Monday, June 2, 2008
Hogan Center, College of the Holy Cross
1 College Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Conference Overview
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health Youth Violence Prevention Program, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Massachusetts Coalition for Youth Violence Prevention, will be hosting the 1st Annual Youth Development Approaches to Youth Violence Prevention conference on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.
Conference Goals
This statewide conference will provide a forum for a diverse array of practitioners and stakeholders from the intersecting arenas of youth development promotion and youth violence prevention to share ideas, network with one and other, learn about innovative prevention strategies and promising practices, and identify opportunities for future collaboration. The conference will include prevention practitioners representing a broad spectrum of youth violence including community violence, teen dating violence, gang violence, workplace violence, school violence, sexual violence, witnessing violence, and bullying and harassment. Workshop presenters will include representatives from mentoring programs, after school and out-of-school time programs, employment readiness programs, conflict resolution programs, street outreach workers, and other youth development centered programs. It will also include a number of workshops focusing on innovative approaches to violence prevention currently underway in Massachusetts.
There is no fee for this conference. A continental breakfast and lunch are included. To sign up, click on this
conference registration button.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Hogan Center, College of the Holy Cross
1 College Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Conference Overview
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health Youth Violence Prevention Program, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Massachusetts Coalition for Youth Violence Prevention, will be hosting the 1st Annual Youth Development Approaches to Youth Violence Prevention conference on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.
Conference Goals
This statewide conference will provide a forum for a diverse array of practitioners and stakeholders from the intersecting arenas of youth development promotion and youth violence prevention to share ideas, network with one and other, learn about innovative prevention strategies and promising practices, and identify opportunities for future collaboration. The conference will include prevention practitioners representing a broad spectrum of youth violence including community violence, teen dating violence, gang violence, workplace violence, school violence, sexual violence, witnessing violence, and bullying and harassment. Workshop presenters will include representatives from mentoring programs, after school and out-of-school time programs, employment readiness programs, conflict resolution programs, street outreach workers, and other youth development centered programs. It will also include a number of workshops focusing on innovative approaches to violence prevention currently underway in Massachusetts.
There is no fee for this conference. A continental breakfast and lunch are included. To sign up, click on this
conference registration button.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Building Healthy Teen Relationships -- Call for Proposals Released
Application Deadline: April 16, 2008
The Building Healthy Teen Relationships program will support the creation and evaluation of comprehensive community-based models of prevention that aim to decrease relationship violence and increase positive, protective relationship skills. Up to eight geographically and ethnically diverse sites will receive up to $250,000 per year for up to 48 months.
The Building Healthy Teen Relationships program will support the creation and evaluation of comprehensive community-based models of prevention that aim to decrease relationship violence and increase positive, protective relationship skills. Up to eight geographically and ethnically diverse sites will receive up to $250,000 per year for up to 48 months.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Youth at Large Ambassadors Being Sought for Olympics in Beijing
The American Young Ambassadors Program, LTD. (AYAL) is seeking 30 accomplished high school students ages 15-18 ()as of 11/08 and also must be a US citizen) to act as Ambassadors for two weeks for the Beijing Summer Olympics in China. A history of strong community service among other attributes are being sought. Applications are due March 3, 2008.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Youth Voting in Record Numbers
Youth and the 2008 Election
Youth Service America recently launched a new website, ServiceVote, to serve as a hub of information for young people on the 2008 election. ServiceVote provides youth with news on the various races, candidates and defining issues. The website also provides space for youth to take action on issues that matter to them and allows them to post videos, images and audio files.
NBC News is giving students and teachers the chance to ask its political reporters questions about the 2008 presidential election on the website, HotChalk. Each Thursday, top political reporters, including Tim Russert, will provide a video answer to one question.
Note: This story originally appeared in the Afterschool Advocate (Vol. 9, Issue 2).
Personal note by Debra McLaughlin - For those of you who are working with older youth, you may be interested in this website and how they are engaging youth to become more responsible citizens.
Youth Service America recently launched a new website, ServiceVote, to serve as a hub of information for young people on the 2008 election. ServiceVote provides youth with news on the various races, candidates and defining issues. The website also provides space for youth to take action on issues that matter to them and allows them to post videos, images and audio files.
NBC News is giving students and teachers the chance to ask its political reporters questions about the 2008 presidential election on the website, HotChalk. Each Thursday, top political reporters, including Tim Russert, will provide a video answer to one question.
Note: This story originally appeared in the Afterschool Advocate (Vol. 9, Issue 2).
Personal note by Debra McLaughlin - For those of you who are working with older youth, you may be interested in this website and how they are engaging youth to become more responsible citizens.
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