YD+Leadership+&+Personnel


 * HEHD 800: Foundations of Youth Development**
 * Wiki Group 5: Youth Development Leadership & Personnel**


 * __DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:__**

===**What are some of the challenges that youth workers face today and what tangible steps can youth-serving organizations take to ensure that their workers are supported, competent, and recognized? Do communities recognize youth work as a profession, and, if not, what steps can we as youth development leaders take to help advance it as a profession?**===


 * __REVIEW OF THE READINGS:__**

//"Logically it doesn’t make sense// //for me to continue in this work, but// //I keep doing it. . .I keep getting// //pulled back in."//
===**These quotes from survey respondents in the Growing the Next Generation article highlight many of the issues that youth workers face in their profession, and encapsulate several of the key points raised in both that reading and the Borden article.**===

Many of the early positive youth development (PYD) professionals came about out of necessity. Towards the beginning of the 20th century the changes in children’s schooling and the shift in labor practices created “discretionary time”. “These changes led to a shift in how children and youth used their time, now splitting their time between the hours spent in school and discretionary time (e.g., time not spent in school) (Halpern, 2002)”. Mainly filled by volunteers, YW positions were created and are still slowly evolving into a professional field.

New research is leading to the recognition of the importance of youth workers. A greater appreciation for the power of child-youth worker relationships began through research on resiliency. “The research pertaining to youth resilience also has a long and rich history that notes the most common protective factor is the presence of a caring non-parental adult in a young person’s life (Rutter 1987; Werner & Smith, 1982)”.

Lerner and Hertzog (2003) further described the role of community youth development professionals/youth workers noting that their work creates the following:


 * 1) positive, healthy, and sustained adult-youth relations
 * 2) skill building opportunities in youth;
 * 3) opportunities for youth to participate in, and take leadership of, community-based activities by and for youth.

The quality of frontline youth workers influences the effectiveness of the services they deliver to children and families, which in turn has a positive impact on program participants. If workers are well-trained and supported, have access to the resources that they need, possess a reasonable workload and are valued by their employers, they are able to effectively perform their jobs. __However, the lack of research and knowledge regarding the YW profession – in contrast to related fields like teaching - leaves it undefined and misunderstood, and this impedes recognition and advancement of the profession as such.__

Additional issues preventing “professionalism”:


 * High turnover rate
 * Low pay
 * Lack of requirements or standards
 * Lack of “educated and trained” people to do the job
 * Limited professional ladder

While most agree that increased pay would reduce turnovers, attract more highly qualified individuals, and increase the quality of programs (because of more consistent long term staff-child relationships) it seems impossible as the pay rate is low due to the mission of providing programming to those in need.

Professional development opportunities also play a major role in the evolution of the youth worker. Research found that many employers do no t provide training nor do they pay for their employees to receive professional development. While professional development is crucial to both the movement towards professionalism and to increased quality programming, the type of opportunities has changed. “In many youth programs the extent of training is focused solely on the goals or mission of the program. This structure creates an idiosyncratic system of training wherein youth worker training is specific to the objectives of the program…”, there is a need for “training curriculum [that]transcends the idiosyncratic nature of typical program training by incorporating a framework based on a fundamental understanding of the nature of youth work”.

===**Many of these attributes associated with youth workers and the YW profession were fleshed out in the NextGen study, which included a survey of 1,053 frontline youth workers and 195 organization directors. The main findings of the study included:**=== __Inputs - Worker Demographics__ - The survey population was __predominantly female and relatively young__ – half under age 30. The median age of the workers was less than that of similar fields like teaching, but the age range was also wider. The survey population was predominantly minority. 75% of the workers described themselves as very to somewhat similar to the youth in their programs. Organizations seem to be successfully __recruiting staff that share important characteristics with the youth they serve__. The education levels of the workers were reasonably high, especially given their age. Most came to YW from related fields and had some form of relevant credential.

__Inputs - Organizational Characteristics__ - Work settings showed a high degree of variation, with three broad categories: school-based, independent community based, and local affiliates of national organizations. There was broad coverage, as responsibility for youth of all ages – elementary to high school – was common despite the well-known importance of age-appropriate programming. Most workers identified academic enrichment as the primary type of activity offered, and sports/recreation was toward the top of the list. Leadership training and spiritual/character-related activities were lower on the list.

__Inputs - Organizational Practices/Policies__ - Half of those surveyed worked part time, the majority of which were interested in full-time employment if offered at their organization. Most respondents spent their time involved in program delivery. A second cluster of roles revolves around paperwork, program management, advocacy, and outreach. Most reported playing multiple roles. 40% of those surveyed had a second job, __and__ __salaries and wages were lower than in related fields__. Training opportunities were seen as plentiful, but formal support for training was hard to come by. The majority of workers stated that there were few clearly defined opportunities for promotion.

__Outcomes - Workforce Status__ - There was a very __high degree of job mobility__, significant movement within and between organization, and higher turnover than in the teaching profession. Workers may be forced to create their own career ladders by moving around to increase earnings and take on more responsibility. A high percentage of workers wanted to remain in the field for more than 5 years. The respondents exhibited __high levels of job satisfaction__ compared to workers in related fields. Compensation was by far the top factor in influencing decisions to stay or leave the field, but important intrinsic rewards and challenges exist too.

**Conclusions:**

 * Today’s youth work practitioners reside in a diverse set of fields and settings. A troublesome reality for the youth worker is the mismatch in compensation relative to training, education, and experience. The current structure means even those workers with a passion for YW and those who are satisfied cannot stay in the field. There is a need to find small ways to enhance compensation packages, thereby stabilizing organizations and the profession as a whole. Professionalization centers on increasing the compensation, status, and benefits of the youth worker as well as the structure of the youth worker field. Barriers to professionalization include the feasibility of such a structural change as well as the limited financial capacity of the field itself.
 * Despite the variations in workplaces, there is one workforce grappling with a common set of issues - highly satisfied workers with similar factors affecting their decisions to stay in or leave the field. There is a need to acknowledge commonalities in order to advance the YW profession.
 * Many enter the YW field at a young age and plan to stay in the field for at least several years. More formal short-term pathways like Teach For America may encourage more to remain.

Professional development resources:

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===**2. Now, given the features of the YW field described above, what training should individuals receive to become YW professionals? What competencies should they acquire to be effective? What institutions exist to help supply such professional development?**===

**Articles: Getting Down to Business: Defining Competencies (Astroth) / The Intermediary Role in Youth Worker Professional Development (Johnson)**
“Getting Down to Business” detailed a list of core competencies needed by entry-level youth workers for effective youth development leadership and practice. The competencies (defined as knowledge, skills, and personal attributes) were compiled in 2004 by the National Collaboration for Youth (NCY). Education and intellect are important for youth development workers; however, staff characteristics are equally valuable (although there is no consensus around as to the best staff characteristics).

Why are competencies important? Based on the work by the NCY, competencies provide a concrete way to distinguish YDLs from others who provide services to youth. They also provide a framework for staff development and performance. These competences should be possessed at initial hire or should be acquired with experience from employment to promote positive youth development. The core competencies were developed from youth workers who have previously worked in the field (over a decade) and from those who are new and on the front line.

There are 10 basic competencies compiled by the NCY that can be used in nearly every setting for entry-level workers.


 * 1) Understands and applies basic child and adolescent development principals
 * 2) Communicates and develops positive relationships with youth
 * 3) Adapts, facilitates, and evaluates age appropriate activities with and for the group
 * 4) Respects and honors cultural and human diversity
 * 5) Involves and empowers youth
 * 6) Identifies potential risk factors (in a programmatic environment) and takes measures to reduce those risks
 * 7) Cares for, involves, and works with families and communities
 * 8) Works as part of a team and shows professionalism
 * 9) Demonstrates the attributes and qualities of a positive role model
 * 10) Interacts with and relates to youth in ways that support asset building

These 10 basic competencies are currently being implemented by several youth serving organizations, for example the YMCA (incorporating them into a manual for all staff working with youth throughout the US), 4-H Professional Development, and the National Mentoring Partnership.

Organizations should determine which competencies are specific to their programs. Because this list is specifically tailored to entry-level workers, as YDLs we should explore additional competencies that can be adopted by other YDLs with advanced responsibilities (i.e. Coordinators or Directors). A good resource for additional competencies for youth development professional is []

For an elaborate list of the 10 core competencies for entry-level workers visit []

In The Intermediary Role in Youth Worker Professional Development, the authors define an intermediary organization as a staffed organization that promotes and sustains a professional development system which (a) connects youth development workers and youth-serving agencies to community-based training and technical assistant resources; (b) advances youth development workers’ skills and competencies; (c) embeds youth development principles and practices in the day-to-day operations of youth-serving agencies; and (d) enhances the status of youth work as a recognized and valued profession. The National Training Institute for Community Youth Work (NTI) is such an organization, and it is leading the charge for youth worker professional development. NTI has two goals: to build local intermediaries, and to add to the knowledge base of the field of youth development. As NTI began its efforts, some objectives became clear: developing standards for those involved, assessment, creating more of a support system for workers, and expanding the strategies to more communities. In 1997, NTI began a national collaboration known as BEST (Building Exemplary Systems for Training Youth Workers). The role of the national intermediary is to link local intermediaries to each other. Both national and local intermediaries must promote leadership, provide services, ensure quality, and promote sustainment. Evaluation by national intermediaries showed that workers in the field of youth development benefit most when they have “networks for peer learning, opportunities to discuss their new knowledge in their organizational context, and ongoing supervisory relationships that support BEST practices.” The role of the local intermediary is to supervise and link local youth-serving organizations. Evaluation of BEST showed that local intermediaries strengthened the organizations they worked with by: increasing professional development, creating opportunities for networking, and alignment of policies and applications. BEST network accomplishments: “expanded professional development outside urban communities, established standards for BEST trainers and training programs, assessment of impact of the training on participants, and additional organizational supports for youth development workers.” Challenges that lay ahead include: national standards for core competency training, support for increased human resource capability in youth-serving organizations, widespread availability of youth worker professional development, assessment of professional development impact on youth outcomes and organizational practices, and alignment of core competencies across youth-serving sectors. ===**3. Finally, what are some of the factors that will influence how youth workers interact with the young people they are serving and how these relationships will develop – for example, in a mentoring program?**===

**Article:** Gender, Ethnicity, Development, and Risk (Darling, Bogat, Cavell, Murphy, and Sanchez)
This article notes that in order for a mentoring program to succeed, it must focus on idiosyncratic melding of needs and resources. The authors focus on three main points’ gender and race/ethnicity/culture and development. Understanding the __individual__ characteristics of the population to be served is central to understanding both needs and processes. First the authors break down the conceptual and theoretical issues relevant to an examination of individual differences. Second they review research related to the three areas previously mentioned. The overall understanding of how gender, ethnicity and development might influence mentoring relationships will help researchers and practitioners develop mentoring programs that best meet the needs of youth.

Gender

 * Conceptual and theoretical
 * Personal relationships take a more central role in the lives of girls, and good quality relationships are more likely to influence girls’ than boys’ psychosocial outcomes, including depression.
 * For boys, who generally do not seek out help, mentoring interventions that are more verbally based may not be as useful or helpful
 * Research
 * An early evaluation of Big Sisters found that 36% of matches did not last a year. Among that last, boys’ mentors also appear to be more important to them.
 * Early research distinguished two types of mentoring relationships: instrumental and psychosocial.
 * Instrumental mentoring is problem focused and tends to help individuals reach particular goals. When mentoring programs focus on instrumental mentoring, males may derive more benefit than females
 * Psychosocial mentoring is process oriented and focuses on modifying the personal qualities of the protégé. When mentoring programs focus on psychosocial mentoring, females might benefit more.

Race, Culture, and Ethnicity

 * Conceptual and theoretical
 * Four critical factors in understanding racial and ethnic differences in mentoring processes are the salience of ethnicity, the difference between racial and ethnic identity, the meaning of ethnicity within cultural context, and culture.
 * Failure to specify ethnic identity appropriately leads to poor fit when trying to understand ethnic differences in program process or effectiveness
 * Research
 * The findings for these studies are mixed.
 * One study showed that high school students paired with adult mentors who differed in ethnicity from them were more satisfied with the relationship and more likely to continue the relationship after the program ended if they preserved themselves similar on other dimensions to their mentor.

Mentoring and development

 * Conceptual and theoretical
 * At least four differences must be recognized by programs that are focused on individuals of different ages: relationship content, the protégé’s ability to shape the relationship, the generalizability of mentoring experiences, and youth vulnerability.
 * Research
 * Few mentoring programs have been designed for children, and those designed for adolescents only rarely distinguish between needs of older and younger clients. For example, Grossman and Rhodes found that children aged 10-12 years were less likely to terminate mentoring relationships than those from ages 13-16 years.
 * Findings suggest that harm stems from mentoring relationships that end prematurely, although the exact extent of harm is unknown.
 * One possible explanation for the weak relationship between participation in mentoring programs and outcomes in middle and late adolescence may be that the emotional focus of many programs may not meet the needs of these youth.