Colorado’s Positive Youth Development Movement

1. Colorado’s Positive Youth Development Movement Anne-Marie Braga and Amy Engelman April 30, 2009

2. Objectives • To share: • Colorado’s definition and principles of positive youth development (PYD) • Background and history of Colorado’s PYD movement • Initial summary results of Colorado’s PYD statewide assessment • Next steps for PYD in Colorado

3. “We need to focus on the positives and personal strength skills to help kids overcome risky behaviors and not only focus on educating about the drawbacks of risky behaviors.” ~ Steamboat Springs Youth“We have everything we need. We just need to develop a way to work together to collaborate, decrease duplication and utilize each of our community’s strengths.” ~ Arkansas Valley Youth-Serving Professional“I’m hearing that we are waiting until they get into trouble. Why wait? Any services for the ‘not yet into trouble?’” ~ Colorado Springs Family Advocate

4. What is Positive Youth Development? • PYD is a philosophy, not a program, that guides communities in the way they organize services, opportunities and supports so that young people are engaged and reach their full potential. • It’s a shift in the way we work with youth. Namely, we must engage all youth as resources instead of seeing them as problems to fix.

5. Colorado’s 7 PYD Principles These are the principles that all communities, organizations, families and individuals should incorporate when working with, living with and even thinking about young people. • Strengths-Based – a positive focus on physical and mental health, education, social, vocational, creative, spiritual & civic outcomes • Youth Engagement– youth are connected to themselves and positive peers, adults & communities • Youth-Adult Partnerships – youth work with adults to make decisions for program and policy planning, implementation & evaluation

6. Colorado’s 7 PYD Principles (Cont’d) • Culturally Responsive – people recognize & respond proactively to variations in backgrounds/ cultures, including but not limited to ethnic, racial, linguistic, learning and physical abilities, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and geographic location, to ensure inclusivity and equity. • Encompasses ALL youth(not just youth in risky environments or exhibiting risky behaviors) regardless of the participant base for more targeted prevention, intervention and treatment programs • Collaboration – private and public agencies; state and local; and the community, including families, work together to support youth • Sustainability– long-term planning through funding, capacity building, professional development and evaluation exist for ongoing support of youth

7. Background • Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s adult and youth advisory boards wanted to shift the way we think about young people and focus on their strengths • November 2007 – Creation of the Colorado Youth Development Team (CYDT); Youth and adults brainstormed a vision for Colorado youth

8. Colorado Youth Development Team • Vision: Colorado is a state where all people value and pursue respect, communication and understanding between youth and adults to achieve a unified, healthy and engaged community, so that both adults and youth reach their full potential and lead healthy lives. • Mission: To raise awareness, promote, increase and unify positive youth development efforts and strategies across the State of Colorado.

9. CYDT’s 5 Action Plan Objectives All begin with “In partnership with diverse youth:” • Develop a team of champions made up of youth and adults to develop and implement an action plan to address PYD in Colorado. • Conduct a statewide assessment to determine what supports are necessary and desired of the State and CYDT to increase PYD efforts across Colorado. • Identify and further develop sustainable funding streams to support PYD activities • Promote youth development and infuse concepts and strategies into state and local infrastructure, including policies, regulations, strategic plans and evaluation indicators • Provide training and technical assistance on PYD to build capacity at the state and local levels

10. Colorado Statewide PYD Assessment • Today our focus is on CYDT’s Objective #2 • Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment supported the research through funding from the Maternal Child Health Bureau • Statewide Assessment • Statewide Online Survey • 13 Community Conversations

11. We are Walking the Talk! • The entire assessment process has been guided by a small group of young people from Colorado’s Youth Partnership for Health, the youth advisory board for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment • They provided their insights and feedback from developing the research question, to analyzing the results and drafting the report. • So, a special thanks goes out to them for their time and dedication!

12. Online Survey Highlights • Comprised of 51 questions seeking information on how programs across Colorado are addressing positive youth development • Electronically sent to 400 stakeholders across a variety of disciplines (education, public health, human services, afterschool programs, etc.) • Received 348 completed surveys representing all 64 Colorado counties, including Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute tribal communities!

13. Community Conversations • Essential to hear the voices and stories behind the numbers in the survey. • Held thirteen 2 ½ hour community meetings with 20-60 youth, parents, youth-serving professionals and other interested community members attended each meeting. (Youth and parents received gift cards for their time and travel expenses.) • They were held in 12 areas across Colorado (Alamosa, Aurora, Avon, Colorado Springs, Denver, Durango, Grand Junction, La Junta, Loveland, Pueblo, Steamboat Springs and Yuma). In addition, we conducted a focus group in Aurora with parents who predominantly speak Spanish to ensure that this perspective was heard through the research.

14. Community Conversations Were Held Across Colorado

15. Community Conversations Outline • What does positive youth development mean to you? • How youth-friendly do you feel your community is? • What are some of the strengthsand innovative practices that are going on in your community to make it more youth-friendly? How is your community addressing the 7 PYD principles? • What are some of the challenges or areas of improvement that your community needs to address to be more youth-friendly and address the 7 PYD principles? • What can your community do to tackle these challenges? • How can the State and the CYDT support your community in being more youth-friendly and addressing the 7 PYD principles? • How can your community be part of the CYDT and continue this conversation in making Colorado more youth-friendly?

16. A Sneak Peek at the Draft Findings and Recommendations

17. Findings from the Online Survey • 84 youth advisory boards exist across Colorado • 66% of direct service providers’ and 56% of resource providers’ organizations’ mission, vision, goals and strategies mainly reflect their commitment to positive youth development. • 38% of direct service providers are providing exposure to and discussion of diverse cultural perspectives most of the time • 26% of resource providers and 22% of direct service providers engage youth in their planning and program development most of the time

18. Findings from the Community Conversations • Innovative and exciting PYD efforts exist across Colorado • The most powerful experiences for young people are the ones where they have some level of contribution and decision-making power • Communities expressed that convening parents/caregivers, youth and youth-serving professionals was both unique and powerful. • Youth-serving organizations recognize and desire support in engaging culturally diverse families and youth.

19. Recommendation #1: Support youth and young adults using a strengths-based approach. • Focus and build upon youth’s strengths, skills and protective factors, as opposed to educating mainly on the consequences of the risky behavior. One critical component emphasizes youth-serving professionals increasing their positive attention to youth’s family and cultural assets to encourage celebration of their culture. • Provide physically and emotionally safe spaces for youth. Offer young people opportunities to talk with one another about issues that concern them, including those that make them similar and different. Ensure that a caring adult is involved to guide and facilitate creating a safe environment where issues can be directly addressed with research-based information. • Increase evidence-based programs that focus on youth development, such as peer-mentoring programs, that support students in navigating transitional times or comprehensive sexual health programs that teach young people to respect their bodies, make healthy choices and learn interpersonal communication skills.

20. Recommendation #2: Engage youth, families and communities in a culturally responsive way • Create meaningful opportunities and spaces for diverse youth and families to contribute as equal partners in decision-making processes in organizations and the community. Start out by going to where they are – on their “turf.” Then, find a way to develop a mutually beneficial relationship that values and supports their contributions. • Set youth and families up for successful engagement, partnership and collaboration. Some ways to do this include: • Training youth and families on the skills and background knowledge required of them to participate meaningfully and confidently. • Training decision-makers and power-holders on how to engage youth and families in providing input, how to partner with them and what to do if their “hands are tied” and they are unable to act on the youth or families’ suggestions and ideas. • Creating the space and time for building diverse cultural relationships and having open and reflective cultural conversations as a group to learn about each individual, as well as how to improve individual, organizational and community cultural responsiveness.

21. Recommendation #2 (Cont’d): Engage youth, families and communities in a culturally responsive way • Involve young people in the development ofprograms through focus groups, internships, apprenticeships, as consultants and throughout the entire process of program assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. • Honor and support the myriad of learning styles and interests of youth. Young people are problem solvers and are motivated by their own interests and concerns. Inquire about what they are and utilize them in your organization’s planning. • Support educators in allowing their classes to be more student-driven so that students are more engaged and invested in their education. • Support and guide families who are new to the education system in the U.S., or have had their own negative experience, in supporting their children’s schooling.

22. Recommendation #3: Develop policies that “stick,” in spite of the ever-changing political, social and economic climate • Create policies with adequate funding to support low student-teacher ratio classrooms and activities in schools, afterschool programs and community-based organizations to allow for supportive relationships and student-driven processes. • Create policies, and possibly tax incentives, to entice businesses to support and offer community-wide and affordable youth and family events and programs. • Develop policies that recognize the changes in 21st Century family culture (e.g., schools could expand the school day by formally offering and including afterschool opportunities for all students on its campuses).

23. Recommendation #4: Enhance funding strategies to ensure that PYD principles and policies “stick” • Increase funding opportunities for: • Developing positive, fun options and supportive environments for all youth to engage in as a primary, universal prevention and youth development strategy. • Community-wide cultural trainings, conversations and celebrations to address racism and other forms of oppression; • Local, affordable and accessible behavioral health prevention and intervention services; • Training and technical assistance for positive youth development strategies and practices; and • Developing safe and engaging places for youth to hangout at night and on the weekends. • Funding entities should require that grantees: • Provide evidence-based programming that demonstrates the promotion of inclusivity and equity; and • Offer healthy foods for school, afterschool and community programs and events.

24. Recommendation #4 (Cont’d): Enhance funding strategies to incorporate positive youth development strategies • Organize the funding systems to the extent possible to: • House all funding opportunities in one place; • Simplify and standardize the administrative and reporting processes as well as eligibility and referral requirements; • Provide technical assistance in the grant writing process, especially to communities that have few resources to be competitive on their own; • Incorporate positive youth development language, principles, strategies and evaluation into grant and funding guidance; and • Provide feedback to denied proposals for improvement purposes.

25. Recommendation #5: Improve coordination efforts to maximize resources and program effectiveness • Develop a coordination system for local and state positive youth development advocates of all fields and levels of professionalism to share, discuss and leverage resources, including funding opportunities. • Create a youth-friendly website for outreach and collaboration across communities. • Develop partnerships with Colorado Department of Transportation and local public transportation providers to address the lack of transportation that disenfranchises youth across the state from engaging in positive, community opportunities. • Connect with local positive youth development champions in your area and beyond via the Colorado Youth Development social network Ning http://coloradoyouthdevelopment.ning.com!

26. Next Steps for Colorado’s PYD Report • A comprehensive draft report that integrates the survey and community conversation research was distributed to community conversation participants via email. • Now incorporating their feedback • Final report will be available for distribution in June 2009 and available at www.healthyyouthcolorado.org

27. Next Steps for Colorado’s PYD Movement • Continue to implement CYDT action plan via 5 committees/networks: • OutreachCommittee – Ensure CYDT is inclusive of diverse state and local, public and private partners, families and youth across Colorado in all CYDT efforts. • Research/Evaluation Committee – Develop measures to evaluate the CYDT’s effectiveness and impact as well as support organizations in conducting positive youth development evaluations

28. Next Steps for Colorado’s PYD Movement 3. Funding Committee – Leverage sustainable funding to support local and state positive youth development efforts. 4. PYD Infusion Committee – Develop and advocate for positive youth development policies and language to be utilized across the state in all systems that work with youth and families. 5. Training & Technical Assistance Committee – Provide communities with state-of-the-art and localized training to enhance their positive youth development practice.

29. For questions or more information, please contact us!Amy EngelmanColorado Youth Development Team CoordinatorCenter for Systems Integration3222 Tejon StreetDenver, CO 80211Phone: (303) 455-1740Email: amy@csi-policy.orgAnne-Marie BragaDirector of Adolescent Health InitiativesColorado Department of Public Health and Environment4300 Cherry Creek Drive SouthDenver, CO 80246-1530Phone: (303) 692-2946Email: anne-marie.braga@state.co.us