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Outreach Ministries: Youth Program Development
Concerned about young people in your community? Do you think there are not enough options for youth who need special support? Would you like to see more opportunities provided for all young people? The steps below are designed to help you decide how you can most effectively translate your concern into positive support for young people in your community.
Assess What You Have To Offer
Each of us brings different skills to the efforts to help young people. A person with strong political organizing skills, for example, might play a different role than someone who likes to work with computers. Both roles are valuable, and local youth agencies can use the help of people with a variety of skills and interests.
So, think about what you like and do best. Then, make an inventory of your interests and skills, and assess how much time you have to give. Be realistic about the time and resources you can commit. If you prefer to work one-on-one and can only offer 1 hour a week to a youth agency, you might be better off tutoring than launching a public education campaign.
Step 3: Link to Others Working To Improve Youth Policy and Practice
After conducting your community assessment, you may think that something else should be done for young people. Talk to people who are likely to share your concerns and who can make a difference:- Arrange to meet with the executive director of the local youth agency. Express your concerns or interest constructively and offer your help. Explore how you might work most effectively with the agency to improve services and expand opportunities for youth.
- Talk to local elected or appointed officials during private meetings or when the public is invited to share their concerns at open forums. Check your neighborhood newspaper or community bulletin boards for notices of such events. Or call your local government administrative office to ask about community forums.
- Write to your State legislator or your national representatives. Tell them what you know about the needs of youth in your community and suggest positive ways they can help.
Step 4: Promote a Youth Development Approach
Today, most community leaders and youth service professionals are working together to implement a youth development approach to supporting young people. This approach suggests that helping all young people achieve their full potential is the best way to prevent them from becoming involved in risky behavior. Youth development strategies focus on giving young people the chance to exercise leadership, build skills, and help their communities. Further, the youth development approach acknowledges both that youth are resources in rebuilding communities and that helping young people requires strengthening families and communities.Through the youth development approach, communities also are trying to streamline services to young people. You can help the directors of local youth agencies focus community attention on the needs of young people and effective methods for addressing those needs in the following ways:
- Form a group of community leaders to support the advocacy efforts of existing agencies working on behalf of young people. This group can help such agencies advocate for improved youth policy, both locally and nationally, and encourage sufficient funding to provide all young people with the services and opportunities they need to move successfully to adulthood.
- Contact local media outlets and editorial boards to share positive stories about young people. Notify them about emerging youth-related issues that merit public attention. Encourage other community leaders, especially those who work directly with youth or families, to do the same.
- Stay informed about national and local legislation that may affect young people. Work with youth service agency staff and community members to educate others about how proposed legislation may negatively or positively influence how you support youth locally.
- Organize a pool of volunteers to help local youth agencies. Coordinate their services, such as providing transportation or setting up agency recordkeeping databases. Then meet with representatives of all the local youth service agencies to discuss how they can access your services, as needed.
- Work with community leaders to set up a local youth development fund to which community members can donate money. Then make those resources available exclusively to youth agencies to fill gaps in operational or program funding.