How Do We Engage Young People?

Engaging young people in the programs youth organizations offer is easier said than done. And the reality is, the fact that youth simply “show up” doesn’t mean they’re invested or engaged in the activities. So how do we create better opportunities for young people to really get engaged in? Better engagement ultimately leads to better results. Here are some ideas to jump start your youth engagement approach:

• Be youth-centered, not just outcomes-centered. Build relationships, and respect young people’s relationships with their peers and families. While building relationships, help build futures by planning for what happens when they’re not at your center or program.
• Pay special attention to how your center’s programs coordinate with each other. Tailor your services so they’re accessible and allow young people to pursue their goals across interests.
• Encourage personal choice and social responsibility in the young people you work with.
• Get to know what the young person’s support safety-net looks like; who are the key people who make a difference in his or her life?
• No matter what the program, focus on assisting young people achieve greater self-sufficiency and confidence.

Some of the tips above are adapted from the Transition to Independence Process (TIP), developed in a partnership with the University of South Florida and the Department of Child & Family Studies. Click here for many more resources about the findings.

MCCOY Hires Staff to Focus on Supporting Youth Workers & Youth-Serving Organizations

Working with youth is one of the most important jobs there is. Professional youth workers help young people become healthy and productive adolescents and grow into adulthood by focusing on assets and building caring relationships. For over fifteen years, Marion County Commission on Youth (MCCOY) has provided a wide range of learning and networking opportunities for youth development professionals and youth-serving organizations. To continue drive this effort MCCOY has hired Shaunette Byers, Community Initiatives Coordinator, to lead both the Learning Network and Youth Program Quality Improvement/Assessment (YPQA/I) initiatives.

Read full article.

Everyday Champion: Wanda Spann Roddy

This story is a part of our Everyday Champions series. Helping youth succeed takes commitment and action from our whole community. Everyday Champions are people who are committed and who act in small and big ways to support youth in central Indiana. Do you know someone who you think would make a great Champion for Youth? Click here to get started.

While the community has focused on reducing teen pregnancy, the fact remains that many teens in our community do get pregnant. Future Promises educates and advocates for pregnant and parenting teens, improving their health and life outcomes.

What is your profession or vocation? By education, I am a pediatric/adolescent nurse practitioner. After many years being a nurse, then becoming a nurse practitioner, I have had the great opportunity to take the knowledge and experience and my love for adolescent reproductive health to develop a comprehensive program for pregnant and parenting teens called “Future Promises – A Program for pregnant and parenting teens”.

How are you an Everyday Champion for Youth?
While teen pregnancy prevention advocates continue to place much needed attention on reducing teen pregnancy and teen birth rates, little emphasis has been placed on providing services for teens that are already pregnant and/or who have become parents. In an effort to address this gap, everyday I work hard at improving services, educating and advocating for the special needs of pregnant and parenting teens in order to improve their health and life outcomes and those of their children.

What impact do you hope to make on youth?
I hope that the work that I do, the young lives that I touch – even just everyday – demonstrates to youth that there are adults in this world that sees a promising future for them and will advocate and support them, either directly or indirectly, as they work to reach their dreams and their goals.

What’s the one thing that you wish an adult had told you when you were a young person? As I recall, when I was younger, I surrounded myself with positive people that gave me a lot of good advise and support. So I don’t know of any one thing that I wished an adult had told me. However, the two things that was said to me that I have never forgotten and continues to nudge me are

An 8th grade English teacher said – “You will never be good in English – not like your sister”

The Nursing School Dean told me that “… maybe you should change your major because you aren’t going to make it through nursing school or be a good nurse”.

It’s a good thing that I didn’t take to heart either of those negative comments –thanks to the supportive people around me and my courage and determination to prove them wrong. I frequently write long papers – mostly grants and make many public presentations with excellent feedback. I successfully graduated from nursing school, became a great nurse, received a graduate nursing degree with honors and have won awards for the work that I do. But yet those comments still haunt me 30 to 35 years later. Adults never know the impact of what they say to young people – so it should always be positive and show support.

What do you want to do next to support youth?
As I prepare for my next phase of life – retirement – I hope to spend these next few years preparing myself to be able to train others on developing youth programs that work. I have learned a lot over the past 30 years on youth development and program development. I have had lots of success developing a wide range of youth programs, particularly the “Future Promises Program” and I want to give young professionals who desire to work with youth, the skills and training that I have acquired that has made a difference in the lives of youth.

Closing of Youth Emergency Services (YES) Leaves a Gaping Hole in Central Indiana’s Early Intervention & Prevention Efforts

By Shanna Malott

On December 31, 2009 a valuable service in Marion County will be closing its doors; what will happen to the children, youth and families who will no longer be able to walk through those doors?

Youth Emergency Services (YES) provides what YES Program Director John Kennedy calls, "pre-system, in person, crisis care, twenty-four/seven, without an appointment, adjudication or diagnosis!" These services are available to provide comfort and safety to children and families during crisis or to intervene before the situation becomes a crisis. Now who will provide these services? Department of Child Services (DCS) Director James Payne is adamant that DCS will pick up the ball and step in to provide the services that have been provided by YES for the past 11 years. What Director Payne fails to recognize is that YES equals Early Intervention and Prevention while DCS equals Treatment. YES is there to prevent children and families from entering the child welfare system or to minimize their involvement with the system as much as possible. DCS IS the system and is meant to provide treatment after the crisis. Children and families historically do not trust the system... but they trust YES! Read full article.

Video a video about how Youth Emergency Services works in the lives of children in our community.

If you would like to contact DCS about these changes, you can write to: Indiana Department of Child Services, Attn, James Payne, Director,402 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204.
Go to the DCS website for addition contact info.