Innovative State Strategies To Promote Youth Development

A Forum — September 20, 2002

Co-sponsored by the National Governors’ Association (NGA)

Today’s forum was introduced by Thomas MacLellan, Policy Analyst, Center for Best Practices, National Governors’ Association (NGA). MacLellan first described NGA’s Youth Policy Network and its goals. The Network works with eleven states—Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Wyoming—to strengthen state capacity for policy leadership within and across youth service delivery systems with a special emphasis on workforce investment systems, young welfare recipients, and promoting youth development. In particular, the Network assists state teams in building effective and sustainable youth service delivery systems. State teams are made up of a cross-section of individuals from governors’ offices and youth serving agencies, including representatives from workforce, welfare, education, juvenile justice, and social service agencies. Although team composition varies by state, each represents a broad constituency of youth serving interests.

MacLellan described the state role in promoting youth development policies as helping to coordinate statewide efforts, learning from research-based practice, determining acceptable outcomes and fostering collaboration between state systems. He added that policies fostered by the Network are guided by youth development principles that are asset-based, holistic, developmentally appropriate, inclusive, and to involve youth in planning and implementation. Policies should also build on and complement human services, early childhood development, and family strengthening efforts.

Panelists from three of the Network states—Massachusetts, Missouri, and New York—presented their approaches to fostering youth development.

Sally A. Herrick, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Youth Development, New York State Office of Children & Family Services, described New York’s promotion of youth development “since World War II” and explained that currently every city, town and village in New York gets youth development funds through a county structure of 105 youth bureaus. According to Herrick says, “Youth development is seen as an agenda in New York.” One of the reasons is the involvement of young people in every aspect of planning for youth development. In 1995, Governor Pataki began to recognize young people as valuable citizens of the state and to approach them as problem solvers. Young people were therefore involved in nine regional summits leading to development of a 1997 blueprint (currently being updated) on state and government action for youth development. A 50-young person advisory board called Partners for Children was created. Their conference, on health related issues aimed at state agency staff, was described by Herrick as “one of the most powerful conferences” she ever attended.

Quentin Wilson, Cabinet Secretary to Governor Holden of Missouri, spoke about how Missouri's “managing for results” process—including goals for education, health, teen pregnancy and alcohol abuse reduction—relates to and helps guide the state toward a focus on youth issues. The Managing for Results education outcome is most related to youth development. While Missouri children seem to do well in elementary school, success drops off in later school years. To improve educational outcomes for youth, Missouri works in partnership with non-profit organizations and youth themselves. In February 2002, Missouri held a state-wide youth summit and in June 2002 the state announced plans to create a Governor’s Youth Cabinet of 20 members to help advise state policymakers on youth issues. So many applications were received (280) that the size of the cabinet was expanded to 40 members with an additional 40 members of a Youth Service Council which focuses on volunteerism.

Wilson presented the lessons learned by Missouri in their efforts to increase youth engagement:

• have a young person serve as the lead salesperson;
• expect more, and you’ll get it;
• be selective, but expect to be surprised at the quality of applications;
• prepare to train both policymakers and youth in how to engage; and
• allocate a full-time staff member to the initiative.

Wilson ended by saying “youth development is a fundamental transformation in Missouri, not just an initiative that stands out there on its own.”

Glenn Daly, Director of the Office of Youth Development at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, is interested in the relationships between systems that relate to youth development and how to stitch these groups together. One reason for a lack of interagency coordination to date is that Massachusetts does not have a statewide policy or common goals for youth. A draft Statewide Policy on Youth has been created to address this lack of policy. Several youth policies have been reviewed to find the one considered most effective for Massachusetts. One way of thinking has been to focus on five key youth resources, along the lines of America’s Promise’s key resources: Health, Relationships, Safe Places, Skills, and Civic Participation.

Three specific youth development action areas were identified in Massachusetts:

• The state Health and Human Services Department was not communicating well with the state Labor Department so stronger connections were forged: funds from each agency were combined for capacity-building grants. The state team is also looking to gather data on how many youth are benefited by state agencies with some responsibility for young people.
• The need for foster care improvement lead to the formation of a Foster Youth Advisory Board which advised, among other things, state college tuition waivers for foster youth that are now in place.
• Attention to domestic violence as it affects youth resulted in an awareness campaign, including a statewide teen dating violence campaign.

Questions from the forum audience dealt with two primary subjects: What do the young people really want? and How inclusive are the efforts at youth involvement? Presentors indicated that youth enjoy being heard. They are very interested in job opportunities, education and training but want to know as much about how they can help as what can be done to help them. There have been efforts to involve youth with different backgrounds such as young adults who have been through mental health systems, youth with mental disabilities, foster care children and young people who have been incarcerated.

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