Building on Success:
The Scaling Up of the Youth Voices Project in Philadelphia

A Forum — October 4, 2002

With The University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia (UCCP), Temple University, Youth Empowerment Services (YES), and Jobs For the Future (JFF)

Successful youth programs that seek replication on a larger scale must move with care or risk failure. Insufficient planning and flexibility concerning replication can lead to failed policy efforts, and frustrated practitioners, policymakers, and youth. Issues of “going to scale” are being addressed by Youth VOICES, a relatively new and university-based, youth civic engagement project serving in- and out-of-school youth. VOICES receives funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts, The William Penn Foundation, The Philadelphia Foundation, and the Department of Labor under the Youth Opportunities Grant. The project involves multiple stake-holders including local Temple University, several Youth Opportunity Centers, Youth Empowerment Services (a youth-serving and diploma granting organization), several charter and Beacon schools, and a number of community-based organizations. VOICES contains a variety of programmatic components including: curricula development and instruction; project based learning; youth- and community-driven research; integration of youth projects with larger community projects and organizations; recruitment, training and support of college students; and mentoring of youth by college students. The diversity of partners and programmatic components help make VOICES attractive to a variety of young people in college, not in college, and those in youth-serving organizations.

Barbara Ferman, Professor of Political Science from Temple University and the University Community Collaborative of Philadelphia (UCCP) is leading UCCP efforts, in partnership with Youth Empowerment Services (YES), to take Youth VOICES to scale. Their process includes addressing a broad spectrum of questions to be considered as a program goes to scale. These questions include: How do we adjust the program to accommodate for local variation? What core principles of should be maintained as aspects of the program design that cannot change? What type of institutional infrastructure is necessary to house the various programmatic components and organizational partners? Should this be a slow growth process, or should expansion progress more rapidly as needed? The partnership is receiving help from Jobs For the Future (JFF), a national intermediary organization with experience in identifying promising programs and helping them go to scale

Youth VOICES is a collaborative process that integrates youth from 14-21 years of age who are in school and out-of-school. Through the program, youth who do not attend the university become familiar with the university, its students, professors, and the university process. Through the involvement of the university, the program has access to university professors who provide critical feedback. Catherine Cavanaugh, Associate Director of Youth Civic Engagement for UCCP explained that the program gives youth a chance to become effective citizens and meaningful members of the community. During a six-week summer academy, the collaborative group of students works to identify and define an issue of interest to their peers and the community. Once the concept for a project or activity has been determined, the group proceeds to develop a strategy, determine timelines, build partnerships with community-based organizations, businesses, and others. Selecting, developing, and working on the project gives youth a reason to focus on the community, to reflect on what is going on around them, and attempt to make a positive impact.

One group of youth surveyed peers, parents, and community members to get a better understanding of what motivates and influences teen decisions regarding sexual activity. Findings from their survey were used to create a booklet aimed at challenging their peers to think critically about peer pressure and media influence. Summer Academy participants presented the booklet to their peers as part of a series of workshops planned and delivered with help from a community partner. West Philadelphia youth chose a cross-generational project. Youth interviewed both young and old people in a neighborhood to discover stereotypes held by each group for the other. Armed with new knowledge, the youth performed a variety show for both groups to expose the stereotypes. Another group worked on a project that explored the interaction of youth people with local police. The youth discovered a police barrio project and provided a workshop for peers that employed role playing to highlight the importance of police in the community.

Michael Sack, education director of Youth Empowerment Services (YES), described his experience with UCCP and Youth VOICES. YES was approached by UCCP to develop a youth civic engagement component to the VOICES program. “As the model is fluid, it was also evolving as we got involved. We were co-developers of the project, rather than being handed an initiative to implement. We’re a diploma granting program, so it was important that the project have an academic component. Before we became involved, we checked out UCCP and were aware of their reputation. We had to make sure it was a project that was compatible with our program,” said Sack. YES contributes to the VOICES Project by providing a staff person, and recruiting and enrolling youth in the program. a community-based organization’s perspective, it is important to recognize that new initiatives take time to develop. There are check points to go through and a constant effort toward a building of trust between groups working on the project. According to Sack, the key to stabilizing the project was a built in flexibility. “The out-of-school youth involved in the project are highly remedial and require a certain amount of assistance. They do not follow a linear course and we had to feel comfortable that the university understood this,” said Sack.

Sue Goldberger, Director of New Ventures is responsible for growing and managing a new body of work for Jobs For the Future (JFF): creating social business ventures to expand economic opportunity for low-income youth and adults. Goldberger identified Youth VOICES as a promising practice. “They have a change strategy, engage universities, and are ready to address policy implications,” said Goldberger. Through their change strategy, explained Goldberger, Youth VOICES builds social capital by affecting five key constituencies: they train young people in civic skills, utilize the skills of college students who serve as Summer Academy instructors and special project managers, give universities a role in which to engage in the community, encourage CBOs to give more serious thought to work that integrates with academic skills, connect with the VOICES academies, and embrace youth as a positive resource; and work with schools who teach young people to become true civically engaged leaders. She sees universities as the toughest group to involve in VOICES. “How do you appeal to the university in a cost analysis? One way is to remind that community service and community involvement is very important to young people who chose to attend university.

Goldberger shared suggestions that can help a program go to scale. Standardize a package and make it solid, and well structured so that it is appealing to universities. Prepare the program to be easy to promote and market to undergraduates, and make it financially viable and sustainable. Provide or identify funding for the university to plug into. Get work study funding, partner with nationally-based groups who can provide access to a network that can promote the university. Consider approaches to get universities interested in your program. Think about a redefinition of community service. Look to adjust teacher training. For example, what does it mean to train teachers to help students transition into adulthood? To break the barrier between a university and the community, look to change the attitude of leaders within the university. Have patience with this process. Cultivate relationships with university staff you feel you can build a relationship with. Develop a high degree of consistency in your communication with them.

Panelists offered tips to sustain youth involvement in a project or program. Provide stipends and keep in contact with the youth in the program. “We make a lot of phone calls, especially with youth new to the program.” Scaling up takes a time commitment. Take advantage of work done by youth in the recent past and build upon it, rather than discarding work done. If you want to inspire youth, ask yourself if you are willing to go the whole mile. Consider your ability to maintain a steady commitment to your involvement in the project.

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