Development of Youth Programs for Skills


Youth development involves the growth process which all young people go through to meet their basic personal and social needs and build skills and competencies.  People, programs and institutions involved in youth development are all working towards positive results in the lives of youth. 


Adolescence is a time of great change.  Existing out-of-school programs are designed to catch the interest of the youth.  They are diverse in focus and varied in structure, and range from sports teams to drop-in recreation centers, from museum apprenticeships to mentoring relationships between an individual teen and an adult.  “What distinguishes youth development programs from the vast array of ameliorative services is their emphasis on supporting the normal socialization and healthy development of young people.  If the entire spectrum of youth services can be thought of as a continuum, youth development services would be at one end and social control or incarceration would be at the other.  In between these ends of the continuum would fall primary prevention (of problems such as substance abuse, adolescent pregnancy, juvenile crime, and the like); short-term intervention; and long-term treatment.  While some youth development organizations may offer some prevention and intervention programs, their focus is on promoting normal development; providing environments and relationships that nurture and challenge young people; building their competencies; and treating them as resources.  Many measures were taken in this regards by stakeholders and they have benefited immensely.  The advantages are enormous while the disadvantages are at a minimum because it has improved the productivity of youth as well as the community. 


The Canadian government, for instance, have instituted a Youth Employment Strategy Program (YES) to help young people.  They help by providing programs to get information and gain skills, work experience and abilities the youth would need to make a successful transition to the workplace.  Under YES, Service Canada offers the following three programs:


1.    Career Focus provides funding for employers to help post-secondary graduates obtain career-related work opportunities in Canada to support their development of advanced skills, to help them make career-related links to the job market, and to assist them in becoming leaders in their field.


2.    Skills Link provides funding to community organizations to help youth facing barriers to employment – such as single parents, Aboriginal youth, young persons with disabilities, recent immigrants, youth living in rural and remote areas and high school dropouts – develop the broad range of skills, knowledge and work experience they need to participate in the job market.


3.    Summer Work Experience provides wage subsidies to employers to create summer employment for secondary and post-secondary students, and support the operation of summer employment offices.


Youth Awareness, funded under Employment Insurance (EI) Part II, complements the Youth Employment Strategy. (Service Canada. Youth Employment Strategy Programs.  http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/epb/yi/yep/newprog/yesprograms.shtml, retrieved 18 April, 2011.)”


The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ Plan 2009-2010 outlined their commitment to youth membership services, support derived from the constitutionally mandated functions and decisions of the Federation’s governance in field of youth development, youth leadership and capacity building are reinforced through activities and platforms planned in 2009-2010.  The membership services are supplemented by the program services developed to encourage and facilitate avenues for active youth participation and cooperation in achieving the Global Agenda goals.  The aim of the program is to encourage more young people to join the Movement and to enable them to engage in both meaningful services on a local and global level, as well as in decision making processes.  (Youth Development Program.  Plan 2009-2010 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.  https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ifrc.org%2Fdocs%2Fappeals%2Fannual09%2FMAA0000609pyth.pdf, retrieved 18 April, 2011.  1.)”


National Youth-Serving Organizations are the largest single category of youth development programs for early teens.  This includes 4-H, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, YWCA, Girls Incorporated, Camp Fire, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and Junior Achievement.  “Most hold a commitment to promoting prosocial values and building a variety of life skills (i.e. leadership, problem solving, and decision making), and most rely on small groups and trained leaders, both paid and volunteer, for program delivery.  Most adopt a pedagogy that involves hands-on education, cooperative learning, and age-appropriate programming strategies.  Grass roots youth organizations do a good job of reaching low-income adolescents.  They have limited budgets so they often focus on a limited amount of services which may include life-skills training, substance-abuse education, counseling, crisis intervention, community service, academic tutoring, communications skills, peer counseling, sex education, job readiness and career awareness, health education, physical fitness and sports, arts programs, and safe havens.  These groups are powerful resources which contribute to the healthy development of young people, especially those who live in high-risk environments.  (Need and Opportunity:  Youth Development Programs for Children (USA Experience).  Abuchi, Basil Benjamin.  https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.menacpi.org%2FCPI%2Fuploads2009%2FALP%2FBasil_Benjamin.doc, retrieved 18 April, 2011.  1-10.)”


 


 



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