Housekeeping & Introductions 

In the Chat Box please introduce yourself:

• What is your role and location

• What brings you to the webinar today?

• What questions do you have?

1
The Benefits and Importance of Using Youth 

Participatory Action Research with Populations 

such as Youth with Incarcerated Parents

September 21, 2020

2
PURPOSE

of 

TODAY’S 

SESSION

• To highlight the benefits of youth participatory action research 

(YPAR), particularly for individuals working with COIP, as a 

valuable method of:

• Engaging youth as full partners and teaching youth valuable 

skills;

• Learning the answers to questions and topics youth deem 

critical; 

• Disseminating the results; and 

• Applying that knowledge to policy and practice.

• To share the experiences of a youth who has participated in YPAR.

• To emphasize the importance of a well-trained facilitator that 

leverages developmental relationships with youth participants 

through the YPAR process.

3
AGENDA

• Overview of the federal Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs

• ASPE– 5 minutes

• Fausto Lopez, Senior Technical Assistance Consultant, AIR – 10 minutes

• YPAR overview

• Camisha Harrison

• Personal experience with YPAR – 15 minutes

• Dr. G. Roger Jarjoura, Principal Researcher, AIR – 15 minutes

• Mentorship: Developmental Relationships

• Fausto Lopez, Senior Technical Assistance Consultant, AIR– 15 minutes

• Transformative Social Emotional Learning: Considerations, training, 

implementation

• Camisha Harrison

• Advice for adults and researchers

• Final thoughts – 5 minutes

• Q&A – 20 minutes

• Conclusion and next steps – 5 minutes

4

▪ Executive Order 13459 signed by President Bush in 2008 - Improving the 

Coordination and Effectiveness of Youth Programs

▪ Support enhanced collaboration to improve outcomes for youth

▪ Identify and disseminate evidence-based strategies that support youth

▪ Create a federal interagency website on youth ages 10-24

▪ 21+ federal departments and agencies are partners

▪ Pathways for Youth: Strategic Plan for Federal 

Collaboration (2016)

Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP)

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▪ Partnership between the IWGYP and the Department of Justice’s Office of 

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 

▪ Examples of Resources for COIP on youth.Gov

▪ Webinars (e.g., Model Arrest Policy)

▪ Tip Sheets for Teachers and Adults who work with COIP; Incarcerated Parents; 

Staff at correctional facilities; and Youth

▪ Guides for Incarcerated Parents and their families 

▪ Youth Voices and Profiles

▪ Research summarizing the impact of incarceration

▪ COIP community of practice listserv

Children of Incarcerated Parents (COIP) Site on youth.Gov

7
AGENDA: 

• Discussion of where we are and where we 

plan to go 

• Feedback from the group on the documents 

sent (particularly the second document)

• Next steps including ways to disseminate 

this information

youth.gov/COIP

8
Roger Jarjoura, Ph.D.

Principal Researcher

Fausto A. Lopez M.Ed.

Senior TA Consultant & 

Content Area 

Specialist

Camisha Harrison

Youth with 

experience in 

YPAR
Let’s find out who’s attending today

Please select your role.

• Researcher

• Educator

• Practitioner

• Policy Maker

• Other
YPAR Overview

11
Have you ever participated on or facilitated a 

YPAR process or project?

• Yes

• No
Youth Participatory Action Research 

YPAR.Youth-led or Youth-driven participatory research programs (YPAR) 

where young people are trained to:

• identify major concerns in their communities, 

• conduct research to understand the nature of the problems, and 

• take leadership in influencing policies and decisions. 

In addition to improving community settings and resources, the YPAR 

process is intended to yield developmental benefits for the young people 

who participate (Abraczinskas & Zarret, 2020; Ozer et al, 2018).

13
Youth Participatory Action Research 

YPAR projects provide participants with opportunities to:

• Expand their knowledge and contribution

• Develop critical thinking and empathy 

• Develop interest and inspire action

• Evaluate and generate insights based on direct experiences 

14
Youth Participatory Action Research : Key Principles 

1. Inquiry based. Youth investigate one or more topics by collecting 

information, data, and evidence

2. Participatory. Youth share power with adults by making 

choices/decisions about the topic, methods or actions, project 

planning, results dissemination, or social action

3. Transformative. The program results in a project, product, or 

policy to change knowledge and practices to improve the lives of 

youth

15
YPAR Benefits

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• Relationships between youth and adults

• Community involvement and contribution

• Autonomy and capacities for leadership

• Academic Enrichment 

• Social Determinants
17

• Social-emotional skills

• Motivation

• Leadership

• Prosocial behaviors

• Academic achievement

• Conduct problems

• Emotional distress

• Drug use 

Increases Students’ Capacity to Learn
YPAR Methods

18

• Needs Assessment

• Literature Reviews

• Surveys

• Interviews

• Focus groups

• Field Notes (e.g. journal entries)

• Photovoice

• Analysis 

• Action (e.g. culminating project) 
YPAR Highlights

19
YPAR: 

Personal 

Experience 

20
Mentorship: Developmental Relationships

21
Developmental Relationships 

22

YPAR puts the power in the hands of youth. Success requires that youth feel 

empowered to understand their own value, understand power dynamics, and 

are supported by positive youth-adult partnerships.

The Developmental Relationship Framework (Search Institute, 2020) provides 

guidance on how to build and sustain relationships with young people.

1. Express Care 

2. Challenge Growth

3. Provide Support

4. Share Power

5. Expand Possibilities 
23

Developmental Relationships 
Source: https://www.search-institute.org/developmental-relationships/learning-developmental-relationships/

Ratings by Youth on Relationships 

with Teachers

Ratings by Youth on Relationships with 

Leaders of Youth Programs

24
Ratings by Youth on Relationships 

with Program Staff Trained in 

Developmental Relationships

Ratings by Youth on Relationships 

with Mentors Trained in 

Developmental Relationships

25
An Example: Youth as Resources

Impact on Youth:

• Sense of accountability and civic 

engagement

• Improved life skills

• Sense of pride and acceptance

• Capacity to care

• New ability to partner with and 

relate to adults

• New hope for the future 26
Transformative Approach

27
Applied Learning & Skill Development

28

YPAR offers a promising approach for building Social Emotional Learning 

(SEL) skills. YPAR projects are aligned to SEL because they help students 

develop pro-social relationships with peers and adults through the active 

collaboration and problem solving.

YPAR consists of students engaging as co-researchers and decision makers in 

some or all stages of the research cycle (Fine & Torre, 2004). This includes:

• Identifying a social problem impacting their own personal lives

• Collecting and analyzing data to understand the root causes

• Engaging in action strategies to address the problem (Langhout & Thomas, 

2010).
Transformative SEL 

Transformative SEL explicitly addresses power, privilege, prejudice, 

discrimination, social justice, empowerment, and self-determination and 

should help all youth build awareness of privilege and bias, address racism, 

and develop the ability to navigate diverse settings and expectations in 

culturally competent ways and work effectively in diverse teams (Jagers, 

Rivas-Drake, & Williams, 2019)

29
Social and Emotional Competencies

30

Jagers et al, 2029; CASEL, 2012.

Self-Awareness

Understanding one’s 

emotions, personal 

and social identities, 

goals, and values.

SelfManagement

Skills and attitudes 

that facilitate the 

ability to regulate 

emotions and 

behaviors.

Social 

Awareness

Having the critical 

historical grounding 

to take the 

perspective of those 

with the same and 

different cultural 

backgrounds and 

appropriately 

empathize and feel 

compassion.

Relationship 

Skills

Interpersonal 

sensibilities needed 

to establish and 

maintain healthy and

rewarding 

relationships and 

navigate diverse 

settings. 

Responsible 

Decision 

Making

Knowledge, skills, 

and attitudes needed 

to make caring, 

constructive choices 

about personal and 

group behaviors 

across, diverse, social 

interactions.
Promising Approaches

31

Efforts such as transformative SEL, which seek more equitable educational 

experiences for all young people and can support these efforts through:
Implications

32

Future research would benefit from examining:

• The role and preparation of adult facilitator of the YPAR process

• Application of key principles, best practices, and engagement strategies

• Potential growth in skills and competencies prior to and after engaging in 

YPAR (e.g. leadership, civics, identity development) 

• Connections between culturally responsive practices and social 

and emotional development

• Linkages between developing a social justice lens and the exhibition of prosocial skills
Advice for Adults and Researchers

33
Please share what questions you have about 

YPAR that you would want answered before 

embarking on a new YPAR project.
Question & Answers

35
Next Steps

• Please visit www.youth.gov/coip for additional resources and to join 

the join the COIP community of practice listserv

• Information regarding upcoming YPAR funding opportunity will be 

posted

• This webinar recording and slides will be posted

• Quick feedback form

youth.gov/COIP

36
References

37

Abraczinskas, M., & Zarrett, N. (2020). Youth Participatory Action Research for Health Equity: Increasing Youth Empowerment and Decreasing 

Physical Activity Access Inequities in Under‐resourced Programs and Schools. American Journal of Community Psychology.

Anselma, M., Chinapaw, M., & Altenburg, T. (2020). Not Only Adults Can Make Good Decisions, We as Children Can Do That as Well” Evaluating 

the Process of the Youth-Led Participatory Action Research ‘Kids in Action. International journal of environmental research and

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Ballonoff Suleiman, A., Ballard, P. J., Hoyt, L. T., & Ozer, E. J. (2019). Applying a developmental lens to youth-led participatory action research: 

A critical examination and integration of existing evidence. Youth & Society, 0044118X1983787

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learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. 

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