Developing Youth Competencies: The Impact of Program Quality

As youth programs have continued to evolve over the last 100 years, the field of program evaluation has advanced significantly in an effort to differentiate which youth program components are necessary to promote positive youth development ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "ISBN" : "0309661560", "ISSN" : "0196-206X", "abstract" : "Adolescence is the pivotal period between childhood and adulthood. It is the time when youth need to acquire the attitudes, competencies, values, and social skills that will carry them forward to successful adulthood. It is also the time when they need to avoid choices and behaviors that will limit their future potential. Parents and families play a crucial role in helping young people navigate this phase. In the past, schools, neighborhoods, and communities extended and enhanced positive development and supported young people. Indeed, an enduring image of American life is the participation of neighbors and community members watching out for children, taking responsibility for their safety and well-being, and helping to steer them in the right direction. In recent decades, a number of social forces have changed both the landscape of family and community life and the expectations for young people. A combination of factors have weakened the informal community support once available to young people: high rates of family mobility; greater anonymity in neighborhoods, where more parents are at work and out of the home and neighborhood for long periods, and in schools, which have become larger and much more heterogeneous; extensive media exposure to themes of violence and heavy use and abuse of drugs and alcohol; and, in some cases, the deterioration and disorganization of neighborhoods and schools as a result of crime, drugs, and poverty. At the same time, today\u2019s world has become increasingly complex, technical, and multicultural, placing new and challenging demands on young people in terms of education, training, and the social and emotional skills needed in a highly competitive environment. Finally, the length of adolescence has extended to the mid- to late twenties, and the pathways to adulthood have become less clear and more numerous. Concerns about youth are at the center of many policy debates. The future well-being of the country depends on raising a generation of skilled, competent, and responsible adults. Yet at least 25 percent of adolescents in the United States are at serious risk of not achieving \u201cproductive adulthood\u201d and face such risks as substance abuse, adolescent pregnancy, school failure, and involvement with the juvenile justice sys- tem. Depending on their circumstances and choices, they may carry those risks into their adult lives. Public investments in programs to counter such trends have grown significantly over the past decade or s\u2026", "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Eccles", "given" : "Jacquelynne S.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Gootman", "given" : "Jennifer A.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "container-title" : "Community programs to promote youth development", "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2002" ] ] }, "page" : "86-118", "publisher" : "National Academy Press", "publisher-place" : "Washington D.C.", "title" : "Features of positive developmental settings", "type" : "chapter" }, "prefix" : "e.g., ", "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=30f548b2-c466-4267-ac48-e07439ac55d5" ] }, { "id" : "ITEM-2", "itemData" : { "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "V.", "family" : "Lerner", "given" : "Jacqueline", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Bowers", "given" : "Edmond", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Minor", "given" : "Kelly", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Boyd", "given" : "Michelle J.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Kiely Mueller", "given" : "Megan", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Schmid", "given" : "Kristina L.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Napolitano", "given" : "Christopher M.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Lewin-Bizan", "given" : "Selva", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Lerner", "given" : "Richard M.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "chapter-number" : "15", "container-title" : "Handbook of psychology: Developmental psychology", "edition" : "2nd", "editor" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Lerner", "given" : "Richard M.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Easterbrooks", "given" : "M. Ann", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Mistry", "given" : "Jayanthi", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" }, { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "Weiner", "given" : "Irving B.", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-2", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2013" ] ] }, "page" : "365-392", "publisher" : "John Wiley & Sons, Inc", "publisher-place" : "Hoboken", "title" : "Positive youth development: Processes, philosophies, and programs", "type" : "chapter", "volume" : "6" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=f69ad12e-8d26-48fd-b6a2-5a70c1975486" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(e.g., Eccles & Gootman, 2002; J. V. Lerner et al., 2013)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(e.g., Eccles & Gootman, 2002; J. V. Lerner et al., 2013)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(e.g., Eccles & Gootman, 2002; J. V. Lerner et al., 2013)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (e.g., Eccles & Gootman, 2002; Lerner et al., 2013) . The Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) initiative funds a variety of sustainable community projects (SCPs) that aim to support at-risk youth and families and help them become healthy, positive, and contributing members of society ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "URL" : "https://nifa.usda.gov/program/children-youth-and-families-risk-cyfar", "abstract" : "Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) The Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Grant Program allocates funding provided by congressional appropriation to land-grant university extension services for community-based programs for at-risk children and their families.", "accessed" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2017", "6", "30" ] ] }, "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "United States Department of Agriculture", "given" : "", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "0" ] ] }, "title" : "Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) | National Institute of Food and Agriculture", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=7fb9d12d-ad06-3d7b-817a-79fafe144c60" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(United States Department of Agriculture, n.d.)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(United States Department of Agriculture, n.d.)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(United States Department of Agriculture, n.d.)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (U.S. Department of Agriculture, n.d.) . To ensure these programs are meeting CYFAR’s goals, a required collection of common measures began in 2011 ADDIN CSL_CITATION { "citationItems" : [ { "id" : "ITEM-1", "itemData" : { "URL" : "https://cyfar.org/faqs", "accessed" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2017", "12", "6" ] ] }, "author" : [ { "dropping-particle" : "", "family" : "University of Minnesota", "given" : "", "non-dropping-particle" : "", "parse-names" : false, "suffix" : "" } ], "id" : "ITEM-1", "issued" : { "date-parts" : [ [ "2017" ] ] }, "page" : "1", "title" : "Frequently asked questions | CYFAR", "type" : "webpage" }, "uris" : [ "http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=5880a238-c818-3dce-9b35-d78772b2e870" ] } ], "mendeley" : { "formattedCitation" : "(University of Minnesota, 2017b)", "plainTextFormattedCitation" : "(University of Minnesota, 2017b)", "previouslyFormattedCitation" : "(University of Minnesota, 2017b)" }, "properties" : { "noteIndex" : 0 }, "schema" : "https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json" } (University of Minnesota, 2017b) . This study used CYFAR evaluation data to explore how specific program quality components (e.g. physical and psychological safety and relationship building) influence change in youth competencies. It was hypothesized that higher program quality ratings would be significantly associated with higher pretest to posttest change in youth competencies. Results indicated differential associations between the qualities of youth programs, particularly positive social norms and skill building, and changes in youth competencies. Implications for positive youth development programs are discussed.