Youth and
Child Development Best Practices
The Community Network
for Youth Development (CNYD) is a San Francisco based non-profit
agency that provides technical assistance to service providers
working with youth. According to CNYD, there are both organizational
and youth development practices that foster youth development.
These practices are applicable to service providers serving children
as well as older youth, although youth involvement and participation
may not be appropriate for younger age groups.
Organizational
practices include:
· Low staff/volunteer to youth ratios;
· Safe, reliable, and accessible activities and
spaces;
· Flexibility in allocating available resources;
· Range of diverse, interesting and skill building
activities;
· Continuity and consistency of care;
· High, clear and fair standards;
· Ongoing, results-based staff and organizational improvement
processes;
· Youth involvement; and
· Community engagement.
Youth development
practices are the supports and opportunities that are provided
to youth in programs. They include:
· Safety: Physical and emotional
· Relationship Building: Staff relationships that provide
guidance, emotional support, practical support, where youth feel
the staff know them and that they are known by their peers.
· Youth Participation: involvement in meaningful and responsible
roles; input in decision making; opportunities for leadership;
belonging
· Community Involvement: a chance to give back; knowledge
of the community
· Skill Building: Challenging and interesting learning
experience where youth experience growth and progress
For more information
contact CNYD at 657 Mission Street, Suite 410, San Francisco,
CA 94105 / (415) 495-0622.
In addition
to the above program principles, click here for a list of program
standards prepared by the National School-Age Care Alliance visit
(NSACA):
NSACA promotes national standards of quality school-age care for
children and youth 5 - 14 years old, and grants accreditation
to programs meeting the standards. Although written for child-care
programs, these standards outline some best practices that are
applicable to other programs working
with children.
Funded programs
should be:
· family-centered and easily accessible;
· designed for the "whole child," including physical,
cognitive, emotional, and broad community components;
· built on the strengths of families and communities;
· reflective of the changing needs of families and communities;
· culturally and linguistically appropriate and reflective
of Oakland's diversity;
· universally available but tailored to differing needs;
· respectful of parents/caregiver and provider relationships;
· inclusive of family participation at all levels;
· oriented to prevention and early intervention;
· linked between systems and settings;
· consistent with continuing input from the civic engagement
process;
· inclusive of community-based education and outreach;
· sustainable and maximizing use of public and private
funds and existing resources.
These principles
were excerpted and adapted from: "From Day One", Initial
Strategic Plan, June 2000 of the San Francisco Children and Families
Commission.
For more information
contact the Commission at:
1390 Market St., Suite 900
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-934-4854
sfcfc@dcyf.org
www.sfkids.org.
Family Support Principles
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1. Staff and families
work together in relationships based on equality and respect.
2. Staff enhance families' capacity to support the growth and
development of all family members-adults, youth, and children.
3. Families are resources to their own members, to other families,
to programs, and to communities.
4. Programs affirm and strengthen families' cultural, racial,
and linguistic identities and enhance their ability to function
in a multicultural society.
5. Programs are embedded in their communities and contribute to
the community-building process.
6. Programs advocate with families for services and systems that
are fair, responsive, and accountable to the families served.
7. Practitioners work with families to mobilize formal and informal
resources to support family development.
8. Programs are flexible and continually responsive to emerging
family and community issues.
9. Principles of family support are modeled in all program activities,
including planning, governance, and administration.
Family Support America
(1996) Guidelines for Family Support Practice. Chicago: Illinois.
See www.familysupportamerica.org for more information.
