CJ Feature: Toasting youth involvement

Youth involvement is a term becoming increasingly more present in the discourse of policymakers and the public alike. And a new report indicates good news regarding our young people.

Empowering our youth is challenging, to say the least. But according to a report put together by the California State Library's Research Bureau,a good deal of progress is occurring as many states are moving increasingly toward finding ways to engage youth directly in policymaking and programs that impact their lives.

The report, titled, "Involving Youth in Policymaking and Coordinating Youth Policy: State-Level Structures in California and Other States," noted that youth development is "the buzz. The talk. Everybody seems to be doing or promoting it … It has become common lingo in juvenile justice, adolescent research journals, nonprofit newsletters, meetings and forums across the private and public sectors and, increasingly, in state legislatures …"

The California State Library's Research Bureau assessment is meant to showcase what is going on around the nation. The idea is that the various approaches states are implementing now build upon an individual youth's strengths, assets and potentials, thus viewing young people individually and collectively as a resource worth investing in. Past approaches (including mentoring and counseling, as well as juvenile justice programs) have tended to be deficit-based projects that focus on particular problems. Many states bypass the issue by developing programs and imposing them on young people, which has historically been unsuccessful, the report illustrated.

"The information compiled in the report provides California policymakers with 'food for thought' and will hopefully lead to discussion about state-level youth development," said Lisa Foster, the lead author of the report.

But just what is happening on these policymaking fronts?

At least something of significance in 29 of the 50 states. And the results are showing impressive programmatic and financial successes.

Arizona, for example, has a Statewide Youth Development Task Force under the authority of the executive branch to build a comprehensive framework to promote the successful transition of young people to adulthood.

Louisiana has an executive level Youth Policy Network that makes recommendations and is developing a "Blueprint for Investing in Youth."

Even North Dakota has a Youth Development Council under the guidance of both the legislative and executive branches with the goal of building employment and training opportunities and to help provide oversight to the state's programs as funded by federal Workforce Investment Act (welfare) resources.

And the Academy for Educational Development's Center for Youth Development and Policy Research has priced out the economics of asset engagement. Apparently while the cost for strong, sustained and supported programs of this type is about $3,000 per year per young person, the benefits are valued at $10.51 for every dollar that would have otherwise been spent on traditional intervention approaches.

Perhaps the most encouraging report comes from the National Research Council and the Institutes of Medicine who reported in 2002 that young people who grow up in communities rich in these empowerment opportunities show evidence of higher rates of positive growth and lower incidences of problem behaviors such as early pregnancy, drug use and delinquency.

The allocation of funds and the management of budgets and resources are all that remain to be sorted out. The concept of involving youth in policymaking is a worthwhile endeavor that seems to be gaining steam as youth wait for policy to procure them a better future.

Editors Note: In the interest of fairness, it should be mentioned that Allan Shore, prior to becoming a Citizen Journalist, was the executive director of the California Coalition for Youth.