Uniting and Advancing Youth Development

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Uniting and Advancing Youth Development

• YOUTH YOU February 9, 2005
• Dale A Blyth, Ph.D.
• Assoc. Dean for Youth Dev.
• Director, Center for 4-H Youth Dev.

Youth Development Capacity Area
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Top Ten Reasons to Be a Youth Development
Professional

• 10. Your Mother made you
• 9. Everyone needs to earn a living somehow
• 8. You thought it would be easy
• 7. You needed a new wardrobe heard about
  4-H clothing options
• 6. You thought working with youth would keep
  you young

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Top Ten Reasons to Be a Youth Development
Professional

• 5. There wasnt that much to learn compared to
  being a
• 4. You heard the hours were good
• 3. You believe children are our future
• 2. You heard the benefits were so good
• 1. You love working with young people!!!!!

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Overview

• Understanding Youth Development
• Four Forces Shaping Our Field Today
• Uniting Efforts to Advance Youth Dev.
• At the National Level
• At the State Level
• At the University Level
• At the Extension Level
• At the Capacity Area Level
• Inside the Minnesota 4-H Youth Dev. Program

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Enriching Our Childrens Developmental Diet

• An Analogy for
• Promoting Healthy Development

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Essential Elements of a Good Developmental Diet

• Caring People
• Positive Places
• Challenging Possibilities
• Development results from the accumulation of
  these essential elements in childrens everyday
  experiences

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Exercising Developmental Muscles

• A Strong
• Developmental Diet Alone
• is Not Enough

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Exercise Key Muscles

• Exercise the CONNECTION Muscles Learning that
  others care to care about others
• Exercise AGENCY Muscles Learning
  that what you do makes a difference
• Exercise DECISION-MAKING Muscles
  Learning to make positive, wise choices
• Exercise CONTRIBUTION Muscles --Learning to
  contribute to community

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• At early ages it is first and foremost about
  caring people
• Gradually it becomes about the caring people and
  the positive places
• By school age the challenging possibilities
  children have in an expanding number of community
  places and with community people become
  increasingly important
• During adolescence how youth exercise their
  choices of the people, places, and possibilities
  AND the strength of their connection, agency, and
  contribution muscles becomes critical

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New Research Advances on

• Brain Architecture Growth
• When its growing most rapidly
• Why it matters
• What it means
• Communities as Contexts for Development
• The Difference Community Programs Make

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Uniting Around How We Support OurChildren
Youths Development During Community Time

• Getting systematic about supporting the
  development learning of our children youth
  during their COMMUNITY TIME -- When the
  Developmental Diet they take in and the
  muscles they exercise matter

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FOUR FORCES SHAPING OUR FIELD

• FRAMES MATTERS
• QUALITY MATTERS
• ACCESS MATTERS
• ACCOUNTABILITY MATTERS

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We Need to Help People Move From This To
This

• Success by Six
• Failure by Twelve
• Jail by Eighteen

• Prepared to Learn
• Engaged in Dev.
• Ready for Life

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FOUR FORCES SHAPING OUR FIELD

• FRAMES MATTERS
• QUALITY MATTERS
• ACCESS MATTERS
• ACCOUNTABILITY MATTERS

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UNITING NATIONALLY

• Building a learning system for professional youth
  workers
• For all who work with children and youth
  (Wingspread Conference, Fall 2004)
• For Extension professionals (PRK Revision)
• Building research policy supports for community
  / afterschool / out of school time (see
  Afterschool Alliance)

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UNITING MINNESOTA

• Minnesota Youth Work Institute
• Bridging Research and Practice Educational
  Outreach
• Emerging Out of School Time Partnership
• Frameworks Study
• Minnesota Commission on Out of School Time

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I. Encourage Positive Choices
II. Ensure Access
III. Assure Quality
IV. Increase Community Capacity
V. Build Statewide Fabric of Support
VI. Strengthen Public Will
Commission's DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS
VII. Establish Investment Fund
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UNITING THE UNIVERSITY

• Presidential Initiative on Children, Youth, and
  Families
• Emerging call for a cross-age framing of
  development
• Growth in researchers interested in this context
  of development
• New doctoral track in Family, Youth Community
  in College of Ed. HD (contact Joyce Walker)
• Possibility of a Youth Development Center of
  Excellence at the University

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UNITING EXTENSION

• Communications Planning moving from nice to
  necessary one Extension message
• Out of School Time has been named one of three
  priority issues where Extension makes a
  difference
• Connecting with Family Development other
  Capacity Areas
• Enhancing the Way Community Youth Development and
  4-H Work together

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UNITING MINNESOTA 4-H

• Through communications technology
• Through stronger supports for each of you
• Through sponsorships grants
• Through good stewardship of
• The QUALITY of 4-H experiences
• Our human resources
• Our finances

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WHY FOCUS ON 4-Hs FINANCES

• Increased accountability for use of resources we
  have by gov. but also by our supporters
• Increased value of demonstrating we are
  leveraging both public private resources
• Increased need to grow those resources
• Increased need to change how 4-h is seen

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How People See 4-H Currently -- Predominately
Supported by the Purples of Public Dollars
Private Blue
Federal
County
PUBLIC PURPLES
State
Note the Absence of 4-H Green
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The Picture We Need To Paint -- The Balance of
Public, Private, and Volunteer Resources
4-H GREEN OF OUR VOLUNTEERS
PUBLIC PURPLES
?
PRIVATE BLUES
ONLY YOU CAN HELP US PAINT THIS PICTURE!!!
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Four Words to Guide Your Stewardship of 4-H

• Put your HEART into it it is for the youth
  4-H , not just the University or USDA or personal
  liability
• Put your HEAD into it dont ignore it or rush
  ahead blindly, work with Dorothy her leadership
  team to be deliberate

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Four Words to Guide Your Stewardship of 4-H

• Put your HANDS into it Be willing to dig in and
  help people understand why and what it means and
  then get the info needed
• Last, remember this is critical for the overall
  HEALTH of 4-H and its future

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• Only by Uniting with Others,
• Advancing our Understanding,
• Integrating Our Efforts,
• Focusing Our Stewardship
• Can We Make a Difference in The Lives of
  Minnesotas Youth!!

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Additional Information on Key Uniting Efforts
Underway
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Minnesota Youth Work Institute

• New Funding
• Expanding from primarily Training to include
  Technical Assistance Networking
• Expanding Staff under the Direction of Elee Wood
• Expanding geography to a real statewide presence
  through CYD regional educators
• SEE WWW.MNYWI.ORG for more info

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Bridging Research and Practice Educational
Outreach

• Moving beyond Making the Case for Out of School
  Time
• Expanding the Howland Symposium Series
• Creating 6 Regional Forums dedicated to bridging
  research practice in OST
• Expanding the Commissions briefing paper series
  (e.g., brain research, family involvement,
  economics of programs)
• For more information contact Region Community
  Youth Development Educator and new Extension
  public pages

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Emerging Out of School Time Partnership

• A statewide group of funders, providers, and
  intermediaries who are rallying to support OST
  efforts
• In process of hiring new Executive Director
• Will be hosted by Center for 2 years
• For additional information see WWW.MNYWI.ORG/MNPOS
  T.HTML

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Frameworks Institute Study

• Funded by the Minnesota OST Partnership
• Examines how we can best frame youth issues and
  OST programs to build understanding and support
• Message Memo summarizing study and its
  implications is available
• For additional information see
• WWW.MNYWI.ORG/MNPOST.HTML
• WWW.FrameworksInstitute.org

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The Minnesota Commission on Out of School Time

• Emerged out of the informal Out of School Time
  Partnership
• Is funded by Minnesota Departments of Education
  and Human Services, U of M, and McKnight
  Foundation
• Was appointed by U President Bruininks as part of
  his Presidential Initiative on Children, Youth
  and Families
• Produced a series of briefing papers
• Will issue its final report this Spring
• For additional information see WWW.MNCOST.ORG

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Commissions Charge

• To craft a vision and the strategies necessary to
  ensure Minnesotas young people have engaging
  opportunities to learn and develop in their
  non-school hours

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Presidential Initiative on Children, Youth,
Families

• A multi-year initiative of President Bruininks
  which has many parts (including the Commission)
• Headed by a University Steering Committee
• Sponsor the annual Childrens Summit
• For additional information see
• www1.umn.edu/pres/01_init_cyf.html

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For Additional Information

• Stay tuned for the newly revised Extension Public
  Web Page and the new Youth Development capacity
  Area pages
• WWW.EXTENSION.UMN.EDU