Engaging Youth

A How To Guide for Youth Serving Organizations

Produced by the National Youth Homelessness Learning Community

This handbook has been written and produced by the National Youth Homelessness Learning Community, a collaborative effort of youth organizations to share knowledge and build the capacity of our sector to more effectively meet the needs of youth across Canada. We are extremely grateful to all the researchers and advocates in the field of youth engagement who have provided us with much food for thought and lively discussion, and we are particularly grateful to the youth who participate in our organizations in various ways and who shared their honest experiences of our efforts to engage them.

Introduction Over the past several years youth organizations across Canada have been working diligently to develop programs and services that are relevant and effective in meeting the needs of youth. Specialized programs in the areas of transitional housing, employment training, mentorship, education, harm reduction and counseling have been designed and implemented, with a specific focus on addressing the needs of homeless and at-risk youth across Canada who are struggling to survive and take steps towards self-sufficiency. What is typically shared among youth organizations is the fundamental belief that homeless and at-risk youth have skills and abilities and much to contribute to the communities in which they live. These same organizations are also dedicated to youth development and work hard to build skill and personal growth opportunities within their programs and services. It is well understood that positive youth development helps ease the transition to adulthood, and creates confidence and self-esteem, which are critical factors in motivating young people to set and meet personal goals. But are we really engaging youth in the work that we do? The Centre for Excellence in Youth Engagement defines the concept as: The meaningful participation and sustained involvement of a young person in an activity which has a focus outside him or herself There has been much written and discussed on the importance of youth engagement as a means to our shared goal of helping young people become contributing and healthy members of our communities. But organizations can sometimes struggle with how to do this well, and young people are particularly savvy to well-meaning attempts to involve them that are superficial. For young people with complex barriers such as homelessness, substance use, mental health issues, lack of education and who lack positive role models, the work of initiating and sustaining that engagement can be even more complicated.

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The research tells us that when youth are truly engaged in the programs and services of the organizations that are working to support them, they are far more willing and able to participate, learn and grow and find the programs more interesting and relevant. They develop resiliency, are less susceptible to negative influences and feel empowered to move forward in a constructive way. Isnt that what we are all working towards? Given this, then shouldnt every program and service in every youth organization be developed with a clear understanding of youth engagement as a fundamental core value? This handbook is intended to provide staff at all levels in youth serving organizations, particularly those who are dedicated to creating opportunities for social inclusion of homeless and at-risk youth, some guidance on how to engage young people and what we need to do as organizations to create meaningful opportunities within our programs and services for youth to be the leaders and decision makers. As simple as this approach may sound, the work can be difficult, and challenge organizations and staff in numerous ways. In most youth organizations, we need to look carefully at our ability to share power, and not just pay lip service to the concept of engagement. We need to identify where engagement is genuinely possible, and be honest about where it is not. We need to provide youth with support and resources to develop and implement initiatives that we, as service providers, may not have identified as priorities. And we need to continue to listen to, support, guide and mentor youth so that they develop and use good judgment and learn from their decisions. We need to give them the information they need to plan and the resources to execute those plans, and we need to know when to step back and let something take shape organically. This can be particularly hard for youth organizations in a funding climate of prescribed outcomes and traditional measures of success. This guide is not intended to answer all your questions but rather to get you thinking and talking in your own organizations about what you can do to create a climate where youth engagement is not only possible, its actively supported and valued. Section B Youth Engagement A Challenge for the Youth Services Sector We must be silent before we can listen. We must listen before we can learn. We must learn before we can prepare. We must prepare before we can serve. We must serve before we can lead." ~ William Arthur Ward The challenge of those in the youth services sector is to meaningfully engage youth and to help create an environment where decisions can be made which move them away from the street and into the mainstream community.
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The premise of this section is that accepting and affirming the personal starting points of young people is critical to achieving engagement with them. Essential to that process of engagement is a move away from the traditional service models that nurtured dependence and instead build on the self-reliance youth have learned from experiences on the street. 1. Social and community starting points of young people on the street

Children in North America, regardless of cultural, racial, political and socio-economic starting points experience a pre-maturity status from birth to the age of 18 (depending on the jurisdiction in which the child lives). This is a period of acceptable active learning: we define our children as safe while they learn acceptable patterns of conformity to fit into the world as contributing adults. This learning is based on the assumption that there will be appropriate teachers, role models, and systems in place for successful learning; that there will be carry out the roles and responsibilities to ensure adequate learning and development of acceptable compliance to a dominant norm held by society. Adults in our society nurture children in varying degrees of available time and energy, guidance, control, and indifference. In part because of these inconsistencies the vulnerability of children cannot be over-emphasized. 2. The starting point of the individual child

It is important to consider what happens if this process does not unfold adequately: What if learning opportunities do not offer complete information? What if environments of care are not safe emotionally, economically, or physically? What happens when the individual child needs to shift to defense to interact in his/her world? Further, what happens when the chain of consequences and feedback mandate a child to take responsibility for his/her own survival?

We can easily speculate that the resulting scenario would be the creation of a different personal world with survival as its first goal. Without the capacity to acquire food and shelter, or the credibility to engage in a legal or legitimate exchange for whatever the child is able to offer/produce a focus on survival at the most essential level becomes most critical. Increasing numbers of children are entering just such a scenario.

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Abandoned because of the collapse of systems, institutions, and measures developed for their nurturance and development, children must look within themselves for solutions to their continued existence. Not surprisingly, choices are often made to seek safety and acceptance. 3. Introduction to the framework of a perspective

Increasing numbers of children end up on the street making choices they believe will work for them. Without ways to participate in mainstream economy and life, young people arrive and continue within street culture, a culture of survival - adapting and fitting in order to make life work. Ultimately many remain there long after they are ready to leave. Nothing can change the past for these young people. In strategies to assist them to move forward, why not use the experience and learning they already have? Accepting and affirming the starting points of young people who have experienced the survival culture of the street is critical. Our challenge is to engage individual youth with his or her own agenda not ours. 4. Theoretical perspective

The psychology of this perspective includes the following: Change occurs when an individual becomes what he/she is, not when he tries to become what he is not. Without the safety to be what he is first, the person must resort to defending what he is, rather than looking forward to possibility of change. Change does not take place through a coercive attempt by the individual or by another person to change her or him. Change takes place if one takes the time and effort to be what he/she is to be fully invested in his/her current positions as the foundation to move forward. The premise is that one must stand in one place in order to have firm footing to move; i.e. the person is constantly moving between what she should be and what she thinks she is, never fully identifying with either. In our role working with young people our role then becomes to actively: encourage, even insist, that the person be where and what he/she is; recognize and act on the belief/assumption that change does not take place by trying, coercions, or persuasion; believe that change can occur when the person first abandons for the moment what he would like to become and attempts to be what he is.
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The mechanism which makes this possible becomes clearer in considering sociological perspective. An externally imposed idea may garner some compliance but because it does not originate within the individual psyche, it can be short-lived, defensively excused, and ultimately walked away from. 5. The sociology of why it is critical to start with individual starting points

Sociological perspectives allow us to understand that the person cannot effectively be perceived outside of the context of the environments he/she is part of. Our role with young people is as a part of this environment, to be who we are as persons. Out of this perspective, the process of our youth engagement will unfold as we are equally impacted by one another. Integration then becomes a movement together in newly defined ways for both. A person is a single whole human being. There is constant change based on the dynamic transaction between the self and the environment. The interdependence between the person, their environment, and their learned behavior out of the environment build the person. The impact of environment shapes the learned behavior because it is what makes up the fabric of learned experience. Person

Behavior

Environment

In the case of street-dependent youth the faith that they can accomplish what they set out to do is fundamental to engagement and change. 6. Street culture and culture as agent of change

When we apply this working perspective, that life on the street and street culture are like any other cultural experience, we have acknowledged the context and the human process together. Through cultural learning, young people adapt to survive. When traditional patterns have not worked, each alternative support system, peer culture, and eventually the street are the cultural contexts they seek as available options to ensure their survival. They learn what is necessary to fit and decide to leave when that context no longer works for them.

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7.

Making use of cultural information True leadership is leading people to themselves.

Our role is as leaders for very independent young people who have learned they need to rely on themselves to achieve their survival. Leaders do not take away the responsibility of the individual they understand that it is essential to leave it intact. As leaders of young people, we need to actively live the understanding that selfdetermination and independence require an intact sense of personal responsibility. Young people consistently identify that they cannot depend solely on others in the process of moving from street-life to mainstream life; the changes must come from within. Therefore, it should be the objective of services available to street-dependent youth to inspire confidence, a sense of agency and control over their own lives. By inspiring these aspects of self-efficacy motivation and self-reflexive problem solving will follow. Without a sense of self-efficacy, individuals, no matter what their situation, have a minimal sense of control in their lives. Without a sense of control, it is likely the individual will interpret the situation as hopeless which produces very real and unfortunate consequences. Most tragic is the loss of belief in oneself to act. As leaders we have the potential in every conversation to listen first, and then to create our responses, by communicating the safe context of: You have value Your ideas are necessary for your success Every day is a new day We are committed to believing in you

Young person who are not seen and heard learn they are not valued. Young people must be respected, valued, consulted, included and enjoyed, as responsible, active learners, and capable of setting and achieving goals. As we give them the tools to think about their own situation, they are able to define themselves and grow, and make choices to take themselves forward.

8.

Youth engagement requires equally shared power and exchange between leaders and youth.

Traditional service models nurture dependence because they act out of a power base, which takes the power of individual choice away from the person we are helping.
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Changing the Starting Point: Focus on the integrity and current reality of the individual Assessment tools, personal history, assigned labels rooted in power and are therefore not a first act of engagement Trust develops in shared socialization that informs two people of who they are in relation to each other within prevailing social circumstances. Effective engagement practice would act on the beliefs that: Acceptance of self is foundational to the feeling of safety necessary to risk new choices. The resulting opportunity for self-determination is key in the development of independence. Responsibility and accountability develop through actions chosen based on past learning, unobstructed by the intervention of imposed theoretical paradigms which become an end in themselves, rather than serving the individuals encounter with their own reality. Adaptation is a human process It is a human response to survive in any environment. To rebuild life in the community, adaptation to mainstream culture is necessary. How will young people respond when we offer them our belief in their own ability to find options and move forward? Personal volition is rooted in independence It is a key component of any young person who has learned to survive on his/her own, and it must be the starting point for our work. An environment of unconditional acceptance - the safety to make mistakes and learn. Consistent reinforcement that access to the mainstream economy is necessary for full participation in mainstream community. Leadership to think and plan, and to identify each personal step toward making necessary choices and change consistent with each youths personal goals. Community people who listen and encourage, representing mainstream feedback and direction of focus as interpreters and sources of cultural information and cues.

Volitional self-determined choices are recognized, owned and acted upon by young people creating change in their lives.

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Section C Barriers to Youth Engagement Despite a general consensus of the merit of engaging youth in the design and delivery of programs intended to serve them, there are many reasons this can be challenging and at times daunting. As we have described, homeless and at-risk youth have focused on their own survival, and have typically grown up without positive adult role models. They have specific needs that need to be met if we are committed to actively listening to them and involving them in decision-making processes. Some of the barriers described by youth include: Time: A focus on meeting basic needs, money, food and shelter leaves little time or energy to contribute to the organizations with whom youre involved or your community; Perception of limited skills: Homeless and at-risk youth have limited experience feeling valued by their families or communities which results in an inevitable lack of confidence and self-esteem. Simply asking does not mean that a young person will feel able to participate in traditional decision-making processes. A lack of belief that anything will change: Rarely heard and accustomed to surviving outside of traditional structures of family, school and community, youth are cynical about their ability to have a meaningful impact on decision making in institutions that affect them - even when genuine efforts are made to engage them. Readiness: For many youth, the opportunity to think about opportunities and engage in decisions making is new. The process requires a cultural shift away from street culture, and for many youth the development of the capacity to engage and the trust required to do so. Language and cultural barriers: Simply put, cultural or language barriers will keep youth from engaging in the opportunities provided through youth serving organizations. Lack of approval from peers: Many youth will not engage in processes or organizations if peers disapprove because the support of peers within street culture is the so significant.