Christina Goette Carpenter, MP
Virginia Smyly, MPH, CHES
Ana Validzic, MPH
Iman Nazeeri-Simmons, MPH
San Francisco Department of Public Health

In July 2004, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) adopted the Youth Development Standards of Practice (Standards). The purpose of the Standards is to both promote a common understanding of youth development and to establish a consistent set of standards for practicing youth development within city agencies and funded community-based organizations. The Standards will help to ensure that young people acquire the skills and support they need to be healthy adolescents and eventually to become healthy adults.

Background
In 2001, SFDPH's Community Health Education Section (CHES) initiated YouthPOWER, a community-based assessment process conducted and implemented with youth in two San Francisco neighborhoods, to address issues of violence, substance abuse and mental health. YouthPOWER was rooted in asset-based, youth development approaches, involving young people in the identification of assets, issues, and solutions in their neighborhoods. As part of the assessment, youth reported receiving inadequate, unequal, imbalanced, or disproportionate levels of service with respect to recreation, job training, health care, and so on. As a result of these findings, the project identified the need to incorporate youth development principles and practices into youth-serving programs as one tool to prevent violence and promote peace amongst youth, as well as to ensure the healthy development of young people.

Also in 2001, SFDPH-CHES staff attended an intensive youth development workshop series and received additional coaching in the area of organizational change from two nationally recognized youth development organizations.

In 2003, the Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) released a three-year strategic plan for improving the health of young people. A key recommendation was the implementation of a youth development policy for SFDPH.

Together, these events led DPH staff from OAH and CHES to spearhead the effort to develop the Youth Development Standards of Practice for the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The Standards were developed with input from youth, community organizations, and other city agencies, as well as locally-based, nationally recognized youth development experts. The Standards were adopted by SFDPH's governing body, the Health Commission, on July 6, 2004.

Rationale
Youth development is a documented best practice. Not only is it an effective approach for preventing problems, but more importantly, it provides a framework for creating the supports and opportunities youth need to build on their assets and prepare themselves for successful futures as adults. Because youth development is a way of doing things, reflecting a particular set of values and a unique philosophy, it is applicable in many vital areas, such as violence prevention. A core component of youth development practice is the creation of safe physical and emotional spaces for youth to grow and learn, for that reason, it is a particularly effective tool for violence prevention. In public health, youth development is particularly appropriate because it is an effective primary prevention strategy and a proactive, asset-based approach that focuses both on the environment in which our young people grow up and provides examples of what we do want youth to do and be as opposed to focusing simply on what we don't want them to do or be.

The Standards were presented to stakeholders and decision makers as a strategy for quality improvement, insofar that the Standards are a tangible way to provide a framework to youth-serving programs, which, in turn, helps to promote the health and well-being of youth.

The Youth Development Standards of Practice
The San Francisco Youth Development Standards of Practice are comprised of several components:

Below is a brief overview of the "Guidelines" section of the Standards.

Organizational structure, culture, and environment. Often, the focus for youth development professionals begins at a programmatic level. The Standards, however, also emphasize the need for youth development principles and practices to be infused throughout an organization. The Standards also outline the organizational infrastructure necessary to support youth development practice, including those organizational values and norms most conducive to the implementation of youth development principles (e.g., mechanisms for youth decision making and participation; outreach to participants-both adult staff and youth-which reflect the underlying cultural, social, and linguistic diversity of the community; and adequate staff/client ratios). When effectively practiced, these principles promote a safe physical environment-for instance, ensuring appropriate physical space and creating a physical environment that not only supports clients' developmental, gender, sexual identity, and cultural needs, but supports their physical and mental abilities.

Programmatic structure, youth participation, and skill building. At the programmatic level, the Standards focus on youth participation, building skills, and laying the foundation for a successful transition to a productive adulthood. The emphasis is on meaningful youth participation in all aspects of a program, ranging from conceptualization to evaluation. In addition, the Standards promote opportunities for youth to take on challenges that build important life skills such as decision making, leadership, critical thinking and teamwork. Programs, as well as organizations, must create safe physical and emotional environments that are culturally appropriate for the participating youth. Finally, the Standards emphasize that staff must be positive role models who offer constructive feedback and provide a safe place for youth to learn and grow.

Community and family connections. Although programs are important, community and family connections are an equally vital component of a youth's development. The Standards recognize this in three ways: (1) by specifying that community members and parents be involved in program decision making; (2) by encouraging the formation of partnerships and collaborations; and (3) by outlining the advocacy skills necessary for youth to access community resources.

Training, evaluation, and monitoring. Adopting the Standards is but one step of a larger process. Providing the necessary training and technical assistance are just as essential, as is evaluating the impact of the Standards on DPH and DPH-funded youth programs. To that end, DPH is working in close partnership with locally based, nationally recognized health and youth development organizations to develop training and technical assistance to implement the Standards of Practice fully and effectively. The goal is twofold: to offer a series of training days and to provide follow-up coaching, by experienced youth development professionals and trained youth.

Standards of Practice: Going Citywide
Finally, to enhance the effectiveness of the Standards of Practice, SFDPH is working with other youth-serving city agencies to support them as they adopt the same or similar Standards. The goal is to achieve consistent, high-quality youth programming in San Francisco based on a common language and framework of youth development.

In conclusion, in our efforts to prevent violence through YouthPOWER, we ultimately identified an approach that, when effectively implemented, is a strategy that has potential to do more than prevent violence; one that helps create environments and opportunities for youth to make a successful transition to adulthood.

The SFDPH Standards of Practice are available on the web at: www.dph.sf.ca.us/Reports/YthDevStdsPract012005.pdf.

This work could not have been done without the invaluable expertise, insights, and wisdom of the youth who participated, the Youth Leadership Institute and Community Network for Youth Development, the Health Initiatives for Youth, DPH intern and the support of the DPH leadership.

 

Authors

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Christina Goette Carpenter, MPH, has worked in various capacities at SFDPH for five years. Currently she serves as the Health Promotion Consultant in the Community Health Promotion and Prevention Branch. At the core of all her work is primary prevention with an emphasis on creating environments that support youth to be healthy and safe.

Virginia Smyly, MPH, CHES
Ana Validzic, MPH
Iman Nazeeri-Simmons, MPH

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