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Introduction: What is this toolkit?

Introduction: What is this toolkit?

This toolkit is for adults who work with youth, whether this is the beginning of that journey for you or you’ve been on it for a while and are experienced in working with young people. It’s also for people who support afterschool and youth-development programs.

This toolkit offers tips from youth and lessons learned from adults who’ve been there. Based on our own experience, we have organized the toolkit into different parts (navigate these sections using the quick links to the left.):

  • Why youth voice?
  • Programming
  • Operations
  • Leadership
  • Culture

You can skip around to the sections that are most interesting and relevant to your needs at any given time. Each section has different tools in different media formats, so you can hear directly from youth as well as from adults who have been listening to youth.

This toolkit is co-created by youth and adults who sought their input. We invite you to listen, watch, read, and interact with this toolkit – and share your experience with youth voice, too!

A peer-to-peer note from fellow youth development folks:

This toolkit offers examples of what works from youth development folks around Georgia. At the same time, we assert that “youth voice” is a mindset and a major commitment — not just a checklist of activities or a quick add-on.

Meaningful youth voice requires a fundamental shift in thinking about whose narrative and whose voices shape after-school programming – and about how we intentionally create spaces for us to benefit from those voices.

This toolkit just gets us started. We know it’s hard to unlearn adult power structures and undo the impacts of adultism. But we hope hearing from youth about the power of youth voice and from adults who have benefitted from listening gets you excited about the possibilities! And we encourage you to reach out to us to pursue additional training or coaching to meaningfully incorporate more youth voice in your work.

As Brooklyn says in one of the “tools” below: “Listen, listen, listen. And pay attention.” So, thanks for paying attention along with us! We want to hear from you, too! What’s working? Where do you struggle? What tips and tools do you have to add to this toolbox?

– The adult staff teams at VOX ATL, GUIDE, Inc, & GCAPP

Why Youth Voice?

“When young people feel their voices matter, they feel they matter — and are more engaged and better served in the systems that aim to support them.”

Youth voice is creativity. Innovation. Fresh and relevant perspectives that inform out-of-school time programming – and ensure the work truly meets the interests of the people it aims to serve. In this section, hear directly from youth and from adults who work with them about what youth voice means, and how to meaningfully increase youth voice.

Why youth voice – from teens. Click here to hear from young people as they define youth voice, how youth voice is critical, and what makes them feel heard. (If you prefer to read what they have to say, you can also click here.)

Why youth voice – from adults who work with youth. Click here to hear how youth voice deepens the impact of our work, and our role in ensuring those voices are heard and actualized effectively.  (If you prefer to read what they have to say, you can also click here.)

DOs & DONTs for increasing youth voice in afterschool (handout) Click here to hear from young people about what works and what doesn’t.

Consciousness statement: Like a preamble to all of our work, please read about how youth voice is foundational, and a sense of real belonging in after-school and youth-development spaces.

Additional resources about youth voice in youth development:

Youth Voice is an evidence- and research-based “best practice” in the field of youth development. In Georgia, youth voice is a named standard of quality in the Georgia Afterschool & Youth Development Quality Standards.

Around the U.S. (and in fact the world), we see that when young people “see their ideas acted on, which empowers them to engage even more. Schools [and communities] benefit from their unique insights.”

To hear more from youth about quality youth development:

Teens speak out about opportunities & barriers – In this video teens discuss who gets and who doesn’t get opportunities — and how quality youth-development organizations play an important role in access to opportunity.

Let’s talk about the language of youth development – In this video, teens share how some of the language of youth development impacts them personally — and offer suggestions to YD professionals to update their language so that their good intentions can “awaken each student’s personal abilities and allow them to shine in individual ways.”

Youth Voice in Programming:

“Youth voice can effectively inform and inspire an afterschool, youth-development program in every phase: design, implementation & evaluation. In this section, you’ll hear strategies from youth and see tools you can use in each phase of programming. Remember, we all first must prioritize creating a culture where people feel their input will be valued.”

Teens’ Tips for Youth Voice in Programs: Click here for seven recommended strategies from teens for “easy access points” incorporating more youth voice into your programming. (If you prefer to read the teens’ tips, click here.)

Overview: Youth voice in all aspects of programming: Click here for an overview of how youth voice can inform program design, implementation & evaluation in a youth-development program.

Tools for Youth Voice in Program Planning:

Tools for Youth Voice in Program Implementation:

Tools for Youth Voice in Program Evaluation:

Youth Voice in Community Research:

  • Berkley YPAR Hub: YPAR stands for Youth Participatory Action Research. This website offers curricula and examples for supporting youth in research designed to improve their lives, communities and systems designed to serve them.
  • Closer to home, Voices for Georgia’s Children teamed up with VOX ATL to present Youth Voice in Community Research at the GA DBHDD System of Care conference 2022.

Youth Voice in Program Operations

Incorporating youth voice in a program’s operations is both straightforward and nuanced. It involves logistics, like hours of operations, location, and provisions (food, swag, technologies) as well as the atmosphere – the sights/sounds/furnishings/spaces, access to bathrooms and transportation. It also includes stipends and other means of honoring youth for their time and expertise, as well as accessibility for different physical, emotional, learning needs.

(Behind the scenes look below: Teens used Jamboard to share their ideas and speak up about
their needs to create these infographics!)

Involving youth meaningfully in budgeting

How can a program budget be inspired and informed by youth voices? Youth voice in budgeting starts with asking for input — and training youth what a program or organizations’ budget is all about! Click here for a sample training & input process for youth, including visuals and other interactive features for understanding budgeting and income.

Involving youth in fundraising:

Leadership

This section of the Youth Voices toolkit explores different models for engaging youth in governance and the business of afterschool – and trusts all users will pay careful attention to and prioritize the importance of building community and trust, and power-sharing while acknowledging and addressing agism.

Youth voice and leadership is not just for the program day; it includes the business decisions, policies and the management of an afterschool program. Including youth voice in those aspects helps ensure youth want to engage in the programming because they can see their experiences and lives reflected in its offerings and resources. Involving young people in the Board or governance in a meaningful way not only gives youth the opportunity to truly be connected to additional real-life learning opportunities, embedding youth voice in your business and policy decisions effectively guide the work of the program. Note: just putting youth on a Board or naming a youth council or advisory board without prioritizing a culture of listening and power-sharing can make any youth council perfunctory at best and potentially negligent or harmful.

Adults’ Roles in Supporting Youth Voice: How do you support teens effectively in meaningful roles without overstepping? Click here to hear from youth development folks around Georgia who do just that. (If you prefer to read this content, click here.)

Youth on Boards: From youth advisory councils and boards, to youth on boards of directors, this video explores how youth voice has a place and is supported in various leadership structures. (If you prefer to read this content, click here.)

Additional resources for youth in leadership or Board roles:

Additional Reading:

Creating a Culture of Youth Voice

Creating a culture of youth voice is the silk that connects all the other pieces of our youth voices framework. Inviting youth voice in programming, operations and/or decision making and leadership may be meaningless without fundamentally prioritizing a culture that sincerely values youth voices. This section reinforces ways to create a culture of youth voice.

Definitions & key concepts: youth & service providers definitions of the key concepts required for creating a culture of youth voice. IG post (or use as infographic) is available here.


Creating a vibe that centers youth voice: Click this ‘zine /handout to download ideas for establishing the vibe and creating an environment that centers youth voice in a program or community.

Building Community – even in virtual or hybrid programming: A sense of belonging is essential to quality youth development and to feeling like your voice matters. In this video, the adult staff and teens of VOX ATL share how youth voice and leadership create a sense of belonging no matter where we are.

  • Culture of Belonging Jamboard: click here to see what other youth development staff
    said they experience and do to foster a culture of belonging
  • Prompts for reflection, staff development (with youth or as a team of adult guides):
    • What are the things we do to make one another feel like we belong?
    • What are the things we do or can do to make our staff feel like they belong?
    • What are the policies, practices and places that a commitment to belonging
      needs to be made more explicit?

Trauma-informed/ healing centered spaces: Trauma-informed practices support creativity, courage, and community, and ensure we support culturally reflective and inclusive spaces. This interactive training and activity shows how a healing-centered or trauma-informed environment is critical to foster a culture of youth voice.

 

 

Resources: For more Information

Acknowledgements

This content was co-planned, organized and co-created by youth and adults from
VOX ATL, GCAPP & GUIDE, Inc
With input from MAAC/GA EmpowerMEnt, Silence the Shame, and Usher’s New Look
Special shout-out to Chiron B. & Tibria Brown, lead “tool” media producers
& Teen content participants: Abby S., Abhi S., Aleesha B., Clerfania P., Divya T., Endy H.,
Jada R., Jadenise M., Kris W., Kyleigh C., Lathan G., Li L., Marilyne M., Milana M., Precious,
Rebecca L., Que, Shayan C., Zamora H., Zariah T., Zariyah A., Zayna S.