Community Impact
A
Tale of Two Children
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Success Story:
Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children
National Afterschool Matters Initiative Practitioner Fellowships
Center for Youth Development
Established
in 1998 as an initiative of United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Center
for Youth Development (CYD) provides training and technical assistance to improve
the quality and build the capacity of youth programs. It also helps communities
organize their human, institutional and financial resources to provide youth
with an array of developmental supports and opportunities to succeed in life.
Learn more about United Way 's
work
around education for children.
Keeping Youth On Track
Through the Center for Youth Development (CYD), United Way’s priority strategies focused on middle school and high school youth seek to increase the number and quality of out-of-school time and mentoring programs that contribute to helping youth stay on track to high school graduation and gain essential skills. CYD’s quality improvement services also support programs serving out-of-school youth in expanding youth engagement and participation, strengthening program design and planning, and instituting continuous quality improvement systems. These types of supports are needed to help programs more effectively recruit and retain youth long enough to help them stay on track to academic credentials and develop 21st Century skills, particularly as it relates to serving youth with multiple risk factors.
Out-of-school time (OST) programs stand in a unique position to address the factors that contribute to youth falling off track and increase youth’s engagement in learning by offering environments and activities that interest and challenge youth, extend school-day learning to real-world and community contexts, build self-esteem, and foster connections to caring adults and positive peer groups. Out-of-school time programs can best contribute to youth staying on track by focusing on the soft skills, or “prerequisites,” for academic success and healthy development. Intermediate outcomes for academic and personal success that out-of-school time programs are well-suited to address include: engagement in learning, motivation, hope for the future, cognitive and non-cognitive skills, and reduction in risky behaviors.[1]
Services
Center for Youth Development's Technical Assistance Strategy
CYD’s Technical Assistance Strategy is designed to help programs and neighborhoods build on their areas of strength, expand the use of best practices, and strengthen their ability to actively engage older youth. This will happen through:
- Shared assessment process—program staff and the TA provider work together to review findings from staff and youth surveys and activity observations to identify areas for improvement
- Training and peer learning—a sequence
of topics covering critical knowledge and skill areas
Individualized improvement plans—one-on-one support will help programs make changes in identified priority areas - Learning communities—structured group discussions related to specific practices
- Materials and linkages—access to research, best practices, and model programs
- Cross-site exchanges—visits to successful programs in the neighborhood and region
To learn more about CYD’s Training and Quality Improvement Strategy, click here.
Training and Peer Learning
Staff retention and development is especially important given that the most critical indicators of quality program are the skills, knowledge, competencies, and education levels of staff. Program staff need training and technical assistance to develop the necessary skills and tools to effectively engage and retain targeted populations of youth and to ensure quality programming that contributes to youth’s academic success and healthy development. Staff also need opportunities to continue their own development while receiving support and compensation as they attain education and training.
To find a complete listing of the trainings that CYD has to offer, please visit: www.LiveUnitedSEPA.org/training
To learn more about CYD’s Program Quality Improvement System, click here.
Out-of-School Time (OST) Professional Development (PD) Project
The City of Philadelphia has initiated an Out-of-School Time (OST) Professional Development (PD) Project, designed to coordinate and strengthen activities throughout Philadelphia. Funded by the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) and overseen by the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), the project will be administered by the Center for Youth Development (CYD) and the Out-of-School Time Resource Center (OSTRC) at the University of Pennsylvania. The goal of this project is to provide a diverse range of opportunities through which OST staff can advance their skills in working with youth.
For more information about the OST-PD Project, click here.
Campaign for Mentors
Since 1990, United Way’s Campaign for Mentors has worked year-round to provide access to a mentor for every young person in the Philadelphia region who needs one. With well over 100,000 school-age children in the region facing problems such as poverty, teen pregnancy, and violence, positive adult role models are more important than ever. Through its Campaign for Mentors, United Way funds mentoring programs that serve nearly 5,000 youth each year, advises more than 85 additional programs, and trains hundreds of mentors and program leaders.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor call 866-MENTOR3 or email CYD@uwsepa.org.
Contact Us
United Way's Center for Youth Development
1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1294
Phone: 215-665-2554
Fax: 215-665-2557
E-mail: CYD@uwsepa.org
[1] National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) (2006), Pathways to Success for Youth: What Matters in Afterschool
