Youth-Adult Partnership and Advisory Councils: Resources

Guidelines for Working with Youth

These five guidelines are important starting points for adults when beginning a youth engagement effort. Each guideline is offered with examples of what it looks like in action. One Youth Canada.

Six Tips for Increasing Meaningful Youth Engagement

Written from a global perspective, these strategies offer guidance and inspiration for a serious youth engagement effort. USAID YouthPower Learning.

Involving Youth in Positive Youth Development

Here, Youth.gov (a U.S. government website) suggests steps to consider when trying to engage young people to ensure the engagement experience is meaningful for the youth as well as for the program. An extensive list of resources follows the suggested process. Youth.gov.

Preparing for Youth Engagement

When preparing organizations for youth engagement, even the most experienced professionals often wonder if they are doing it correctly. Fortunately, there are research-based guidelines to help us. In this edition of PrACTice Matters, the authors discuss youth voice, youth-adult partnership (Y-AP), and youth organizing, and provide a practical checklist to aid planning for Y-AP. ACT for Youth and University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Positive Youth Development 101 Online Training

Adults need preparation to work effectively with youth. This series of short courses introduces the positive youth development (PYD) approach and builds understanding of adolescence. The Youth Voice and Engagement module of the PYD 101 series explores a framework for youth voice and engagement that can be used at a program, agency, or community level. The module also discusses adultism — a core challenge to youth engagement — and outlines strategies to prepare youth and adults for meaningful youth engagement. The course is free; registration for the series is required. The module may be taken alone. ACT for Youth.

Being Y-AP Savvy: A Primer on Creating and Sustaining Youth-Adult Partnerships

This action-oriented manual identifies the six most important questions that groups have to ask and answer in order to design high quality Y-AP. It provides tools for youth and adults to identify their own principles and practices of Y-AP. Equally important, the manual helps organizations discover and leverage their collective expertise and insight to implement Y-AP. ACT for Youth and University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Youth-Adult Partnership Rubric

This rubric will help you assess your youth-adult partnership practices with respect to 1) authentic decision making, 2) natural mentors, 3) reciprocity, and 4) community connectedness. Michigan State University.

Youth-Adult Partnerships in Evaluation: A Resource Guide for Translating Research into Practice

Over the past decade, a solid body of research has been conducted on the processes and outcomes of youth and adults working together on evaluation projects. Building from the research, this guide offers tip sheets, data analysis strategies, recommended reading, and a bibliography of Y-AP research. ACT for Youth and University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Youth-Adult Partnership Training

This self-paced, online Y-AP training is designed for volunteers and new professionals. University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Youth and Adult Leaders for Program Excellence (YALPE): A Practical Guide for Program Assessment and Action Planning

YALPE is a toolkit for organizations that are ready to assess the quality of their youth development programming and the participation of youth in organizational governance and planning. The YALPE toolkit provides assessment instruments and practical guidance for collecting and analyzing data. It also contains clear directions on how to collect, analyze, and interpret data and use it to strengthen organizations. ACT for Youth and University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Youth Advisory Council Toolkit

This toolkit for adult facilitators includes specific examples of ways to engage youth as well as a more detailed focus on youth advisory councils. The guide discusses common problems and solutions, and provides or links to tools for self-assessment, evaluation, job descriptions, permission forms, and more. Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Setting Up a Youth Leadership Board

GripTape's Youth Leadership Board (YLB) makes key strategy decisions, participates in regular design sprints, and drives forward important initiatives. The YLB isn't just an advisory board or focus group. It is a group of young people who have real organizational power. This document describes how they operate and lessons learned along the way. GripTape.