Positive Youth Development  Youth Development enables youth to acquire and improve the skills that allow youth to identify interests, build talents and abilities, experience successes, set-life-defining goals, and make positive choices that will enable them to develop into mature and successful tax paying citizens of Missouri.
Youth Development helps adolescents choose to stay away from crime, violence, and other poor choices and make the decisions needed to reach their full potential. These decisions may include staying in school and/or earning a diploma or GED, abstaining from drugs and alcohol, avoiding teenage pregnancy, and participating in a job skills training program.
Missouri has many related or support organizations that work with the issue. These include:
Financial Resources (both ours and others that fund the issue):
Best Practices
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Ensure that the basic needs of young people are met: shelter, food, clothing, health care, physical, and emotional safety.
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Promotion of sustained and caring relationships between young people and adults.
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Experiences that build competencies and confidence: the arts, sports, hobbies, and outdoor adventures.
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Opportunities to take on adult roles and participate in the world of work: community service, paid employment, leadership activities, and career awareness.
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Comprehensive and developmentally appropriate information and guidance about sexuality and relationships.
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Academic supports.
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Use of peer educators.
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Management practices:
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Incorporating youth leadership into the design and evaluation of programs.
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Building capacity in community and persons.
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Strategic planning.
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Minimizing overhead and maximizing services.
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Insuring accessibility of services, especially to those most in need.
- Using clearly defined outcomes and evaluating program effectiveness.
Business and Community Services
301 W. High Street, Rooms 720, 770, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102
Tel: 800-523-1434 Fax: 573-751-7384 Email: missouridevelopment@ded.mo.gov |