Perspectives on Innovative Foster Care Programs
Voices of Youth: A Model of Success
A Program of Southwest Key

By Jennifer Nelson*, Jill Nilson** and Kim Wilks**

Voices of Youth was founded to make the foster care system more responsive to the needs of adolescents by advocating for their meaningful involvement and the inclusion of their perspectives in day-to-day operations. Voices of Youth (VOY) was established because there was a realization that the old strategies for providing services and supports to adolescents in foster care was not working. Today we have expanded our work to include the juvenile justice system, as well as the educational system. We believe these systems operate from a deficit focused orientation. Interventions are provided when a young person has a problem or when they are identified as "at risk", services are then focused on preventing or correcting a specific behavior. However, a non-pregnant, non-drop out, non-gang affiliated, non-drug abusing youth is not necessarily prepared to live a satisfying, self-fulfilled, healthy and productive life. These systems often fail to look at adolescents in a holistic fashion, to see them as individuals with problems, strengths, hopes and dreams. There is not flexibility in tailoring services to meet the needs of individual young people, and yet we know this is critical in order to provide the full range of supports necessary for a successful transition from adolescence that lays the groundwork for a healthy, satisfying adulthood.

Through Voices of Youth we advocate for the inclusion of adolescents in all aspects of service delivery, decision-making related to their lives, policy development and program operations. We have established vehicles for young people to meaningfully participate in the programs in which they are served by working in partnership with staff. These young people are also supported and provided training to advocate for broader systemic change.

In the fall of 2001, VOY developed a partnership with Southwest Key Program, Inc. The mission of Southwest Key Program, Inc. is to advocate for children worldwide, and to impact children, youth and families by empowering them to succeed. Southwest Key was founded out of a belief that troubled children do not fare well in institutions, and are helped much more significantly by community-based organizations that work with entire families and community support systems. Our partnership with Southwest Key has enabled Voices of Youth to increase our service delivery models and offers an extensive infrastructure enabling Voices of Youth to grow and expand.

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Voices of Youth is a program based on the theories of a positive youth development model of practice. We operate our own youth-serving programs based on our philosophy of encouraging and creating opportunities for young people to be meaningfully involved in a variety of projects that meet their specific and unique needs. Our programs empower youth to actively engage in their own development while contributing to the larger community in which they live. These combined efforts are inextricably linked and in our experience demonstrate the greatest promise for achieving positive outcomes for adolescents both in the present and for the future. Resilience research shows that young people living in high-risk conditions are able to transcend their environments and overcome the odds and to lead successful lives. Youth who are socially competent, have problem solving skills that include critical and creative thinking strategies, a sense of identity, a sense of purpose and belief in a bright future have the traits that will enable them to successfully maneuver through difficult life circumstances. Voices of Youth seeks to nurture these Qualities in the young men and women who participate in the program.

What Is Youth Development?

Youth development is a process in which children and adolescents learn to meet their personal needs and build skills needed to function effectively in their daily lives. Rather than focus on problems and deficits, a youth development approach addresses the common causes of high risk behavior alcohol and drug use, emotional problems, family problems, violence, school failure and dropout, crime, pregnancy, etc. By working with youth to address issues such as self esteem, coping skills, appropriate use of time, building of adequate supports, identification of healthy relationships, setting of personal goals etc. the occurrence of the above mentioned high risk behaviors can be effectively minimized. By giving youth skills and support as well as the opportunities to practice these newly-learned skills and test the supports, youth will build additional protective factors while reducing risky behaviors.

In short, youth development is the ongoing process in which all youth are engaged in attempting to:

1) Meet their basic personal and social needs, and

2) Build skills and competencies that allow them to function and contribute in their daily lives.

For youth involved in systems of care, this is a radical new approach to service delivery. At Voices of Youth, we believe a young person must be actively and meaningfully involved in those systems in order to be a truly nurtured, empowered, and resilient youth able to effectively meet life's challenges. Youth must be active participants in the decisions that impact their lives, including those decisions that have direct impact on them as an individual as well as the systemic issues that impact the system in which they live.

What Is Voices of Youth?

Youth Voices are the vital contributions young people can and do make to their communities. It's also about giving young people the opportunity to make these contributions. Youth Voice doesn't mean talking loudly or shouting to be heard or drowning others out, but rather it is about considering the perspectives and ideas of young people, respecting what everyone has to say, taking risks, listening, sharing and working together.

Core Elements of a Positive Youth Development Approach

Promote Youth Involvement
Youth should be assigned meaningful roles, not just be given token opportunities. The young person is meant to learn from the experience since they contribute a unique and valuable perspective to the process. A commitment must be made to integrate their suggestions and follow up on ideas.

Value Individual Strengths
Programs must build on the strengths of the youth, their family, and their community. This begins with the recognition that every youth, family, and staff person has strengths, which must not only be identified in service plans but be clearly evidenced in steps for achieving goals. All services should be individually and developmentally based, and youth must be reached in a way that matters to them. Central to the idea of valuing individual strengths is the belief that we must help our youth to find their individual creativity. Often youth report that this creativity, whatever it may be, is a strength that is often overlooked when planning services for them.

Learn By Doing

Youth learn best by hands-on experience. Opportunities must be available that allow them to actively practice and experience new skills. For example, work ethics, values and attitudes cannot by learned solely through classroom-style teaching, rather they must be learned through active participation. This can be done through community partnerships with youth involved in community service through volunteerism or paid service work. Youth often need realistic opportunities for work and career in the community, so this could serve dual purposes.

Adults can help young people contribute to their community by creating meaningful and challenging opportunities providing young people with the skills they need to meaningfully participate. This may be their first experience on a task force or in a meeting, so they may need help understanding what is going to happen and how they can participate, debrief experiences after they happen and ensure more than one young person is involved so that they don't feel isolated.

Flexible Schedules

Youth have different schedules and priorities than adults especially in regard to their school schedules. They may also be involved in many other activities that are equally important such as sports, clubs, jobs, etc. Meetings should be regularly scheduled but should be flexible to allow time for their other priorities. Follow up with the young person if they do not attend a meeting. Youth appreciate knowing they were missed and may need encouragement to continue participation.

Reflection, Evaluation and Celebration

Set clear expectations so that both the adult and youth understand what is expected of them. Check in regularly and make adjustments as needed. Make sure the young person has tangible projects to work on. It is important for them to see the impact of their involvement. Celebrate successes and address challenges. Meetings that are fun, involve food and are respectful of all participants will encourage both youth and adult participation.

Tips for Creating Youth/Adult Partnerships

How Can Adults Support Youth Voice?
• Offer guidance and moral support
• Help make connections with other supportive adults
• Recruit young people to help recruit other young people
• Provide a telephone, copier, fax machine, computers, etc.
• Supervise events
• Share wisdom and experience
• Allow young people to find the answers and make mistakes
• Make sure that activities are safe and appropriate
• Provide training
• Help locate funding sources
• Provide transportation to projects, community organizations or other locations
• Communicate with parents
• Listen to each other!
• Have fun!

Taken from: From YAC Tracks: A Stop-by-Stop Guide for Organizing Community Youth Action Coalitions. The Kansas Office for Community Service and Points of Light Foundation, 1995. Based on: The Generator, Fall 1992, p.24, The National Youth Leadership Council, Minneapolis, MN.

Steps You Can Take...

• Build a team of young people and adults working together with a common purpose.
• Respect is essential. Without basic respect and trust, youth leadership cannot happen.
• Back up young leaders with care and support young people lack the experience to know that a failure is not the end of the world; they need encouragement and support to learn from mistakes.
• Structure opportunities for reflection through writing and discussion: a key factor in effective leadership is the ability to learn from experiences and to apply them.
• Utilize experienced program participants or older peers in training roles.
• Avoid tokenism by involving many youth; Only one or two students on a board may be intimidated or feel inadequate representing all of their peers.
• Establish and maintain accountability.
• Set responsibility at appropriate levels — too high is a guaranteed failure and too low will risk insulting or boring them.
• Involve young people in the process of delegating responsibilities.
• Adults should model the behaviors expected from youth leaders.

Voices of Youth is a project of the Southwest Key Program, Inc. To learn more about Voices of Youth and the Southwest Key Program please visit www.swkey.org or e-mail info@swkey.org or write: Southwest Key Program, Inc., 3000 S. IH-35, Suite 410 Austin, Texas 78704.

*Jennifer Nelson is a co-founder of Voices of Youth and a Director of the Voices of Youth Texas and New York programs. She is also a Member of the Perspectives On Youth Advisory Board.
**Jill Nilson and Kim Wilks are Directors of Voices of Youth Texas program.