Youth Today

01/07/2026

💙 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁.

In her quarterly column for the Thriving Youth Need a Thriving Workforce series, Jen Curry of Change Impact shares how restorative practice can transform PD for youth workers.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼: You walk into training, dreading it. But there's Motown playing softly, coffee and granola bars, coloring books and crayons on tables, fidget toys available. The instructor greets you by name. You settle as the session begins.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗗?
☑️ PD doesn't happen in isolation—staff are stressed, burned out, navigating trauma
☑️ Staff engagement drives strong youth outcomes (Hello Insight research)
☑️ When brains are in survival mode, learning is biologically difficult

𝗦𝗶𝘅 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲:
1️⃣ Start with a check-in
2️⃣ Create a welcoming environment
3️⃣ Build in intentional breaks
4️⃣ Vary learning modalities
5️⃣ Use affective statements
6️⃣ Close with reflection

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 ➡️ https://youthtoday.org/2026/01/restorative-approach-professional-development-youth-workers/

12/19/2025

📊 Being physically present doesn't mean being mentally engaged. Being absent may not mean not learning.

Karen Pittman explores how "the new absenteeism" expands our thinking about chronic absence — especially for high schoolers.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎: Post-COVID chronic absence rates haven't recovered. High school rates are 50% higher than elementary/middle school.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌: The Reinvention Lab identified five profiles:
- Systematically Blocked: "I know school's important, but life happens"
- Engaged: "I'm just fine"
- Real-life Learners: "I'm doing something different" (internships, learning elsewhere)
- Checked Out: "I'm here, but what's the point?"
- In Crisis: "I'm done"

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕: Students might be physically present but checked out. Or engaged in learning but marked "absent" because they're in internships. We need measures that track both attendance AND engagement.



Read more → https://youthtoday.org/2025/12/chronic-absence-chosen-presence-case-new-measures-especially-high-schoolers/

12/19/2025

📚 Part 2 in our series featuring the chapter authors of "Positive Youth Development: Integrating Research and Practice" connects us to Arielle Lentz (American Institutes for Research (AIR)), co-author of Chapter 6, "The Practitioner’s Challenge: Readiness for Change."

As a former afterschool director in Pittsburgh, Lentz watched new initiatives fail without staff buy-in. Learning about readiness was a lightbulb moment: "I wish I had this chapter then — it would have given me the language to communicate why we weren't ready and how to get ready."

She shares that this chapter matters as programs consistently face new requirements. Understanding which specific area needs support ensures more efficient use of resources.

A key takeaway? "It's OK to not be ready! Understanding readiness helps you know where to focus." 💡

Read the Q&A: https://youthtoday.org/2025/12/on-readiness-to-change/

12/17/2025

🌍 "Why are youth left out of climate decision-making when it's OUR future?" Mahi Mekala, a high school student in Silicon Valley, presented solar energy plans to her education board. Not a single student was in the room.

So she started advocating for solar on all new school construction.

The challenges:
Campuses lack space for solar → researched footprint specs
Needed district board support → built a coalition
Peers lacked time/comfort speaking → created Google form for statements

What she learned:
✓ Youth action is essential, not optional
✓ Digital tools make advocacy more inclusive
✓ Collaboration amplifies impact

Her message to adults: Work with us. We might lack PhDs, but we understand the gravity of this crisis. When young people get real seats at the table, climate action is something we can lead NOW.

Read the full story → https://youthtoday.org/2025/12/missing-voices-climate-decision-making-youth/

12/12/2025

📚 Afterschool programs need more staff. College students need flexible jobs. The solution? 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨.

Lorant Peeler and Mariko Yoshisato Cavey (Partnership for Student Success) explain how colleges and afterschool programs can team up.

Millions of children could benefit from afterschool programs — if there were enough tutors, mentors and coaches.

The solution? College students have schedules that match afterschool hours. But they're often recruited externally, missing partnership benefits.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀:
✓ Afterschool jobs as Federal Work-Study positions
✓ Service hours = academic credit or certificates
✓ Open positions on campus job boards
✓ Representation at career fairs

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀:
✓ Programs get dedicated staff
✓ Colleges build community ties
✓ Students earn money + build skills

Getting college students into afterschool programs is a worthwhile investment. When done with quality and reciprocity, everyone wins. 🎯

Read the full story ➡️ https://youthtoday.org/2025/12/college-students-can-help-close-gap-demand-availability-afterschool-programs/

Part of "Thriving Youth Need a Thriving Workforce" series

12/10/2025

🏠 4.2 million young people face homelessness each year in the U.S.

If we do nothing, that number will TRIPLE by 2035.

Chapin Hall's Voices of Youth Count research showed 4.2 million children, teens, and young adults face homelessness each year — 1 in 10 youth ages 18-25 and 1 in 30 adolescents 13-17. Many Covenant House residents share their first experience came before age 13.

But there's a new partnership that could reverse the trend.

Insight to Impact (i2i) = Covenant House International + Hall working together to prevent youth homelessness at scale. Covenant House brings access to tens of thousands of youth across 34 sites. Chapin Hall brings four decades of youth homelessness research.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿:
❓ What conditions lead to youth homelessness?
❓ Which interventions work best?
❓ How do we shorten time without stable housing?

Youth homelessness is preventable — with the right strategy built on the right information.

Read the full story ➡ https://youthtoday.org/2025/12/new-partnership-identify-root-causes-youth-homelessness-find-real-world-solutions/

12/05/2025

$50 BILLION for education. Designed as vouchers. Could become something else?

The new federal tax credit was meant to fund private school vouchers. But Karen Pittman says youth organizations shouldn't automatically pass.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆:
✔️ Qualified expenses include afterschool, tutoring, tech, transportation
✔️ Youth-serving nonprofits can become Scholarship Granting Organizations
✔️ Families earning up to 300% area median income qualify (90%+ of students)
✔️ No sunset date—this will grow over time

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆:
Affluent families spend 9x more on learning enrichment than low-income families. This could help balance that—IF we organize fast.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲:
Treasury wants comments by Dec. 26 on how to implement this.
Blue states can shape this to support learning ecosystems, not just private schools. But we need to move quickly and strategically.

Sometimes the biggest wins come from unexpected places. 💪

Read the full story ➡️ Link in bio

12/04/2025

🎤 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟯 𝗼𝗳 "𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗰"

Daniel Warren, Ph.D. (Fluent) explains how hip-hop's evolution shows us what real systems change looks like in youth work.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁: Thomas Kuhn's paradigm shifts — change doesn't happen gradually. Old models break, new ones take over.

𝗛𝗶𝗽-𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳:
🎧 Anomaly - DJ Kool Herc = party & community. Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" = poverty & neglect. Didn't fit, but reflected reality.
🎧 Crisis - Public Enemy made hip-hop political. The party-only model wasn't big enough anymore.
🎧 Shift - Run-DMC = global culture. Adidas, MTV, arena tours. New paradigm.

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆:
Warren sees 3 anomalies signaling the next shift:
1️⃣ Schools + afterschool collaborating (not silos)
2️⃣ Youth voice = genuine partnership
3️⃣ Mental health in everyday spaces (not just crisis)

"The next paradigm rarely starts in the center. It begins at the margins." 🎯

Read the full post ➡️ https://youthtoday.org/2025/12/shifting-game-kuhn-hip-hop-future-youth-work/

12/03/2025

💙 "𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒌."

Jocelyn Hanson, 16, has juvenile Sjögren's disease. Her body attacks itself from the inside, but she looks "perfectly healthy."

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀:
❌ Only 420 pediatric rheumatologists in the U.S.
❌ 8 states have ZERO
❌ Kids travel 57+ miles for care

𝗝𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗹𝘆𝗻'𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Founded Room4Rheum — a youth-led platform making invisible illness visible.

They create space for youth stories, educate medical schools and turn pain into advocacy.

Jocelyn's longterm goal is to become a pediatric rheumatologist herself.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒉𝒆𝒖𝒎." 💪

Read the full story ➡️ https://youthtoday.org/2025/12/how-youth-are-leading-change-pediatric-rheumatology/

11/25/2025

11/21/2025

📚 The gap between research and practice just got smaller.

𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩: 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚 is here. A first-of-its-kind resource that translates youth development science into practical concepts.

Edited by Mary Arnold of human development and family sciences at Oregon State University , and Theresa M. Ferrari, extension specialist with The Ohio State University 4-H Youth Development. 💡

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: Practitioners don't have time to read technical research papers. But good practice is based on research.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 22 chapters bringing leading scholars' voices directly to practitioners.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱:
📍 Program quality & belonging
📍 Developmental relationships
📍 Equity, access & opportunity
📍 Social-emotional learning
📍 Learning from challenges
📍 Purpose & emotion regulation
📍 Celebrating youth professionals

"𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆." — Mary Arnold

Youth Today will interview chapter authors in the coming months with practical takeaways! 🎯

Read the full article → https://youthtoday.org/2025/11/integrating-research-practice-new-resource-bridges-gap/

11/20/2025

🏀 𝙄𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙨. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨.

Skylar Spencer and Kathryn Jackson, Special Olympics U.S. Youth Ambassadors from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, share how Unified programming — where people with and without intellectual disabilities train and compete together — changed their lives.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: Research from UMass Boston found that students who participate in Unified Sports and attend whole-school engagement events report the highest sense of belonging at their schools. That belonging is linked to more positive attitudes toward peers with ID.

𝟱 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
1️⃣ Build a team of champions—youth and adult mentors excited about inclusion
2️⃣ Partner with local schools or Special Olympics programs
3️⃣ Use free "plug-and-play" resources from Special Olympics
4️⃣ Empower youth leadership—give them real roles in planning, coaching, mentoring
5️⃣ Focus on belonging and fun—celebrate wins, share meals, make space for authentic friendships

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: Now in its 18th year with 10,000+ schools nationwide, Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools® demonstrates that inclusion is possible anywhere young people gather — afterschool programs, recreation leagues, community centers.

Create spaces where every young person can lead, belong and thrive. 💪

Read the full article ➡️ https://youthtoday.org/2025/11/back-to-school-back-to-unified-how-your-organization-can-champion-inclusion/