The Value of Youth-Led Programs

Welcome! Youth are leading the way for positive community change and youth-led programs (YLP) are making it possible. Youth-led programs encourage young people to actively look at their surroundings, gather information, and then address community topics that are relevant to their lives. YLP provide a platform to effectively engage youth voice and youth action, equipping young people with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to impact their community. This approach advances the inclusion of young people in the planning and development of initiatives, programs, and policies that affect their community.

To support those interested in initiating and sustaining youth- led programs, we created a series of resources that can be used to demonstrate the value of YLP. Watch this short introductory video to see how these resources can support YLP in your community.

Why are YLP Valuable? – Shareable Products

The shareable products below were created by the Ohio Adult Allies Study Group in 2020 to provide you with a strong sense of how and why YLP are an asset to the community.

How will YOU use these products to demonstrate the value of YLP in YOUR community?

Video

This short explainer video is designed to be used with a wide variety of audiences – youth, parents, community leaders, and more! How will YOU use this video to demonstrate the value of YLP in YOUR community?

Briefing Paper

This briefing paper provides readers with a more comprehensive understanding of how and why YLP are an asset to the community. How will YOU use the briefing paper to demonstrate the value of YLP in YOUR community?

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Infographic

This infographic provides a way for readers to quickly see the value of YLP. How will YOU use the infographic to demonstrate the value of YLP in YOUR community?

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Podcast

Want to hear more about the value of YLP from young people and adult allies in the field? In this podcast, you will hear young people and adult allies discuss the value of YLP from their personal experiences. How will YOU use the podcast to demonstrate the value of YLP in YOUR community?

Voices from the Field: How Ohio Adult Allies Are Using These Resources

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Beth Thomas
Coordinator for the Northwest Ohio Adult Ally Regional Learning Collaborative
Fulton County

I am excited about the products developed to engage adult allies in the valuable work of youth led programs. I will use the Youth Led Program “explainer video” in a variety of ways including: prepping adult audiences prior to young people presenting at a school board meeting, city council or other community stakeholder meetings to help the adults understand the process young people have completed, helping parents to understand youth led programs at our YAC Parent Orientation meetings, and to engage potential funders for youth led programs in understanding the value of their investment.

George Hicks
Southside Community Collaborative
Franklin County

The products on this webpage that speak to the value of youth-led programs are true to my experience with an empowerment-based approach to youth led prevention. Youth-led programs implementing the SPF (Strategic Prevention Framework) and the YECF (youth empowerment Conceptional Framework) have brought structure to my passion for a deliberate approach to community organizing. As a prevention consultant whose work is primarily in the urban community, the YECF facilitates the systematic development of the youth voice. The US culture is experiencing fundamental changes at its foundations; century-old assumptions are being questioned, and the young people lead the way. Hence, youth engage in a dialogue with peers by leveraging their lived experiences, hip-hop music, and ethnic affiliation to address social issues impacting youth. Youth-led programs have the potential to be culturally relevant at the local level since the youth initiate and implement the activities to fulfill the adage NAMWM (not about me without me), thus creating lasting change.

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Portrait of a smiling woman wearing glasses and a white blouse.

Julianna Fellows
Community Engagement Services, LLC

I’ve been part of the Ohio Youth-Led Prevention Adult Ally Network since it was created in 2012. Initially, I worked in direct service with youth. The prevention program I worked for focused on developing programs that aligned with and actively used the YLP frameworks and tools to drive youth involvement in authentic community change. As my experience with YLP programming evolved, so has my outreach in connecting others with the goal of YLP. I now often speak with professionals in the public health field regarding the power and mutual benefits of engaging with youth and YLP programs in creating lasting community change. I will often refer to The Value of Youth-Led Programs white paper to strengthen my presentation. The animated video and infographic are handy tools in introducing the topic of YLP. I also suggest reviewing the other available white papers to deepen your conversation with others.

Evi Roberts
Ohio Youth-led Prevention Network (OYLPN)
Statewide Youth-Led Program

“You’re like a club advisor, right?”

“Is it workforce development or…?”

“Sounds like community service.”

Many of my friends and family members don’t have a clue what I do in my role as an adult ally for the Ohio Youth-Led Prevention Network Youth Council. The nuance of what we mean by phrases like “youth-led,” “adult ally,” “community-level change,” and “strategic planning” is necessary to paint a full picture of the work we do, but these phrases sometimes require primers in and of themselves. I am therefore excited to use these resources to make the idea of youth-led programs more accessible to newcomers. This will surely make it easier to answer the question “What do you do?”—not only when describing my job to my loved ones, but also when I need to engage new partners in my work to support the Youth Council and other youth-led programs.

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Smiling middle-aged woman with blonde hair and warm expression.

Mollie Stevens
Impact Prevention
Lawrence County

I am excited about the addition of the tools on the OAA website. I look forward to using these as a primer for adults that express interest in establishing a Youth-led Prevention team. I feel these tools will be essential in garnering support from greater audience and instilling a better understanding of what Youth-Led Prevention looks like in practice.

Meagan Joseph

Impact Prevention
Lawrence County
Implementing Change: Infographic & Briefing Papers

When launching youth-led prevention efforts and providing support as an adult ally, it can be overwhelming initially to consider what to actually do to create change. With year-to-year shifts in membership, even well-established teams have unique characteristics and relationships within their environments that may require different approaches from previous years. Resources such as the “Visualizing Evidence-Based Strategies” Infographic and the respective briefing papers related to the CSAP strategies provide valuable insight that can be leveraged in the planning stages, even going so far as to provide detailed examples and case studies. By utilizing these resources, the youth and the implementation efforts are provided a solid structure for success.

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Two people wearing masks engaging in an indoor activity with a paddle and ball.

People engaged in a group discussion around tables in a community room.

Shawn Jeffers

Youth At The Center
Hamilton County
Briefing Papers

Once your youth-led program is established, the next opportunity can be to sustain your group. Sustainability could look like expanding support from stakeholders in your school and/or community or by securing funding to boost your efforts. When approaching stakeholders and funders, strengthen your case by providing evidence that youth-led programs are having a positive impact on young people and their surroundings. Each of the Briefing Papers on this page highlight best practices of youth-led programs and feature a case study making it easy to reference when making your case for support. For instance, the Policy & Advocacy Briefing Paper provides details on how young people were successful in advocating for expanded mental health resources at their school. Youth-led programs are effective and by strategically using these tools your group can operate for years to come.

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A group of seven people wearing matching hoodies and face masks indoors.

Two men smiling, both wearing red shirts indoors.