Suchergebnisse

Understanding the role of youth workers and promoting an accurate representation of these professionals and their work requires a focus on current research, practice, and policies that capture the challenges and opportunities of the youth development workforce. An overview of this special issue of the Journal of Youth Development examines efforts to support individual youth workers, strategies organizations use to prepare and assist youth workers, and system approaches to building the capacity of the workforce in key areas such as quality and social emotional learning, and concludes with an encapsulation of interviews with 10 key leaders nationwide. They identified the overarching task as one of identification of the elements that can make the field cohesive across the different settings and programs, while supporting youth in their growth through experiences that are rooted in the science of learning and development. Finally, this special issue offers the opportunity to better understand the youth workers, examine different types of professional development pathways, explore the role that systems can play in support of these workers, and reflect on the challenges and opportunities raised by key leaders in the profession.

The field of youth development continues to evolve and grow, as many professionals (e.g., social workers, health care workers, public health workers, etc.) have begun to recognize the role youth development plays in their daily work. However, the challenge now is to properly identify the youth development-related work of these professionals, in order to appropriately support and resource the workforce to ensure their success with youth. The current article concludes this special issue on the Youth Development Workforce, with insights from key leaders in the field of youth development on the strengths and challenges that the field will face as it transforms. This article, in combination with the prior articles in this special issue, reflects the current efforts of the youth development workforce that acts as a foundation for the future of the field.