11 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention State Advisory Group (SAG) Training Youth Involvement in State Advisory Groups Sponsored by the.

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Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency PreventionOffice of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency PreventionState Advisory Group (SAG) TrainingState Advisory Group (SAG) Training

Youth Involvement in State Advisory GroupsYouth Involvement in State Advisory Groups

Sponsored by the

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

Administered Through the SAG Training Grant Under

Cooperative Agreement #2010–JF–FX–K002

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Module 1EMBRACING THE ROLE OF

YOUTH INVOLVEMENT

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Learning Objective

Participants will gain a better appreciation how the overall work of the SAG is enhanced by youth member involvement and youth contributions at multiple levels.

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Module Overview

•The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act

•Defining youth involvement

•Recognizing the value of youth involvement

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Where Do You Stand?

Individual Reflection Exercise

Youth Involvement

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The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act

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“Letter of the Law”

• General youth voice• One-fifth of a SAG’s members must be under the age of 24

when appointed.

• System-involved youth voice• Three members must currently be or in the past were under

the jurisdiction of the juvenile justice system.

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“Spirit of the Law”

• Youth engagement• It is basic democracy• Provide representation at a table where decisions are

made about one’s population and demographic. • “Nothing for us without us.”

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In Their Own Words:

“Youth engagement means that those youth members in a very real sense feel

valued by the other members of the SAG. There must be a conscious effort to

include them in the discussion and processes addressed by the SAG. If youth

members have never been involved in ‘the system,’ they need to be made

familiar with the juvenile justice process in their state and with the acronyms

and language related to that system. If a youth member has been involved in

‘the system,’ adult members need to be open-minded, valuing the

perspectives put forth by that member. It is vital that adult members don’t put

forth an attitude of superiority but rather an attitude of mentorship and the

appreciation of learning something from those youth members.”

—Tom McBride, Nebraska SAG member10

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The Reality…

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•Considered and treated as full members

•Youth assist in grant review

•Viewed as experts who provide guidance and feedback.

•It’s vital and provides insight about relationships with the community and services

•Celebrated for their service

•Represented on the SAG Executive Committee and encouraged to attend national conferences

•Difficulty retaining youth members

•Limited practical contributions by youth

Youth Involvement

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Defining Youth Involvement

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Three Interrelated Components:

1. Positive Youth Development

2. Youth voice

3. Youth engagement

Also important…it takes youth and ADULTS!!!!!!

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Positive Youth Development

• Youth-Adult partnership– Distinguishes PYD from Youth Work

• Individual development– “...ongoing growth process in which all youth are engaged in

attempting to • (1) meet their basic personal and social needs to be … valued, be

useful… and • (2) build skills and competencies that allow them to function and

contribute in their daily lives” (Karen Pittman, 1993).

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Envisioning Youth Engagement

Group Activity

The Same or Different?

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Positive Youth Development

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Positive Youth Development (cont’d)

Interactive Group Exercise

Checking in on our 6 C’s.

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Youth Voice

Interactive Group Exercise

What Language Do You Speak?

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Youth Voice (cont’d)

The confidence to have a voice is not innate.

Providing youth with a voice requires • Innovation • Patience • Individualized opportunities

Understanding, mentorship and clarifying questions are essential.

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Envisioning Youth Engagement

Resource Break!

Roger Hart’s Ladder of Young People’s Participation

Guide to Youth Friendly Practices

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Addressing Barriers

Small Group Activity: Preconceived Notions

• Split into groups (Youth and Non-Youth Members).• Brainstorm benefits and challenges of working with the other group.• Discuss.

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In Their Own Words:

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“The benefit of youth membership on the SAG is two-fold. First of all throw all the federal requirements out the window. The need for youth involvement in their own system of justice is just the right thing to do. The benefit of youth engaged with their SAG to the adult members can be looking at issues and processes from a new perspective, remaining grounded (and remembering) for whom it is exactly that we are trying to improve the system for. A youth member can also be the ears and eyes of a different generation. The value to the youth member is the opportunity to learn how to work in collaboration with others and how to be a voice in a process that is most often dominated by adults; it can give them experiences and tools they can take into their future endeavors. The experience also looks very nice on résumés for them and can create a clearer understanding of positive involvement in their community.”

– SAG member

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Values Statement

Large Group Activity

Creating a SAG Value Statement

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Value Statement Examples• Insert NJ & NC values statement

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Module 2:EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENT OF

YOUTH MEMBERS

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Learning Objective

Participants will gain an understanding of the importance of effective recruitment of youth members for involvement in the SAG, as well as several strategies designed to assist in such recruitment.

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Module Overview

• Identification• Marketing• Outreach• Screening process• Ensuring appointment • Orientation• First impressions

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JJDPA Requirements

• General youth voice– One fifth of SAG must

be under 24 when appointed.

• System-involved voice– Three SAG members

must be or have been under juvenile justice system jurisdiction.

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Identifying Potential Youth

Large Group Activity

Where do we look for youth members?

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The answer is right in front of you!

Utilize your resources:• Public agencies

• Private nonprofit organizations

• Youth volunteers

• Employed youth

• System-involved youth

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Broaden your horizons:• Youth leadership conferences• Juvenile justice conferences• Youth services• Foster care agencies• Detention facilities• YMCA• Boys and Girls Club • Youth leadership classes • Teen/Youth Court• College campuses• Fellowships/Internships

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Age Specific

High School• County school districts

– Leadership – Government – Teen/Youth Court

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Higher Education • College campuses

– Juvenile Justice/Criminal Justice– Political science – Social services

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Identifying Youth

Small Group Activity

Profile of an Engaged Youth Member

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Market Your SAG!

• STEP ONE: DEVELOP A MARKETING PLAN

• Consider the SAG as a marketing team– Knowledgeable– Aware– Prepared

• Ensure all members understand their role in implementing the plan.

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Marketing to Youth

Large Group Activity

What type of marketing does our SAG do?

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Marketing Plan Components

• Executive summary• Measurable goals,

objectives and desired impact

• Target audiences

• Messages• Strategies• Timeline• Evaluation

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Marketing Plan

Small Group Activity

Creating a Mini Marketing Plan

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Market Your SAG!• STEP TWO: DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN• Create, design, construct, deliver

• Flyers/handouts/brochures • Business cards• SAG website • Listservs• E-letters• Social media

• Identify roles in outreach– Create a youth outreach work group – Consider a youth voice based marketing plan– Delegate the Youth Subcommittee to engage prospective members

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Involving Ourselves in Outreach

Individual Reflection Exercise

What can I do to help recruit youth members?

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Identifying and Screening Youth Members

• Remember your Effective Youth Member characteristics.• Establish methods for selecting members with these

characteristics– Application for membership (See Example)– Experiential SAG opportunities (Hawaii)

• Allow participation in subcommittees prior to SAG membership• Allow them to attend SAG members prior to appointment

– Individual or youth panel interviews• Utilize during site visits and grant reports

– Remember system-involved youth

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Ensuring the Appointment

• Develop cohesive strategy consisting of:– Professionalism – Conveying of importance

• SAG• Youth voice on SAG

– Diligence– Plan for presentation of potential members to appropriate

personnel– Compliance

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If an appointment is rejected…

•Share your value statement, marketing plan, and screening process.

•Be persistent, make additional efforts to explain the need.

•Schedule a meeting to discuss reasons why the particular youth was not appointed and address concerns.

• Utilize resources. •Communicate with OJJDP, other SAG’s and local supports.

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OrientationThings to Include: • Expectation of SAG involvement

– Roles and responsibilities– Attendance– Commitment level– Flexibility for youth

• Compensation (Stipends/Transportation) for SAG involvement• Support system for youth

– Mentoring– Individual orientation opportunities– Youth Subcommittee

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Orientation and Integration

Strategies:• Experiential orientation opportunities• Development of a new member packet

– National CJJ Youth Committee “Youth Manual” (http://www.juvjustice.org)– Common Forms– Local Acronyms– SAG Policies– Meeting Dates

• Individual new member training • Youth panel member training• One-one-one mentoring• Youth subcommittee presentation at each meeting

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Addressing Challenges and Barriers

Large Group Activity

What barriers/challenges will we face in the orientation of youth members?

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Module 3:ENGAGING AND RETAINING YOUTH

MEMBERS

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Learning Objectives

Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the value of youth member participation, learn new strategies to keep youth engaged and involved on the SAG, and develop solutions to barriers that may inhibit youth retention.

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Module Overview

• Overcoming challenges in reappointment• Proactive approaches• Addressing retention and turnover• Establishing retention strategies

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Positive Youth Development (PYD)• “The basic premise of PYD is that even the most

disadvantaged young person can develop positively when connected to the right mix of opportunities, supports, positive roles, and relationships.” – Butts, Bazemore, and Meroe (2010).

• How can SAGs use the PYD model to engage youth?

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Positive Youth Development

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Components of Youth Engagement

• Youth–Adult partnerships

• Infusion of youth

• Mutuality

• Communication

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• Follow-through

• Respect

• Authenticity

• Enthusiasm

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Discussion: Barriers to Youth Involvement

• What are current barriers to engagement? • What roadblocks for under-utilized members exist?

• Logistical challenges• Philosophical challenges

• How does your SAG support healthy transitions?• Moving within state• Transitioning from SAG’s (recruitment and training of replacement)• “…the youth and young adults in these age ranges are inherently

transient, moving from high school to college or college to employment. Hard to get through these transitions.” —Interviewed SAG Member

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Positioning Your SAG-Part 1

How can we shift roadblocks to building blocks?

“We have had some wonderful, committed youth members, but jobs, education, children, etc. make it difficult for them to stay consistent.”

— SAG Member

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Develop Effective Engagement Strategies

Utilizing Positive Youth Development• Emerging research suggests that community service “may have a

positive impact on the health and well-being of youth, including crime and other risky behaviors” (Butts, Bazemore and Meroe, 2010).

• What does PYD look like in a SAG environment?– Example: Mentoring system– Outcome: Divide decreases

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Positioning Our SAG-Part Two

What steps can be taken to create a climate that cultivates youth leadership?

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Module 4

YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

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Learning Objective

Participants will gain an understanding of the importance of effective leadership development of youth members for retention and growth within the SAG, as well as understanding of program models designed to assist in such continuous leadership development.

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Module Overview

• Understand leadership • Appreciate the importance of effective youth leadership• Incorporate leadership development in your SAG

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Perspectives on Leadership

• If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.– John Quincy Adams

• Leadership is the active ability to inspire by one’s own example – to ardently motivate others to achieve with integrity and accountability their greatest potential, for both personal and professional progress. – Christine Lin, Yale School of Management

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Perspectives on Leadership

• Leadership equals influence. – John Maxwell

• Leaders impact our daily lives and futures. In good times and bad, there is always a need for strong leadership. The success of a business or an industry is determined by the leaders it chooses or inherits.– Kevin Mane USA Today

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Defining Leadership

Small Group Activity

What does leadership mean to you?

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Leadership Defined

A leader IS A leader DOES

- Character - Develops

- Presence - Inspires

- Intelligence - Achieves

Leadership: the action of someone bringing everything they are, believe, and know to provide purpose, direction and motivation

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Recognizing Leaders

Small Group Activity

What are the qualities of a leader?

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Qualities of a Leader

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Remembering Leadership Opportunities

Reflection Exercise

What was your first leadership opportunity?

Why is Youth Leadership important?• Creating partnerships“In order for youth to be prepared to work in partnership with adults, they need to

develop and/or enhance their leadership skills.”- The National Resource Center for Youth Development

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• Effective outcomes– Time management– Team work– Goal setting– Conversation starters– Meeting facilitation– Effective presentations

• Mutually beneficial to:• Youth members• Professional members• State Advisory Groups• Youth served by SAG’s

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How Does Leadership Development Occur?

The Manager and the Sage

How to Develop Your Youth and SAG

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Leadership Development Model

• Individual readiness (educate) – Trainings– Conferences– Seminars– Workshops

• Developmental experiences (get members INVOLVED)– Build Relationship– Strategically identify strengths

• Reflection and time (support members in their efforts)

– Committee work – Policy-making (white papers,

annual report, etc.)– Reviewing grants– Obtaining the input of system

involved youth– Establishing a youth

subcommittee

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Ideal First Opportunity: SAG Committee Work

• Committees provide leadership roles with support– DMC – Budget – Youth – 3-Year Plan– Policy and programs– Innovations– Juvenile justice reform

Example:• A SAG member in a school for business or finance working closely with the agency

accountant in managing the SAG budget, increasing his/her knowledge and network of contacts.

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Build Experience: Grant Review • Grant oversight

– Site/monitoring visits– Review of grant and related paperwork– Youth teams to review grantee presentations

• Grant review– Provide training for youth– Have them review grant applications – Consider a youth grant review team

• Match strengths of the youth member with the process– Current and former system-involved youth can reflect on first-hand knowledge– Review grants for youth development techniques

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Cultivating a Voice: Policy-Making

• Involve youth in policy-making decisions and revisions. – Example: Allow youth to help create a travel policy or a communication

policy for their SAG

• Provide opportunities to advocate. – Address his/her state house or senate judiciary committee by advocating

for SAG recommendations.– Write a white paper or the annual SAG report to the Governor (a JJDP Act

requirement)

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Get Involved Nationally• Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) has numerous committees:

– Government Relations – Ethnic and Cultural Diversity – Youth Committee – National Youth Chair on the Executive Board – Council of SAGs

• Federal Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice. – OJJDP requires 20% youth membership to the Committee

• Become a youth trainer and consultant.

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Solutions to Common Barriers to Leadership

• Mentoring – match with peers (youth and adult SAG members)– Solve for: Lack of Knowledge/Fear of Failure

• Provide preparation and feedback for all opportunities– Solve for: Aversion to risk taking

• Maximize time-limited membership by promoting full engagement– Solve for: Time (availability and management)

• Be creative– Solve for: Lack of resources and innovation

Take Action

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Putting Your Plan Into Action

• Develop action plans for 3 component areas– List 3-5 activities– Identify resources– Develop timelines– Assign responsibility

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Resource Break – Recommended Readings

•21 Qualities of a Leader - John Maxwell •From Good to Great - Jim Collins •Outliers -Malcolm Gladwell •True North - Bill George•Curtail Conversations – Kerry Patterson

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Thank You!

"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we

exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have

one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and

we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two

ideas."

- George Bernard Shaw

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