February 2012
NCFY Recommends: Child and Youth Homelessness Report Card
Youth workers know that homeless people are often invisible to their larger communities.
Primary Sources: Predicting How Youth Will Fare When They Exit Independent Living Programs
“Lighthouse Independent Living Program: Predictors of Client Outcomes at Discharge,” Children and Youth Service Review, April 2011.
Right on the Money: Youth-serving Agencies Raise Money on Groupon
There’s a hot new deal out there for charities looking to raise money for specific projects. And several youth-serving agencies have been among the first to snap it up.
The nationwide deal-a-day site Groupon -- with more than 100 million subscribers -- recently launched a program called “G-Team,” offering nonprofits a chance to raise money and reach people they may never have reached before.
Primary Sources: How Can Residential Treatment Help Sexually Exploited Girls?
"Residential treatment for sexually exploited adolescent girls: Acknowledge, Commit, Transform (ACT)" (abstract), Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 33, No. 11, November 2011.
Q&A: Heather Higgins of The Upside Down Organization on the Teen Brain and Trauma
When a young person lives on the streets or in an abusive home, their brain develops differently than if they lived in a stable, safe environment. To learn more about the teen brain, trauma and healthy ways to stimulate young people’s frontal lobes, NCFY spoke with Heather Higgins, director of training and development at The Upside Down Organization, which demystifies brain science for people who work with children and youth.
NCFY: My understanding is that when youth experience trauma or neglect, parts of their brain over- or under-develop.
NCFY Recommends: 'The State of Young America: Economic Barriers to the American Dream'
In "The State of Young America: Economic Barriers to the American Dream," the policy organization Demos and the nonprofit Young Invincibles portray the experiences of young Americans struggling to make it.
The report is based on a survey of young adults, ages 18-34. An accompanying data book describes the increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor and compares the economic status of today's young people to that of the previous generation.
The report finds that:
Bright Idea: Use This iPhone App to Learn About Digital Abuse
Controlling behavior and emotional abuse in teen dating relationships are nothing new. But technologies like smart phones, texting and social networking sites have made young people vulnerable to new avenues of harassment and abuse—because abusers can reach them anytime, anywhere.
Q&A: Megan McKenna on Legal Aid for Undocumented Youth
Each year, thousands of youth come to the United States illegally without a parent or guardian. Many of them wind up in immigration court without a lawyer to help them navigate the system.
To find out what youth workers can do to help these young people, NCFY spoke with Megan McKenna, who directs communications and advocacy for Kids in Need of Defense, or KIND, a Washington, DC, nonprofit that arranges free legal representation for undocumented, unaccompanied youth.
Primary Sources: Peer Education in Dating Violence Prevention
Peer Education and Leadership in Dating Violence Prevention: Strengths and Challenges (abstract), Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, Vol. 19, 2010.
What it’s about: The authors of this article interviewed 52 domestic violence and sexual assault prevention practitioners about their experiences using youth as educators and leaders in efforts to prevent dating violence and sexual assault among adolescents.
NCFY Recommends: Making Health Clinic Visits Less Scary for Youth
Going to a clinic or getting tested for sexually transmitted infections can be scary for young people, especially if they don't know what to expect. To help youth get over the hurdle of fear, a group of youth in New York City has produced several videos that encourage their peers to take care of their sexual health.
Part of a series written by and starring members of Community Healthcare Network's teen health program, the videos could be incorporated into life skills classes or sexual health workshops.
