Comprehensive Statewide Approach to Improve Youth Outcomes: Experience of the New York State Youth Development Team

Best practice research indicates a need for a policy shifttoward positive youth development (YD) principles andstrategies. The New York State Youth Development Team (YDT) is a public-private partnership of leading agencies whose holistic vision, “families, schools and communities partner to support the development of healthy, capable and caring youth,” requires key stakeholders at all levels to address adverse youth health outcomes through effective partnerships. To transform the YDT vision into statewide practice requires committed actions (policy, funding, and training) at the state and community levels. Key lessons learned and experience-based recommendations that guide YD efforts in New York State can help state and local agencies move more to a positive YD approach that helps young people become healthy, caring, competent, and contributing adults, fully prepared to be parents, workers, leaders, entrepreneurs, and citizens of the future. KEY WORDS: program/policy development, state and community partnership, youth at risk, youth development, youth risk and protection The emergency we are facing is an unprecedented adolescent health crisis—one that has serious repercussions for our economy and social well-being. For the first time in the history of this country, young people are less healthy and less prepared to take their places in society than were their parents. And this is happening at a time when our society is more complex, more challenging, and more competitive than ever before.1(pii) Because this emergency is even worse now than it was when first published in a joint report of th