Goal 3: Youth Engagement and Partnerships

Goal 3: Youth Engagement and Partnerships: Promote youth engagement and partnerships to strengthen programs and benefit youth.

At the federal, state, local, and tribal levels, youth-serving organizations and partnerships are working to engage youth as partners in decision-making to strengthen programs, as well as to build the skills and abilities of youth. The role youth play is increasing and they are helping organizations develop and disseminate messages that resonate with their peers about health, public health, and human services issues. Yet our knowledge about what makes a successful youth-adult partnership, and what the benefits to youth, adults, and programs are, is still developing.

In Goal 3, the Working Group promotes strategies that engage youth and their families along a continuum – from simple information sharing, to targeted engagement opportunities, to decision-making – for the benefit of youth, adults, and programs. And as described in Goal 2, the Working Group is dedicated to building the evidence base on youth engagement strategies by supporting rigorous evaluation of youth engagement interventions.  

Two objectives provide activities to be undertaken to achieve Goal 3:

Objective 1: Promote youth-adult partnerships to support sustained youth engagement efforts and strengthen programs.

Objective 2: Provide and encourage federal, state, local, and tribal provision of multiple opportunities for youth to develop, master, and apply critical skills, including life and leadership skills.

Download and read the complete Pathways for Youth: Draft Strategic Plan for Federal Collaboration (PDF, 50 pages) and provide your thoughts below.