The YCB’s youth development initiative will focus on ensuring that all youth in the City of Minneapolis are connected, competent and contributing. While it is commonly understood that “it takes a village to raise a child”, there is not a common understanding or vision for how that same village will raise a young person into a connected, competent and contributing adult. It is the goal of the YCB to see that the village shares a vision for all of our youth to be connected to their families and communities; have opportunities to learn and have experiences that develop competencies and to see themselves as vital contributors to their families, schools and communities.

The initial focus of this work will be toward the achievement of two goals. The first goal is to increase community and family support for school success. This will include work toward increasing family/caregiver involvement in their child’s education at a time when a young person’s developmental tendency is to push these adults away. It will include developing a shared community understanding of the responsibility to get kids to school and keep them in school. It will also include increasing access to intentional learning opportunities that enable youth to learn and have experiences that connect their education to their emerging adulthood.

The second goal is to ensure that youth feel connected to their community. This work will include increasing the number of youth involved in positive activities and/or programs in their communities. Youth will also feel more connected in their community by believing that the adults in their community care about them.

Work toward the goal of community connection has already started through a process called “community mapping”. Youth in 12 neighborhoods in Minneapolis “mapped” the formal and informal resources for youth in their area. They spoke with young people in their neighborhoods about what would make their neighborhoods a better place to live. They also documented their experiences of whether or not the adults in their neighborhoods were friendly to them. Through this process we learned that youth want the same kind of neighborhoods that adults want: friendly, involved, positive, connected neighbors, businesses and programs.

The YCB will provide vision, leadership and support in the area of youth development in order for youth in Minneapolis to have the services, supports and opportunities to successfully transition to a happy, healthy and contributing adulthood.