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What Staff Do
The first role of staff is to relate to youth in ways that provide a sense of:
- safety and structure
- self-worth
- mastery and future
- belonging and membership
- responsibility and autonomy
- self-awareness and spirituality
6. Staff relate to all youth in positive ways.
- Staff make youth feel welcome and comfortable.
- Staff consistently call each youth by his/her name.
- Staff intentionally build relationships with youth and promote peer relationships, which are characterized by respect, honesty, fairness and openness.
- Staff integrate a sense of humor into their work with youth.
- Staff make no promises to youth that, within normal conditions cannot be kept.
- Staff respect a young person's culture and language.
7. Staff use positive techniques to guide the behavior of youth.
- Staff use no harsh discipline methods, including yelling, name-calling, demeaning remarks or corporal punishment.
- Staff encourage youth to resolve their own conflicts. Staff step in only if needed to discuss the issues and work out a solution.
- Staff regularly praise positive youth behavior. Comments are sincere and specific.
- Staff interactions with youth reflect high expectations that are communicated in positive ways.
- Staff are visibly present and relate with young people at all times.
8. Staff build upon the strengths and address the developmental needs of individual youth who are enrolled in the program.
- Staff and program define at what point a youth is "enrolled" in the program.
- Staff maintain written files of individual youth tracking personal goals, progress toward goals and participation in group activities.
- Each youth has consistent, ongoing access to at least one staff member who tracks his/her progress and plans over time.
- Staff can identify interests, talents and developmental needs of individual youth.
- Rather than supervise, staff work with youth through coaching and providing feedback.
The second role of staff is to plan group activities, with consistent input from youth, that intentionally promote skill-building in the areas of:
- physical health
- mental health
- intellectual abilities
- employability
- civic and social abilities
- cultural abilities
9. Program activities are intentionally planned to address specific ability outcomes.
- Staff develop written activity plans, which cite specific outcomes being addressed.
- Staff articulate which outcome is being addressed by each activity he or she is implementing.
- Staff will implement United Way's Measuring Program Outcomes: A Practical Approach for at least one program annually.
10. Staff employ a variety of group activities that effectively engage youth over time.
- Staff ensure a mixture of one-on-one interactions, small group and large group activities on a weekly basis.
- Staff effectively engage volunteers and other program resources to meet the needs that youth help to identify.
- Youth can describe the benefits of staying in the program long term.
11. Staff work well together to meet the needs of youth.
- Staff provide role models of positive adult relationships.
- Staff are respectful of each other.
- Staff are cooperative with each other.
12. Staff actively pursue families' involvement in the program.
- Staff actively pursue ongoing relationships with each youth's caretakers, seek their input and involve them in activities.
- Staff keep families informed about the program.
- Staff share the languages and cultures of the families they serve, and the communities they live in, whenever possible.
- Families are invited to events that showcase the positive things the youth are doing (awards ceremonies, etc.).
- Staff keep comments about families positive.
13. Staff provide information about community resources to meet the needs of youth and families.
- Staff maintain an up to date list of community resources.
- Staff can identify warning signs of youth in need of special help and refer as necessary to appropriate resources.
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