Under the leadership of First Lady Laura Bush, Helping America's Youth—the HAY Initiative—is encouraging new partnerships and creative solutions to address the needs of children and teens. The initiative supports the basic principles of positive youth development and emphasizes the roles of families, schools, and communities in helping children avoid risky behavior and lead more hopeful lives.
In the year ahead, Mrs. Bush will build on the success of the October 2005 White House Conference on Helping America's Youth by working with state and local partners to host regional conferences throughout the United States. The goal of these regional conferences is to increase public awareness and encourage adults to connect with youth in their communities. The first regional conference took place June 5-6 in Indianapolis, IN.
President Bush announced the initiative in his 2005 State of the Union Address, calling for "a broader outreach to at-risk youth, which involves parents and pastors, coaches and community leaders, in programs ranging from literacy to sports." In October 2005, Mrs. Bush convened the White House Conference on Helping America's Youth, which brought together more than 500 parents, civic leaders, faith-based and community service providers, educators, child development experts, and others to discuss the challenges facing America's youth and ways to address those challenges.
As part of the HAY Initiative, nine federal agencies collaborated to develop the Community Guide to Helping America's Youth, an online tool that communities can use to build partnerships, assess needs and resources, and access replicable program designs. The Guide includes:
- An introduction to the concept of positive youth development, how the approach focuses on young people's strengths rather than their weaknesses, and which program features help youth build on their strengths.
- Specific factors that increase or decrease the likelihood that youth will engage in problem behavior. These risk and protective factors are organized into five categories: individual, family, school, peer group, and community.
- Guidelines for forming and sustaining healthy, productive community partnerships and involving youth in the partnerships.
- A step-by-step approach to community assessment, supported by an interactive "MapIt" tool and Community Resource Inventory.
- The HAY Program Tool—a descriptive listing of 180 evidence-based programs that have had success in preventing and reducing delinquency or problem behaviors, searchable by risk and protective factors and by keywords.
Learn more about Helping America's Youth and access the Community Guide at www.helpingamericasyouth.gov.
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| First Lady Laura Bush discusses the Helping America's Youth Initiative in her opening remarks at the January conference "Building on Success: Providing Today's Youth With Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow," sponsored by the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention with support from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
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"Children want us in their lives, and they need us in their lives. And as I've learned from the remarkable men and women I've met across our country, each of us has the power to bring hope and opportunity to children's lives."
—First Lady Laura Bush
White House Conference on Helping America's Youth
October 24, 2005
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Program Features That Support Positive Youth Development*
- Promoting a sense of safety.
- Providing appropriate structure.
- Creating supportive relationships.
- Providing opportunities to belong.
- Providing positive social norms, such as rules for behavior.
- Giving youth responsibilities and meaningful challenges.
- Providing opportunities for skill building.
- Coordinating family, school, and community programming.
*Community Programs To Promote Youth Development, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2002.
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