This white paper outlines the rationale for a Wisconsin statewide effort focused on engaging communities with youth and young adults in order to build their social capital and citizenship capacity while promoting the civic, economic, and recreational assets of their communities. Josset Gauley led University of Wisconsin-Extension Cooperative Extension colleagues from the interdisciplinary team, Engaging Young People […]

This training is for people who are new to the practice of youth-adult partnership. It has eight sections, each with brief readings, videos, and thought-provoking practical questions. This training can be done individually or in groups.

Wisconsin Cooperative Extension and the School of Human Ecology have collaborated with Cornell’s ACT for Youth initiative to conduct research and create practical resources on youth-adult partnership. The “Bundle of Y-AP” describes these resources, and we should note that they are all easily downloaded for no cost. These resources are for people new to Y-AP […]

There are many people – staff, volunteers, community leaders, community partnerships – that want to partner with young people, but don’t know how to get started.  This narrated PowerPoint is for those persons. The Narrated Powerpoint (22 minutes) can be used to jump start orientation or training programs.  It provides a foundation of knowledge on […]

This article by Zeldin and Leidheiser, Youth-Adult Partnership: A Priority for Volunteer Training and Support  synthesizes contemporary research to draw the conclusion that Y-AP is central to the mission of 4-H, and furthermore, that volunteers are the key to quality implementation of the practice.  Building from this foundation of knowledge, the article explores implications for the […]

It is a challenge to help prepare adults to get engaged in youth-adult partnerships.  Fortunately, there are many 4-H educators who have the expertise to gain the commitment of adults.  The Executive Summary of the report,What Does It Take to Engage Adults in Youth-Adult Partnership?, presents research on how 4-H educators successfully implement Y-AP into […]

Local government officials across the country are interested in involving young people as legislative “interns” or “youth advisors.”  In most “youth in local government initiatives,” youth are assigned to work with specific legislators in a mentor/mentee relationship.  Without guidance, however, these relationships rarely reach their potential.  Research in Wisconsin 4-H was conducted to provide this […]

This Center has good resources on involving youth in local government and in community coalitions.