Children and youth in challenging contexts, both in Canada and overseas, face common threats to their mental health that can be better addressed when researchers, service providers, practitioners, and communities pool their knowledge, resources, and lessons learned of what works best for improving young peoples’ mental health. If these groups continue to work within their occupational and disciplinary boundaries, they will fail to mobilize the full potential of the evidence documented by researchers, the practice-related knowledge of service providers and practitioners, and the local knowledge of communities. The CYCC Network was developed in response to this need and in the summer of 2013, released three thematic knowledge synthesis reports: violence, technology, and youth engagement. There has been an increasing recognition that youth engagement is central to any best practice or intervention that involves young people. Valuing youth engagement puts the focus on the positive contributions that youth make to programs and their effectiveness. Programs and services that acknowledge the independence and agency of at-risk youth provide opportunity for young people to give feedback on the relevance and appropriateness of the programs that serve them. Additionally, youth engagement can promote a sense of empowerment on an individual level, and facilitate healthy connections between young people and their community. Despite these benefits, however, there remains a gap in our understanding of the implications of engaging vulnerable youth. In order to better understand and optimize youth engagement, different strategies need to be explored that identify their appropriateness for youth living in different challenging contexts, representing all genders and age categories. With these gaps in mind, the knowledge synthesis report on youth engagement explores strategies that have been shown to work in engaging children and youth in challenging contexts as full members of their communities and in ending feelings of disempowerment and abandonment. Read and download the full report at http://cyccnetwork.org/engagement

1. Working with Children and Youth in Challenging
Contexts to Promote Youth Engagement
Knowledge Synthesis Report 2013
Prepared By: Emily Zinck
Advisory Committee: Michael Ungar, Shelly Whitman, Silvia
Exenberger, Linda Liebenberg, Jimmy Ung, & Isabelle LeVert-Chiasson

2. “NOTHING FOR US WITHOUT US.”
Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement

3. GUIDING QUESTION
What strategies have been shown to work engaging
children and youth in challenging contexts as full
members of their communities and ending feelings of
disempowerment and abandonment?

4. What is Youth Engagement?
Youth Engagement: The meaningful and
sustained involvement of a young person in an
activity focusing outside the self. Full
engagement consists of a cognitive component,
an affective component, and a behavioural
component, also known as “Head, heart, and
Feet”
Centres of Excellence for Children’s Well-Being: Youth
Engagement

5. Population Groups
• Children and youth affected by • Aboriginal children and youth
war • Homeless children and youth
– Child soldiers • Youth gangs
– Children and youth in military
• Child labourers
families
– Children and youth in the
• Refugee children and youth workplace
• Children and youth affected by – Children and youth who have
natural disasters been trafficked
• Immigrant children and youth • Children and youth living with
• Children and youth subject to health-related challenges
maltreatment – Children and youth living with
• Children and youth in alternative chronic illness
care – Children and youth living with
mental illness
– Children and youth in institutions
– Youth in juvenile detention

6. Pyramid of Evidence

7. RECOMMENDATIONS

8. #1- Promote Youth Engagement
to Make Services More Effective
Initiating youth participation is a step
towards engaging young people in program
design and implementation.
– YouthNet, CHEO

9. #2- Include Youth in Decision
Making Processes
• Principle: Youth Voice
Where possible, include youth at every
level of program development, planning,
implementation and evaluation.
– Leaders of Today Network

10. #3- Make Civic Engagement
Holistic
• Principle: Civic Engagement
Provide youth with opportunities to make a
real contribution to their community.
– SPARK Youth Engagement Program

11. #4- Pay Attention to Culture
and Context
• Principle: Culture and Context Specific
Not all methods will be appropriate for all
youth. It is important that programs and
services be adapted to suite the specific
context and culture.
– Strengths-based approach: River of Unity

12. #5- Create Mentorship and
Partnership Opportunities
• Principle: Positive Relationships
It is important to develop an environment of
partnership and equality between youth and
adults in working towards a common goal.
– Adult Youth Partnerships
– Canadian Roots Exchange Program

13. #6- Use Participatory Research to
Document the Benefits of Youth
Engagement
• Principle: Participatory Research
The more that young people are included in
research the more valid and contextually
relevant the results will be
– Digital Story-telling: My Word

14. #7- Develop Better Methods to
Evaluate Youth Engagement
Strategies
Researchers and practitioners need to
develop easy to use methods that can
evaluate the effectiveness of youth
engagement.

15. #8- Develop a Community of Practice
to Share Effective Youth Engagement
Strategies
Create sustainable structures to document,
format, share, and access best practices
related to youth engagement.
– Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement
– Heartwood Centre for Community Youth
Development
– Pat Dolan: UNESCO Child and Family
Research Centre

16. Thank you!!