Helping Youth Thrive
Helping youth thrive is the shared purpose of 4-H and Youth Development is the science that supports us on the pathways of that purpose.
Learn more about high quality youth development
The 4-H Youth Development Model is a theory of change research base that integrates youth development practices and the science of learning and development to help us understand and recreate the magic of 4-H. The 4-H Youth Development Model predicts that participating in high-quality 4-H programs helps youth thrive and that thriving youth realize key developmental outcomes.
Growing Practice
Learn more about the 4-H Youth Development Model and how to apply it in your work. Explore on-demand and peer-learning professional development opportunities available here in NYS and nationally.
The 4-H Youth Development Model
Explore
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Helping Youth Thrive, home of national 4-H Youth Development Model implementation efforts. Hosted by the national 4-H Committee on Youth Development.
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2023 YD Spotlight Day resources and recording (Karen Pittman's talk "Readiness, Resilience, and Respect" starts at 53:31)
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Program for Research on Youth Development and Engagement (PRYDE)
Practice
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PYD 101 online from ACT for Youth (manual for in-person learning)
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The Youth Development Research Update, hosted by PRYDE
Thriving Indicators
High quality 4-H programs contribute to PYD by intentionally nurturing social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral habits of mind that we call Thriving Indicators. Here are some resources to learn more and explore how to put this research to work.
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Helping Youth Thrive Training Curriculum Part Two: Thriving Indicators - in development
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Hopeful Purpose
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Purpose and Identity Processes Lab at Cornell University
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Cultivating Purpose in Adolescence - report from the National Scientific Council on Adolescence
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Positive Emotions
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Social and Emotional Learning Toolkit from ACT for Youth
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The Thrilling New Science of Awe podcast
The Developmental Context
Helping youth thrive starts with cultivating nourishing developmental contexts. Here are some resources to learn more and explore how to put this research to work.
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Helping Youth Thrive Training Curriculum Part One: 4-H as a Developmental Context for Youth
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Sparks
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Developmental Relationships
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They Shape Who We Are video
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Resources from ACT for Youth
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Belonging
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Creating Inclusive Program Environments for Youth with Different Abilities from ACT for Youth
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Inclusiveness resources from ACT for Youth
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Engagement
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Youth Engagement resources from ACT for Youth
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Resources for Volunteers
Consider how you might share or adapt any 4-H Youth Development Model resources to mentor volunteers and caregivers.
Opportunities designed for volunteers:
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Connect with CCE Volunteer Involvement policies and resources, including signing up for the Volunteer Engagement Listserv
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Look for annual opportunities from the Northeast Region Volunteerism Team.
Program Development and Evaluation
The 4-H Youth Development Model informs both program quality and outcome measurement in program design and evaluation.
The 4-H Youth Development Model is a shared way of bringing the research of youth development to our communities, providing an overarching model that can be adapted to meet local needs. We can focus on implementing and assessing high quality programs by cultivating the developmental context with opportunities to develop a thriving orientation as the core of a young person's experience and then adapting programs for the specific contexts where we work and learn with youth.
Locally and in every part of our statewide program ecosystem, each of us can continue to deepen our understanding of the 4-H Youth Development Model theory of change and grow our skills in implementing these research-based practices for continuous program quality improvement.
Then we can collaborate statewide, connecting with ongoing research and evaluation efforts to measure program outcomes and impacts, and engaging in discovery that expands and adapts the model as we learn new things.
Program Development and Evaluation Professional Development Opportunities
Program Development Resources
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CCE Statewide Plans of Work and the NYS 4-H Statewide Plan of Work
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Organizational Support for Positive Youth Development toolkit from ACT for Youth
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STEM contexts – ACRES STEM Facilitation series
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Camp – New York State 4-H Camp Workforce Competency Model online course
Program Quality Assessment Resources
The national Program Planning and Evaluation for Impact Working Group is developing 4-H Youth Development Model program quality assessment tools. Stay tuned for opportunities to pilot these as they emerge.
Program Outcome Evaluation Resources
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4-H Youth Development Model Research and Evaluation resources
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National 4-H Index Study - NYS 4-H collaborates on this annual opportunity. Check out last year’s results and stay tuned for how you can be involved next year.
Celebrate Thriving
Youth Stories
Here are some state and national places to hear youth stories. Where are the places you are already or could be listening for youth thriving stories in your local program?
2022 4-H Youth in Action award winner
Check out more stories from Youth in Action award winners, including several youth from NY.
Program Stories
The CCE Program Development and Reporting tool has annual program success stories focused on the 4-H Thriving Model. You can find these through the search function. Please consider sharing a story of your program for this Priority Topic.
A National Movement
4-H across the country and beyond is united in our efforts to help all youth thrive, coming together in new and myriad ways to realize this promise for America’s youth.
The Program Leader’s Working Group (PLWG) 4-H Standing Committee on Youth Development seeks to advance the science and research foundation of positive youth development, with an emphasis on informing and transforming youth development practice in 4-H across the country. The Committee coordinates national efforts to adopt and implement the 4-H Youth Development Model.
Cornell Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development supports these efforts through national, regional, and statewide collaborations.
National 4-H YD Academies, such as the 4-H Spotlight Day, Foundations of Youth Development for Early Career 4-H Professionals, Program Planning and Evaluation for Youth Development Impact, and Immersion days, are hosted by the 4-H YD Committee and its’ component working groups.