• Strengths and Challenges
• Barriers to Reaching Out
• Efforts Underway to Address Needs
• Expanding Youth Work
• Reaching New Audiences: Commitments and Realities
• Networking and Partnerships to Reach New Audiences
• Selected Resources: Diversity in Youth Work

The trends are irrefutable: America's youth are becoming more and more diverse in cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, the nation faces growing concerns about rising numbers of youth who are vulnerable and trapped in high-risk situations.

And while these trends suggest the emerging challenges of youth work, these populations of youth are typically underserved by youth programs and networks on national and local levels in all sectors (non-profit, education, religious). While many programs exist that effectively address the needs of underserved youth, others are having trouble determining the implications of these changes in society for their work. Questions arise: Can existing programs adequately address the needs of diverse audiences? How do we address issues of staff diversity? Do we need to develop new programs for underserved populations of youth? Or is it appropriate to maintain existing programs, recognizing their ability to serve limited groups of youth?

A recent national survey of 547 county Extension agents in the Cooperative Extension System illustrates these tensions. Among the agents (all of whom have youth development responsibilities), most express strong support for reaching out to new audiences. However, few feel that they have the skills or training opportunities to be effective.

The study was part of an evaluation by Search Institute of the Extension Service (USDA) and National 4-H Council's Strengthening Our Capacity to Care project, an initiative designed to strengthen the Extension system's capacity to offer youth development programs to new audiences. And while the 4-H program is unique in its structure and emphases, the issues faced by youth workers in this system parallel concerns of youth workers in other national and community-based youth organizations.

Strengths and Challenges

The agents' responses to the survey affirm many strengths of traditional youth work through the Extension system-both in the agents themselves and the programs they operate. However, agents are less confident in their readiness to reach underserved youth.

• Youth development knowledge-Agents rate their knowledge of youth development high. Indeed, 91 percent of agents rate their knowledge of youth development principles as good or excellent, and 86 percent are similarly confident about their knowledge of factors placing youth at risk. Smaller majorities also express confidence in their knowledge of collaboration (71 percent) and ways of mobilizing adults and youth to assess and address community problems (65 percent).
  
  
• Support for reaching out-Most agents express strong support for reaching diverse audiences. Of those surveyed, nearly three in five respondents expressed strong personal support for expanding Extension programs to serve youth and families at risk. In addition, they affirm the importance of increasing the diversity of youth (90 percent) and volunteers (87 percent) in their programs.
  
  
• Knowledge of new audiences-While agents recognize that reaching new audiences will challenge business as usual, they seem unclear about their ability to make the adjustments. More than half of the agents rate their knowledge of different cultural or ethnic values and traditions as fair or poor (54 percent). Agents see similar gaps in their programming. Only 39 percent of respondents believe their staff has had adequate training in working with youth and families from diverse cultures.

Similarly, agents seem unsure that their volunteers are equipped to work with new audiences. About half of the agents (53 percent) believe their volunteers do not have the skills they need to work with new audiences. Only 27 percent indicate that their volunteers do have the skills they need to expand this work.

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• Lack of support-One central barrier may be a lack of support among traditional constituencies. About 41 percent of agents agree that "in choosing to serve disadvantaged youth, we risk alienating the traditional supporters of Extension." Indeed, relatively few agents see strong support for expansions among key constituencies. While 40 percent of respondents say that other youth-serving organizations in the community support the expansion of Extension programs, only 26 percent of agents believe county commissioners or other officials are supportive.
  
  A similar tension affects other youth programs as well. Whenever efforts are made to reach out to new audiences, long-time constituencies worry they will be shortchanged and their needs left unmet.
  
  
• Overload-Most agents are adding new programs without cutting back existing programs. One agent put it this way: "4-H Extension has made, and will continue to make, an enormous impact in the lives of those we touch. We are, however, spreading ourselves precariously thin. . . . We cannot go on 'doing a little of this and a little of that'-none of it really well."
  
  
• Lack of funding-Related to the workload issue is the availability of funding. About 61 percent of agents believe that "we cannot successfully reach disadvantaged youth without new financial resources." Yet 42 percent of agents report that their local office has not allocated financial resources for intentionally targeting youth at risk. At the same time, slightly more than half of all agents (56%) have sought outside funding for programs to reach youth at risk.
  
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Efforts Underway to Address Needs

Despite these barriers, significant changes are already occurring in efforts to diversify 4-H/Extension programs. These early responses may be bellwether signs for how programs can be reshaped-and challenges they face.

Many agents already see the impact of their commitment to reaching new audiences. About half of the agents indicated that their audiences are more culturally diverse (46 percent) or economically diverse (52 percent) than they were two years ago. Furthermore, more than two in five agents report new efforts directed toward youth of color, youth in single-parent families, and youth in low-income families.

Agencies are also increasing their collaboration with other groups in the community to reach these new audiences. Many recognize "the importance of working with other groups . . . since one group or program cannot be all things to all people," as a Colorado agent said. High percentages of agents report different types of experiences in working with others (see box). In addition, 60 percent report that their office collaborates with other organizations on programs for youth at risk.

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Expanding Youth Work

To stay relevant in the changing demographics of youth, youth programs will need to continually assess their abilities to meet the needs of new audiences. This survey of county agents suggests issues to address. We would suggest several responses as starting points:

• Build on commitments-If the perspectives of agents in this survey reflect the attitudes of youth workers in general, there's little disagreement that reaching diverse groups of youth is important. The challenge, then, is not to convince youth workers to change their attitudes; most have already been persuaded of the need. The real challenge is to affirm their commitment and give them the tools they need to act upon their concerns.
  
  
• Address influencers' concerns-While much effort focuses on the attitudes, skills, and knowledge of youth workers themselves, these survey findings highlight the importance of addressing the attitudes, knowledge, and behavior of other stakeholders in youth programs-parents, community members, administrators, and other leaders. Without these people's support, efforts to change programs will meet strong resistance. That support will only come as leaders address people's concerns and fears, and show how the changes will benefit everyone involved.
  
  
• Examine current models-One of the major questions in the 4-H/Extension system is whether or not 4-H clubs and other traditional programs can appropriately and effectively reach underserved youth. The same question arises in other youth programs as well. The answer to the question likely depends on many dynamics within the organization and the community. For example, is it most appropriate to develop new programs that address the unique needs of underserved youth? Or is it more appropriate to develop strategies for integrating diverse types of youth into existing programs? Those questions raise important policy and philosophical issues.
  
  
• Provide training-Nearly all agents surveyed (96 percent) agree that they need additional training and experience to work around issues of learning styles, volunteer preparation, understanding diverse cultures, and funding in order to reach new audiences. Youth workers in other settings may have other specific needs and issues that would be priorities. The major point is that youth workers need training in many of the practical issues involved in reshaping their work to reach new audiences.
  
  
• Highlight programs that work-When youth workers are familiar with particular program approaches, it can be difficult to imagine new ones. Many people need to see something in action before they can shift their own emphases. Thus, it becomes important to identify and highlight programs that are innovative and effective in reaching underserved youth.
  
  
• Diversify and strengthen leadership-Though Extension agents indicate that they don't have a strong volunteer base for expanding their work to new audiences, only 29 percent of agents report they are actively recruiting and training volunteers who can work credibly with youth of color and disadvantaged youth. Intentional efforts to develop new leadership within communities of color while also shaping the skills of current volunteers will be essential.

This study doesn't begin to answer all the questions about expanding youth work. Indeed, it-s not even clear that the attitudes of these agents mirror the attitudes of youth workers in other settings. However, the findings do raise issues that deserve attention if youth work is to meet the needs of the growing numbers of youth of color and youth at risk in our nation.

Research for this project was conducted by Dale A. Blyth, Ph.D., Richard Krueger, Ph.D., Carolyn H. Eklin, Joyce Walker, Ph.D., and Gayle R. Zoffer. The evaluation project is supported by the DeWitt Wallace­ReaderÕs Digest Fund.

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Most county agents surveyed say their programs are committed to expanding to reach new audiences. But they are much less likely to report that they have expanded existing programs or created new programs to reach new audiences.

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Networking and Partnerships to Reach New Audiences

Here are the percentages of county Extension agents who report that they have done each of the following networking activities related to new audiences in the past year.

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Selected Resources: Diversity in Youth Work

For All Youth Workers

Urban Sanctuaries: Neighborhood Organizations in the Lives and Futures of Inner-City Youth, by Milbrey W. McLaughlin, Merita A. Irby, and Juliet Langman (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1994). Available from Jossey-Bass, (415) 433-1740.

A Matter of Time: Risk and Opportunity in the Nonschool Hours, by the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development (New York, NY: Carnegie Corporation of New York, 1991). Available from Carnegie, (202) 429-7979.

For Schools

Education in Multicultural Societies, by Trevor Corner (New York, NY: St. MartinÕs Press, 1984). Available from St. MartinÕs Press, 1-800-288-2131.

The Multicultural Challenge in Health Education, edited by Ana Consuelo Matiella (Santa Cruz, CA: ETR Associates, 1994). Available from ETR, 1-800-321-4407.

Multi-Cultural Education of Children and Adolescents, by Leroy G.Baruth and M. Lee Manning (Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1992). Available from Allyn and Bacon, (617) 455-1250.

For Congregations

Working with Black Youth, by Charles R. Foster and Grant S. Shockley (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1989). Available from Cokesbury, 1-800-672-1789.