Core competencies for youth workers

Posted by on February 6, 2004

The National Collaboration for Youth, a coalition of more than forty national agencies, which together reach over 40 million youth annually, has established a common set of core competencies for paid and volunteer staff who work with youth. The intent of the Collaboration in developing the core competencies, which is based on similiar lists developed by individual agencies and others, was to identify those elements common to vitually all youth-serving agencies. The list of ten competencies applies to front-line youth development staff who may be fulltime or work as little as two hours a week. Each competency has several examples to guide organizations.

The National Collaboration for Youth urges that the competencies be used as a basic tool, making necessary modifications in keeping with their organizational mission and purpose. This list of competencies is just one piece of what might be a multi-tier system for youth workers * experienced youth workers, coordinators, directors and administrators. Other tiers may include more depth in a number of areas i.e., work with the community, evaluation and resource development.

To begin using the competencies today go to: http://www.nydic.org/nydic/documents/FinalCompetencies1.doc