Advancing Youth Development is a professional development training for 21st Century youth workers. It is a local initiative sponsored by: the Orange County Youth Bureau and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County.

Youth Development Philosophy

A growing youth development movement representing a powerful shift away from a focus on youth as problems and deficits, toward a view of young people as resources with strengths and contributions to make. Youth-serving programs provide essential supports and opportunities for youth in their communities. Youth workers need supports and opportunities also, to learn from the best thinking in the youth development field, to share promising approaches, to discuss the values and principles which guide the youth development approach and the barriers which challenge it’s application. This Advancing Youth Development training will allow youth workers to obtain skills to match the critical challenges of youth development.

The Advancing Youth Development (AYD) curriculum was developed by the center for Youth Development and Policy research, in Washington, DC, and sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. It was written in collaboration with National Network for Youth, Inc. and is designed for direct service youth workers.

Benefits of AYD Training

If you work directly with youth, you should attend this training in order to:

• Refine or obtain skills that match the critical challenges of youth development.
• Have the ability to offer programs that result in satisfied youth and parents whose confidence rests in your professional ability.
• Strategize and network with fellow youth workers and obtain a stronger career focus.

Additional Information

For more information about AYD Trainings, please call Cornell Cooperative Extension at 845-344-1234.