Youth Advisory Boards: Collaborative practices that strengthen resilience and empower at-risk youth

SMSU Event Center BC

A community-based approach was utilized by the implementation of a Youth Advisory Board (YAB) as an effective methodological approach to work collaboratively with youth in marginalized communities. The aim of the study was to cultivate the youths’ voice through meaningful participation in a YAB and essentially create an environment that is responsive to young people’s interest and representative of their views and community concerns. The board was youth-led as evidenced by (1) discussion topics (2) self-nomination of board members (3) and recorded transcripts. Furthermore, young people initiated ideas from discussion and shared decision-making with Community and Relationship Enhancement (CARE) research team facilitators. Participants consisted of a group of diverse early adolescents attending the Boys and Girls Club. A mixed-method design was used to explore the effects of a YAB on adolescents’ sense of psychological empowerment and resiliency as measured by the Psychological Empowerment Scale (PES) (Ozer, & Schotland, 2011) and the Connor-Davidson Resiliency Scale (CD-RISC) (Connor & Davidson, 2003). It was hypothesized that youth that participate in the YAB would yield a positive increase in psychological empowerment and resiliency. Results indicated that the hypothesis was supported. Positive outcomes were found among youth that participated in the YAB as indicated by significantly higher perceived psychological empowerment and resiliency. Furthermore, the findings suggest that using a YAB as a means to amplify youths’ voice as agents for change in the community should be an integral component in implementing future programs that are geared to promote healthy youth development and overall well-being.