Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs is a group within the executive branch of the U.S. government, and is responsible for promoting achievement of positive results for at-risk youth. The Working Group also engages with national, state, local and tribal agencies and organizations, schools, and faith-based and community organizations serving youth.

Membership of the Working Group includes staff from twelve Federal agencies that support programs and services that target youth. The Working Group was formally established by Executive Order 13459, Improving the Coordination and Effectiveness of Youth Programs, on February 7, 2008.

The Working Group has developed a Federal Interagency Website on Youth: FindYouthInfo.gov. This website houses Federally-developed interactive tools and other resources to help youth-serving organizations and community partnerships.

An Overview of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs is responsible for promoting achievement of positive results for at-risk youth through three key activities:

Create and support a new Federal Interagency Website on Youth to help interested citizens and decision-makers plan, implement, and participate in effective programs for at-risk youth;
Identify and disseminate promising and effective strategies and practices that support youth; and
Promote enhanced collaboration at the Federal, State, and local level, as well as with faith-based and community organizations, schools, families, and communities.

The Working Group also engages with national, state, local and tribal agencies and organizations, schools, and faith-based and community organizations serving youth.

In addition, the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs is responsible for preparing a strategic plan for federal youth policy (Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 Committee Print of the House Committee on Appropriations on H.R. 1105/Public Law 111-8, Division F)

Membership

Membership of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs includes staff from twelve Federal agencies that support programs and services that target youth:

U.S. Department of Agriculture;
U.S. Department of Commerce;
U.S. Department of Defense;
U.S. Department of Education;
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Chair);
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
U.S. Department of Justice (Vice-Chair);
U.S. Department of Labor;
U.S. Department of the Interior;
U.S. Department of Transportation;
the Corporation for National and Community Service
Corporation For National and Community Service
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America, and other national service initiatives...

; and
the Office of National Drug Control Policy
Office of National Drug Control Policy
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy , a former cabinet level component of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, was established in 1989 by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988...

.

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs was formally established by Executive Order 13459, Improving the Coordination and Effectiveness of Youth Programs, on February 7, 2008.

A Federal Website on Youth: FindYouthInfo.gov

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs has developed a Federal Interagency Website on Youth (FindYouthInfo.gov), which houses Federally-developed interactive tools and other resources to help youth-serving organizations and community partnerships. FindYouthInfo.gov seeks to benefit Federal agencies, youth service providers, and the youth-serving community. The tools and resources available on the website include resources to assist communities and others with:

Key elements of effective partnerships, including strategies for engaging youth;
Helpful community assessment tools;
Mapping tools that generate maps of local and Federal youth programs;
Searchable database of evidence-based programs to address risk and protective factors in youth;
High-quality Federal publications and web links on youth issues;
Youth Topics, which present information on cross-cutting youth topics, federal programs related to this topic that support youth, and shortcuts to maps to find federal programs that address these youth topics. Topics include preventing youth violence, mentoring, transition-age youth, positive youth development, and afterschool.

Promoting High Standards for Assessing Program Results

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs seeks to develop additional strategies, tools and resources accessible through the Federal website that will help promote effective community-based efforts that address youth risk and protective factors.

A searchable database provides visitors of the new Federal Interagency Website on Youth with information about program designs that successfully deal with risky behaviors. Communities can determine whether replicating these strategies will meet local needs.

Two sets of programs are included:

1.The Teen Pregnancy Prevention program directory. Under a contract with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Mathematica Policy Research conducted an independent systematic review of the evidence base for programs to prevent teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and/or sexual risk behaviors.

This review defined the criteria for the quality of an evaluation study and the strength of evidence for a particular intervention. Based on these criteria, HHS has defined a set of rigorous standards an evaluation must meet in order to be considered an evidence-based program. The review is being updated on an ongoing basis.

2.The Substance Abuse, Violence, and Other Risk Behavior program directory. Through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, programs are assessed by an external review panel and reviews are completed by Development Services Group, Inc.

Programs are added through nominations, literature searches of relevant journals, electronic databases, and other evidence-based repositories. Programs address one or more of the following youth problem behaviors:

•Academic problems
•Aggression/violence
•Gang involvement
•Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use
•Delinquency
•Family functioning
•Sexual activity/exploitation
•Trauma exposure

In addition to the searchable Program Directory, the FindYouthInfo site also contains a list of other evidence-based resources.

Identifying and Promoting Initiatives that Merit Interagency Collaboration

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs has begun to identify other promising Federal initiatives with which to engage, including the following agencies and groups:

Federal Mentoring Council, which seeks to coordinate mentoring programs across the Federal government;
Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which coordinates Federal programs related to juvenile delinquency prevention, detention or care for unaccompanied juveniles, and missing and exploited children;
Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking, which works to reduce and prevent underage drinking; and
Teen Dating Violence Federal Workgroup, which seeks to coordinate efforts to support healthy relationships and reduce dating violence among teens.

Identifying Partners and Developing Partnerships

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs is charged with identifying and engaging key government and private or nonprofit organizations that can play a role in improving the coordination and effectiveness of programs serving and engaging youth, such as faith-based and other organizations, community coalitions and partnerships, businesses, volunteers and other key constituencies.

External links

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