The Seven Domains of Work

The New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community is supporting the movement to positive youth development by engaging in seven specific “domains” of work. We believe that there are seven critical components required to solidify a shift in thinking and approach from a deficit view to one based on an assets worldview. A description of our domains of work is provided below.

Youth and Community Engagement

One of the fundamental principles of Positive Youth Development and Asset-Based Community Development is the integration of youth and community voice in the decisions that affect them. The New Mexico Forum for youth in Community seeks, collects, documents, and translates youth and community voice through a variety of mechanisms.

New Mexico Youth Alliance:  The Youth Alliance, comprised of 112 youth (one for each legislative district) is critical to engaging youth statewide and documenting youth voice. The Forum not only engages youth from the New Mexico Youth Alliance, but NMYA members themselves collect information from youth in their local communities. Members of the NMYA are training in facilitation and communication skills, and they distribute surveys annually to collect information on youth perspectives on a number of issues. For more information on the New Mexico Youth Alliance, please contact Moneka Stevens-Cordova (Moneka@nmforumforyouth.org).

Regional Partner Organizations:  The Forum’s RPO Infrastructure Network utilizes VISTA volunteers working alongside RPO staff to create a number of opportunities for collecting and document community feedback. Most of these efforts are conducted via community convening's, but electronic and other survey methods are also utilized. For more information on the Regional Partner Organizations, please contact Anna Nelson, LISW (anelson@nmforumforyouth.org).

Forums:  Staff from the New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community regularly conduct community forums to solicit community voice. Historically, forums have focused on youth policy issues as well as on mobilization of community members to engage in asset-based community development approaches. For more information on our community forums, please contact Anna Nelson, LISW (anelson@nmforumforyouth.org).

Facilitation:  The Forum utilizes many participatory facilitation tools and processes, including the Voice of the Community System™ to collect youth and community voice. Facilitation is usually led by two Forum staff trained in participatory processes. More importantly, the Forum utilizes multiple tools to document community voice as well as several communication modes/strategies to disseminate community feedback. For more information on the facilitation process, please contact Eduardo Martinez (emartinez@nmforumforyouth.org).

Youth Councils:  The New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community has supported and/or helped develop a number of youth councils that convene to provide youth input to community decisions. Many of these councils exist in school-based centers, but there are a number of community-wide efforts including those in the municipalities of Farmington, Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences, Santa Fe, Clovis/Portales, Ruidoso, and Dona Ana County.

Training and Professional Development

Training of practitioners and youth development professionals is critical to furthering the Positive Youth Development movement in New Mexico. The Forum has established a three-tiered system of training to support the adoption of asset-based approaches. These include:

1. Annual Youth Practitioner Summit: Each year during the first week of December, the Forum convenes the Youth Practitioner Summit, a statewide conference featuring community leaders and professionals as instructors for “how to” sessions on Positive Youth Development. The Youth Practitioner is traditionally held in Albuquerque and annual attendance reaches 350-400 youth development professionals and community advocates. Each year the Youth Practitioner Summit has a theme determined by community members; presentations range in topics from theoretical to practical applications. In recent years, the Youth Practitioner Summit has included youth presenters as youth development paraprofessionals. If you are interested in presenting at the annual Youth Practitioner Summit, please contact the Forum at 505-821-3574 or send an email to communications@nmforumforyouth.org.

2. Core Training: The “core trainings” provided by the Forum are comprised of those activities required to catalyze the field and begin the movement towards Positive Youth Development approaches. The goals of the Forum’s core trainings are to promote understanding and acceptance of the principles of Positive Youth Development, to support programming aligned with essential elements of quality PYD, and to develop skills to identify and advocate for policies and programs to support positive youth and community development.

   The Forum’s core trainings include:

   • Positive Youth Development 101 – Principles and Practices
   • Assets 101 - Asset-Based Community Development
   • Youth Leadership
   • Youth – Adult Partnerships
   • Assessing/Tapping Organizational Needs
   • Implementing Essential Elements of Quality for Out-of-School Time Programs

   Core trainings are provided to individuals and organizations at no cost and will be schedule for delivery in multiple locations over the year.

3. Customized Training: A number of trainings provided by staff of the Forum are specifically tailored to fit individual needs. It is important to design and deliver trainings that meet local needs, including cultural and other place-based issues. Customized trainings are usually provided on a fee-for-service basis as most of these are organization specific.

For more information on training and professional development, contact Michael Brown, Director of Training and Professional Development at 505-821-3547, or via email at mbrown@nmforumforyouth.org.

Program Development

In the absence of programs established specifically to support asset-based approaches, trained practitioners would not have the opportunity to effectively conduct PYD activities. The Forum understands the need to design, build, and support programs in the field that are responsive to tenets and values of positive youth development. Consequently, the Forum has established a variety of supports in the area of program development. These supports allow for engagement of advocacy networks around service learning, out-of-school time programs, and youth violence prevention providers. Additionally, program development is supported under a foundational lens of quality service, and specific consultation and/or program design can be tailored for any youth initiative. Training and technical assistance under the “Essential Elements of Quality in Out-of-School Time” is a prime example of supporting the field through program development efforts. For more information on the Forum’s program development efforts, please contact Anna Nelson, Executive Director (anelson@nmforumforyouth.org).

Organizational Development

The New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community recognizes the need to provide organizational development support as a means to establish, support, and expand asset-based and positive youth development in New Mexico. The New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community strongly believes that organizational development supports, along with supports for youth (via youth engagement), practitioners (via training), and leadership/professional development are vital to building on existing community assets that value young people as key contributors to create healthy communities in New Mexico.

The cornerstones of the Forum's organizational development services include:

• Organizational Assessments
• Participatory Strategic Planning
• Quality Systems Management
• Community Engagement via the Voice of the Community System™

Additionally, the organizational development team is provides training in the following areas:

• Community Asset Mapping
• Facilitation Skills Training for Youth and Practitioners

The Forum provides organizational development supports and services through partnership with our constituents. Most of these supports and services are coordinated and provided via contractual obligation with recipients. For more information, contact Eduardo Martinez, Director of Infrastructure and Organizational Development (emartinez@nmforumforyouth.org).

Leadership Development

Ultimately, the implementation of asset-based approaches within organizations and community lies within the hands of community leaders. Without the leaders to advocate for, support, and implement these approaches, positive youth development initiatives will be short-lived. The Forum engages in multiple areas of support to develop leaders that support PYD approaches.

The New Mexico Youth Alliance provides an avenue for young leaders (14-20 years of age) to be trained, to engage statewide systems and community, and to build a new generation of leaders for the future. The New Mexico Youth Alliance is coordinated in partnership with the New Mexico Children’s Cabinet and the Children, Youth and Families Department.

Public Allies New Mexico, an intensive, ten month leadership development initiative for adults (18+ years) is housed at the Forum. Participants engage in comprehensive skills development and connect to non-governmental organizations for mentoring and implementation of community development efforts through team service projects. Each Public Allies New cohort begins in October; the Forum is in its third year of coordinating this leadership development effort. Public Allies New Mexico is a partnership with the Public Allies National Office (“New Leadership for New Times”), affiliated with the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Through its technical assistance services, the Forum provides executive consultation to leaders of community-based organizations throughout the state. The Forum convenes executive roundtables and provides technical assistance to help facilitate the adoption of asset-based approaches in New Mexico. A number of these efforts are ongoing in charter schools and youth initiatives. Executive consultation and technical assistance services are usually provided through partnerships or formalized agreements.

For more information on the Forum’s Leadership Development efforts, please contact Anna Nelson, Executive Director. (anelson@nmforumforyouth.org).

Resource Development

Practitioners, programs, and organizations established to support PYD principles cannot thrive without the resources to sustain them. More importantly, resources must be allocated around, and specifically tailored to support asset-based approaches. Consequently, the Forum has focused on resource development efforts at two levels that support sustainability for positive youth development.

At the state level, the Forum helped establish the Next Generation Fund, and trust fund enacted by state statute and administered through the Children, Youth, and Families Department. The Next Generation Fund allows for distribution of resources to positive youth development programs, ensuring that collaborative efforts leverage partnerships with youth and across community members. Additionally, the Forum works with the New Mexico Children’s Cabinet to support the allocation of resources for asset-based approaches.

At the local level, the Forum engages city and county efforts to support the adoption of PYD language and approaches in local funding streams. These efforts are exemplified by the adoption of positive youth development requirements for teen pregnancy prevention efforts in Dona Ana County. By providing training and technical assistance to the Dona Ana County Health and Human Services (HHS) Department, the Forum helped the department establish requirements for positive youth development in county funding streams and RFP’s. Equally important is the integration of youth engagement efforts with city and county governments. Dona Ana County has established a youth council to support the HHS efforts – youth are engaged in evaluating, advising, and establishing positive youth development efforts. Similarly, the Mayor’s Teen Advisory Council in Farmington is a model of youth engagement that results in the provision of resources for asset-based approaches. Ongoing efforts are underway in other cities and counties throughout the state.

For more information on the Next Generation Fund or other Resource Development supports, please contact Anna Nelson, Executive Director. (anelson@nmforumforyouth.org).

Informing Policy

To create real (and sustainable) systems change for youth and community efforts, asset-based approaches require a shift in policy at all levels of structure and power. The Forum helps facilitate collection of youth and community voice as a means of supporting communities in the democratic process and community development efforts. The process can be described as “grass roots to grass tops”.

The Forum currently provides expertise and consultation to local and state systems in the formation of policy that support asset-based approaches. These systems include municipal entities (mayors, city councils, county commissioners), local health and human service agencies, statewide agencies (the New Mexico Children’s Cabinet), and state legislators. Additionally, the Forum is increasingly engaged with New Mexico’s Congressional delegation to support the needs of children, youth, families and communities in New Mexico.

For more information on the Forum’s role with respect to informing policy efforts, please contact Anna Nelson, Executive Director (anelson@nmforumforyouth.org)