Belonging and Membership

Belonging and Membership

Provide activities and space for youth to feel included regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability status, and support activities that provide positive sense of belonging (e.g., sports, community service, or faith-based youth groups). Promote youth behaviors that are respectful of diversity** and equity.

**The term diversity refers to a mix of religion, ethnicity, gender, ability, age, geography, sexual orientation, and language

Having a sense of belonging is extremely important for youth, particularly in early and mid-adolescence. The tool promotes reflection on recruitment practices, programmatic activities and staff training to ensure YSOs provide an inclusive environment and a sense of belonging for all youth.

Click on the following links to learn more about gender practices, LGBT inclusion, and working with Persons with Disability

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NOT YET DEVELOPED (1)BEGINNING
(2)		DEVELOPING
(3)		COMPETENT
(4)		SCORING
3.C.1 Program proactively seeks to recruit a diverse group of youth to be represented at the organization and in activities.
Program does not consider youths’ background to ensure diverse groups are represented at the organization and in activities.Program seeks to include youth of different backgrounds to ensure some diversity, such as equal representation of genders, are included in the organization and in activities.Program intentionally seeks out diverse backgrounds to ensure youth in the program represent multiple categories of diversity, including those with disabilities and/or from minority groups, but does not have a purposeful outreach strategy. Program has a defined and written outreach strategy and reaches out to nearby communities to create a diverse representation of youth in the program and take special measures to include those with disabilities and from minority groups.Score:

___________
Examples:
  • Program is open to people of diverse background but does not purposefully seek out any group (gender, religion, ethnicity, etc.) to participate in the program.
Examples:
  • When program realizes that there is some inequality (such as too many female youth), they try to recruit additional people (such as more males) to create balance.
Examples:
  • Program has informal goals on how many participants should be included to ensure a diverse group and reaches out to youth in these categories.
  • Program takes into consideration multiple categories of diversity.
  • Staff use variety of outreach methods (social media, bulletin boards, flyers).
  • Staff use multiple languages during outreach.
Examples:
  • Program has M&E targets to ensure diverse participants.
  • Program has protocols on how to reach marginalized groups.
  • Staff are representative of diverse groups and assist program in reaching those groups.
Evidence:
*3.C.2 Program provides an inclusive environment for all young people, where all social differences are respected.
Program does not provide an inclusive environment for all young people and opportunities are not distributed equally among the youth.Program has a limited number of activities to promote an inclusive environment but lacks structured activities to deepen youth skills, knowledge, and behavior relating to diversity issues. Program staff have structured activities to promote acceptance and build knowledge on at least one area of diversity issue. Staff model inclusive behavior and respect for youth. Program have structured activities and policies to promote acceptance and build knowledge on multiple areas of diversity. All program staff show mutual respect for and inclusion of other religions, ethnicities, genders, and abilitiesScore:

___________
Examples:
  • Staff holds no activities to initiate conversations between youth and help them find commonalities.
  • Staff only talk to a select group of young people.
Examples:
  • Program has one or two activities to create connections among youth but does not explicitly address diversity during these activities.
  • Staff intervene if exclusive behavior occurs among youth.
  • Staff introduce newcomers to other youth and pairs him/her with a peer who is responsible for orienting the new youth.
Examples:
  • Staff hold an icebreaker/ inclusion activity at the beginning of a program that addresses one of the inclusions issues (e.g., gender).
  • Program staff have discussions/activities on existing stereotypes for that inclusion issue (e.g., gender) and have activities that show youth how stereotypes are not true/hurtful.
  • Staff are sensitive to culture and language of participants.
Examples:
  • Program has written policy to address discrimination.
  • Staff promote inclusion activities that build respect.
  • When minority, marginalized and/or female youth are not contributing, staff seek their input and opinions during or outside of the activity.
  • Staff provides formal opportunities to learn about and value differences among people, such as interviewing people from different backgrounds.
Evidence:
3.C.3 Program staff are trained on how to address diversity within the program, including how to be inclusive and how to reduce any existing tensions.
Program does not include training staff on diversity, including methods on how to be inclusive and identify pre-existing tensions among youth.Program staff are trained at least once on how to be more inclusive during the program, but the training does not address the possible tensions that may occur when bringing together different groups of youth.
Program offers multiple trainings for staff on how to be more inclusive, and the training mentions specific types of behavior that illustrate tensions when bringing together different groups of youth.
Program offers multiple trainings for staff on how to be inclusive and includes interactive activities and real-life scenarios for staff to practice diffusing possible points of tension when bringing together different groups of youth.
Score:

___________
Examples:
  • Program has no diversity trainings and does not teach staff how to ensure all youth feel included in activities and the whole program.
Examples:
  • As part of onboarding, program staff receive a training or guidelines on how to address diversity within the program.
Examples:
  • Program has multiple diversity trainings throughout the year.
  • During trainings, program staff discuss possible existing tensions between youth and methods to dissuade them.
  • During trainings, staff learn how to promote more gender and socially equitable attitudes and behaviors.
Examples:
  • Program has protocols, so staff know how to address possible points of tension surrounding different political views or religious practices.
  • During trainings, staff are given real-life scenarios and/or role plays to practice both inclusionary activities, and how to address
    possible tensions when people with different backgrounds meet for the first time.
  • During trainings, staff learn to recognize their own attitudes and expectations of different social groups and ensure that their personal attitudes do not impact their professional behavior in the program.
Evidence:
*3.C.4. Program staff learn about challenges facing youth in and out of the program to ensure youth feel comfortable in the program and help youth
to overcome challenges.
Program staff do not try to learn about challenges facing youth or provide criticism rather than encouragementProgram staff collects information at the beginning of a program that helps them learn what factors/challenges impact them inside the program.Program discusses with the youth in a structured format about what factors/challenges impact them inside the program and provides solutions.Program requests information from the youth in a structured format about what factors/challenges impact them in and out of the program and works with the youth to think of practical ways the challenges can be overcome rather than telling them what to do. Staff are trained to recognize special needs (e.g., prior exposure to trauma or abuse), provide basic psycho-social support, or refer to specialized services strategies. Score:

___________
Examples:
  • Program staff hold activities without determining the type of support youth need or types of challenges they face.
Examples:
  • At the beginning of a program or through the recruitment application, program staff ask youth about challenges related to the program (such as transportation issues, trouble in school, financial hindrances, special needs) and provide some advice on how to address them.
Examples:
  • Throughout the program, staff have discussions with youth to learn about challenges they face within the program such as transportation issues, trouble in school, financial hindrances, or special needs.
  • Program has designated staff member the youth can confidentially consult with on these challenges.
Examples:
  • Program helps youth address challenges through referrals, a guidance counselor, or other support mechanisms. Challenges discussed are not only within the program.
Evidence:
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