What is the YPAT?
The Youth Programming Assessment Tool (YPAT) helps youth-serving civil society organizations (YSOs) reflect upon their own internal programming and institutional practices and identify areas for improvement.
To develop the YPAT, FHI360 reviewed over 20 youth program assessment tools, held consultations with experts and stakeholders in the field, and pilot tested it with 3 youth-serving organizations in Jordan and 6 youth-serving organizations in Jamaica. The tool sets standards of best practice and provides concrete steps and examples for how a YSO can operationalize Positive Youth Development (PYD) with the ultimate goal of improving programming to enhance developmental outcomes for youth.
The tool’s primary goals are:
Promoting Reflection
To promote reflection among key program staff and youth participants on programming practices based on the Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach.
Generating Data
To generate data to inform program improvement by providing concrete standards and benchmarks to guide improvement plans.
Gain Perspective
To gain youth perspective on program services.