Youth Development Administration

About Youth Development Administration

VISION All Sacramento children and youth are valued and reach their fullest potential.

MISSION The City of Sacramento leads collaboratively to provide systemic and sustainable investments and opportunities, harnessing collective assets to champion intentional and equitable pathways for young people to succeed.

Citywide Youth Development plan & Framework for Children and Youth Programs ("Youth Plan")

The Youth Plan guides the City in the design, operations and evaluation of its children and youth program investments, with a concerted application of resources toward young people in greatest need. The Youth Plan outlines goals from cradle-to-career, as well as a framework for integrating youth program quality at scale through common evidence-informed practices.

The Youth Plan framework summarizes over a half century of research that shows only high-quality programs improve youth development outcomes. To support continuous quality improvement, the City is committed to using data, assessment, and stakeholder input to inform strategic investments in equitable and accessible pathways for young people to succeed while creating clearer linkages across youth-serving systems and programs.

OYD’s Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) team broadly supports the design and application of the City’s first evaluation, learning and continuous quality improvement system across all youth investments while centering racial equity and social justice. This comprehensive CQI system operates on multiple levels - participant, program, and systems – working with youth and community to improve outcomes in all three areas.

Highlights from our work

YDA contributes to the growth and development of Sacramento youth through the following programs, partnerships, and investments.

#SacTownYouthNights: Youth Drop-in Events - Grant Program

#SacTownYouthNights events take place on Friday and Saturday nights in priority neighborhoods across the city and offer young people safe spaces to engage in a variety of activities that are positive, productive, and fun including recreation and sports, skill-building, career exploration, arts and culture, games, dances and more.

The Youth Development Administration (YDA) released the #SacTownYouthNights $1.3 million request for proposals in July 2022. Twenty-seven youth-serving community-based organizations were selected to plan and host bi-monthly events that are youth-led, adult-supported and designed for 30-50 or more youth, ages 12 – 24. This grant program advances YDA’s goal to increase spaces that support belonging, promote community, and connect youth to trusted adult mentors.

For more information, please check out this City Express article

 

 

Sacramento Youth Development Plan Funding - Grant Program

The Sacramento Youth Development Plan Fund was designed with a set aside of one-time mid-year general operating funding for youth-serving programs that align with the City’s Youth Plan. Rigorous stakeholder engagement uncovered four areas of need and Community-Based Organizations were invited to apply for programs that fell into one of these areas: Mental Wellness, Workforce Development, Academic Support, and Violence Intervention.

 

#SacYouthWorks

Since the summer of 2020, #SacYouthWorks has provided almost 2,000 youth hope for the future, places to belong, and paid opportunities to learn practical skills, serve their community, and explore career goals.

OYD partners with PRO Youth & Families as part of their Youth & Family Collective, to leverage the power of Sacramento’s youth provider network. Through the #SacYouthWorks (#SYW) program, partners engage cohorts of young people (ages 14-18), in 40 hours of programming using the following framework:

  • Connect youth to trusted mentors and existing service projects that respond to community needs due to COVID-19 and/or provide youth with other types of applied work-based learning opportunities to meet this component
  • Learn critical work readiness skills
  • Earn a stipend

#SYW partners receive program and administrative-support funding to connect youth to trusted peers and adults, increase work-based learning skills, create pathways to career opportunities and engage youth to address community needs.

The #SYW experience provides critical learning and addresses social and emotional needs by intentionally connecting youth to trusted adults, their peers, community service, and work-readiness and mental health training and support.

“I was struggling as a 17 year old to get a job during the pandemic and then after…doing the [#SacYouthWorks] program I got offered a job because of my hard work during the program. It most definitely helped me financially and with responsibility…” – #SYW Youth Participant from Daughters of Zion Enterpryz

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