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Dec/Jan 2010Vol. 10, No. 10Resource Center for Positive Youth Development and Leadership

The National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY) has developed informational and training materials on positive youth development and youth leadership that are now available on the NCFY website. Positive youth development refers to the prevention of risky behavior and support of youth involvement in healthy, useful activities that give youth the opportunity to build skills and leadership.

The NCFY webpage on Positive Youth Development and Youth Leadership (www.ncfy.com/publications/pyd.htm) features materials for youth and for adults involved with youth development, including:

  • Introductory material on positive youth development
  • Learning by Doing factsheets
  • Teaming Up With Youth factsheets
  • Youth Empowerment Strategies factsheets

Another NCFY webpage (www.ncfy.com/podcast/index.htm) features archived podcasts in which NCFY staff interviewed youth dealing with such challenges as living on the streets, teen pregnancy and parenthood, and natural disasters. Other podcasts showcase positive solutions to these challenges, including mentoring, a summer program for at-risk youth, and youth leadership programs.

The Exchange is NCFY's online newsletter (www.ncfy.com/publications/exchange/index.htm); it features articles on youth homelessness and news from the youth services field. Recent issues have focused on youth homelessness in today's economy and overrepresented groups among homeless youth.

NCFY is a clearinghouse of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Family and Youth Services Bureau. NCFY publications are free of charge.