Filling OpenStreetMap data gaps in rural Nepal: a digital youth internship and leadership programme

Crowdsourced, open geospatial data such as the data compiled through OpenStreetMap have proven useful in addressing humanitarian, disaster and development needs. However, the existing ways in which volunteers engage in OpenStreetMap have inherent limitations that lead to critical data gaps in economically underdeveloped countries and regions. Various initiatives that target specific geospatial data gaps and engage volunteers for longer periods have emerged to overcome these limitations, yet there has been limited in-depth study of such targeted mapping initiatives. This article reports the findings from Digital Internship and Leadership (DIAL), a programme designed to fill data gaps in rural Nepal by engaging young people in mapping rural Nepal by integrating targeted mapping, a virtual internship strategy and youth leadership development. The findings suggest the potential benefits of targeted mapping initiatives embedded in youth leadership internship programmes to address those critical data gaps

Increasing Latinx Youth Engagement Across Different Types of After-School Organizations

This article explores how Latinx youth engagement practices vary across different types of out-of-school organizations that successfully sustain Latinx youth participation. Data are drawn from a qualitative study of 13 California organizations that each emphasize one of 3 missions: social justice youth development, “one-stop” wrap-around services, or academic enrichment. While all organizations are found to adhere to a core set of Latinx youth development guiding principles, there are nuanced differences in how they are operationalized in practice across varied organization types, reflecting variation in terms of discourse, scale, and scope. These findings highlight the need for youth development practitioners and collaborating researchers to understand the context of youth-serving organizations when identifying and implementing promising practices and extension programs

Engaging Latino Communities from the Ground Up: Three Tools

California\u27s 4-H Youth Development Program has adopted an asset-based community development approach to extending programming with Latino youths and families. This approach entails learning and relationship building with local Latino communities and building on untapped existing resources, such as Latino-serving organizations and networks. Here we present three tools developed to further the effort

Effectiveness of community outreach and engagement in recruitment success for a prebirth cohort.

IntroductionWe describe the effectiveness of community outreach and engagement in supporting recruitment for the US National Children's Vanguard Study between 2009 and 2012.MethodsThirty-seven study locations used 1 of 4 strategies to recruit 18-49-year-old pregnant or trying to conceive women: (1) Initial Vanguard Study used household-based recruitment; (2) Direct Outreach emphasized self-referral; (3) Enhanced Household-Based Recruitment enhanced Initial Vanguard Study strategies; and (4) Provider-Based Recruitment recruited through healthcare providers. Outreach and engagement included advance letters, interactions with healthcare providers, participation in community events, contacts with community organizations, and media outreach.ResultsAfter 1-2 years, 41%-74% of 9844 study-eligible women had heard about the National Children's Vanguard Study when first approached. Women who heard were 1.5-3 times more likely to consent. Hearing via word-of-mouth or the media most frequently predicted consent. The more sources women heard from the higher the odds of consent.ConclusionsWe conclude that tailored outreach and engagement facilitate recruitment in cohort studies

Putting Youth on the Map: A Pilot Instrument for Assessing Youth Well-Being

Extant measures of adolescent well-being in the United States typically focus on negative indicators of youth outcomes. Indices comprised of such measures paint bleak views of youth and orient action toward the prevention of problems over the promotion of protective factors. Their tendency to focus analyses at a state or county geographic scale produces limited information about localized outcome patterns that could inform policymakers, practitioners and advocacy networks. We discuss the construction of a new geo-referenced index of youth well-being based on positive indicators of youth development. In demonstrating the index for the greater Sacramento, California region of the United States, we find that overall youth well-being falls far short of an optimal outcome, and geographic disparities in well-being appear to exist across school districts at all levels of our analysis. Despite its limitations, the sub-county geographic scale of this index provides needed data to facilitate local and regional interventions

Effective Engagement with Latino Youths and Communities

California\u27s 4-H Youth Development Program adopted an asset-based and systematic community development approach to studying successful Latino-serving youth development programs. This effort included a scan of Latino engagement resources and Latino-serving youth development settings as well as key informant interviews. Beyond generating important data, the research process itself facilitated impactful Latino community outreach, relationship building, and engagement, suggesting multiple potential benefits to using a community development approach in research

Exploring the challenges and benefits of online youth-led nutrition programs

Nutrition educators at the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) have been engaging low-income youth in youth-led participatory action research (YPAR) for several years. During COVID-19, these educators transitioned from in-person to online YPAR programming. Delivering the YPAR program online presented challenges but also fostered new strategies and provided benefits. This study assesses the challenges, strategies and benefits of online YPAR programming, and it examines future program implications from the perspectives of both nutrition educators and youth. Qualitative interviews were conducted via Zoom with eight nutrition educators who attempted to implement YPAR programming during the 2020–2021 school year. We used a retrospective Qualtrics survey to gain information from 54 youth participants. We found that online facilitation encouraged the innovative use of technology, which was especially important because it allowed teams to connect with each other during tumultuous times. This online format made meetings easier in terms of planning, documentation and logistics. However, the online format presented particular challenges, such as coping with internet and technology difficulties and trying to sustain authentic engagement among participants without in-person interactions. Consequently, 50% of nutrition educators and 45% of youth respondents said they preferred a mix of in-person and online meetings for future YPAR programming

Putting Youth on the Map: A Pilot Instrument for Assessing Youth Well-Being.

Extant measures of adolescent well-being in the United States typically focus on negative indicators of youth outcomes. Indices comprised of such measures paint bleak views of youth and orient action toward the prevention of problems over the promotion of protective factors. Their tendency to focus analyses at a state or county geographic scale produces limited information about localized outcome patterns that could inform policymakers, practitioners and advocacy networks. We discuss the construction of a new geo-referenced index of youth well-being based on positive indicators of youth development. In demonstrating the index for the greater Sacramento, California region of the United States, we find that overall youth well-being falls far short of an optimal outcome, and geographic disparities in well-being appear to exist across school districts at all levels of our analysis. Despite its limitations, the sub-county geographic scale of this index provides needed data to facilitate local and regional interventions