Chapter 1: How to use the Manual and First Steps with Your Team

How to use this Manual and the First Steps with your Team

We hope this manual will help you facilitate a Community Needs Assessment (CNA) that is led and driven by the youth you work with!

This brief section provides you with:

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We hope you will find everything you will need to complete a youth-led CNA. However, if you need support or have questions as you go through the process, please contact Paige Wray (pwray@uidaho.edu) or Cris Meier (cris.meier@usu.edu).

Basics about how to use this manual. An overview & objectives of completing a CNA. Information that you need as a facilitator to guide your youth during this initial step and the rest of this CNA. An overview of a timeline that you can use or adapt to fit your team ’ s needs.

Why would I even do a project like this one with my youth team?

Although this manual can be used for many different youth groups, this manual was created as part of a 4-H initiative. One of the purposes of 4-H, and other youth groups, is to work with and prepare youth for future experiences in life and leadership. After all, 4-H was formed from the idea that by providing youth opportunities to learn new agricultural technologies in "hands-on" settings, they could then take them back and be implemented in their communities with adults.

Providing meaningful experiences for youth participation and leadership takes planning and intentionality but is achievable. As described by Hart’ s Ladder of Youth Participation 1 , ideally, youth programs should seek to have maximum youth involvement. As the figure of Hart’ s Ladder of Youth Participation shows on the next page, this is achieved when adult leaders move youth from “ objects ” or tokenized participants to partners in programming.

The youth-led CNA described in this manual seeks to move youth up the ladder into the top rungs with the intention of the youth initiating and directing not only the CNA but also a project resulting from their CNA findings.