Recruitment and Retention in Youth Development Programming

Youth development programs are designed to ensure that young people experience healthy development, success in school, and smooth transitions to adulthood. However, ensuring that adolescents participate in these programs is a continual challenge, especially as they age. Exploring key issues related to recruiting and retaining involvement in youth development programs, this article examines youths' initial decisions to attend a program, and describes important motivators that impact their continued involvement.

One of the challenges of getting adolescents involved in youth development programs is that of opportunity. Youth cannot be recruited into programs that do not exist, that youth don't know about, or which they do not have the time and/or resources to be engaged in. Additionally, the activities offered in these programs need to be of interest and relevance to adolescents. Other motivators related to involvement include adolescents' desire to feel competent in an activity, their desire for autonomy, and their desire to feel connected with others.

The article is designed to act as an initial framework to assist youth development practitioners in exploring youth involvement in their own programming. Throughout this article, the author provides concrete examples of how to incorporate these motivators into a youth development program.