If it takes a village to raise young people, as the saying goes, then the city of Hampton, Virginia is becoming a village. For nearly two decades, the city focus has evolved from a traditional “youth at risk” approach to one that involves young people directly in shaping a better community. In an April 2007 “Innovations Site Visit,” community leaders from across the country met with planners and department advisors, the young people who serve as youth commissioners, and members of partnering agencies for a look at the city's approach. In this dispatch from the field, Cheryl Copper shares the basics about the Hampton Coalition for Youth's work.

Background on Our Approach

Youth Civic Engagement (YCE) provides meaningful opportunities for young people to serve others; to influence decisions; to impact policy; and to gain leadership and work experience. The City of Hampton leads with youth, engaging them in local government, schools, and the community with the help of partnering agencies such as Alternatives, Inc. and others.

We have wrestled with challenges common to municipalities as well as attitudes that present obstacles to young people. In the process, we put to work a fundamental principle of democracy—that people impacted by decisions should have a say in them. This has helped us forge a cultural change in government and in the community. We have created strong partnerships and a unique process of training both youth and adults to work together. Carmen Sirianni, of Brandeis University, says “Hampton provides the most ambitious case to date to institutionalize youth civic engagement across the city.”

The Details

Innovations Site Visitors were intrigued by:

• An overall system of youth civic engagement that involves more than 2,000 young people each year.

• A Youth Commission that issues $40,000 for projects that address community issues the young people agree upon at the beginning of the year.

• Two paid youth planners who, between high school classes and homework assignments, gather input from constituents and write a youth chapter of the city's community plan.

• Poised and articulate young people with ample training and opportunity to speak out in peer groups and civic meetings.

• Alternatives' training of hundreds of youth and adults each year to help them work in concert.

• In-Sync programs that bring an introduction to service learning to youth in after-school settings.

• Youth advisors in neighborhoods, schools and city departments and youth members of city boards and commissions who influence decisions on policy, programs and facilities.

• A unique teen center-a dream for ten years-being created with young people intricately involved in its design and programs.

• A manual by and for youth and adult partners on “how to start or improve your own youth commission.”

• An eight-minute DVD on “Shaping The Future: The Hampton Youth Commission.”

Impact

Many municipalities and agencies understandably want youth civic engagement to result in quantifiable decreases in crime, teen pregnancy, school drop out rates and similar issues. While these key indicators will be impacted over time by a change in a community's approach to young people, an emphasis on quantification may derail YCE efforts. This work is about building relationships, changing community norms and creating a better community by engaging those who are impacted by its decisions. This takes time. So we caution those introducing YCE not to weigh too heavily a long-term process (community change) with short-term goals (numbers) as it presents an apples-to-oranges equation.

As we continue to evolve as a youth-friendly “village,” we do watch trends, study key indicators, track tangible successes, and gather testimonials from young people as they grow with us. From our experience in Hampton, there is a link between civic engagement attitudes and behaviors that translate into citizenship as adults. Young adults in our city vote at a 39 percent higher rate than the national average. For us, however, success is less about statistics and more about giving voice to as many young people as possible (about 2,000) each year and investigating ways that their input affects decision-making. To do that we put an emphasis on infrastructure-youth/adult training; building fluency in the language of youth civic engagement; identifying partners and opportunities for three pathways (service, influence and shared leadership) and succession efforts to prepare for inevitable changes.

Someone once said “the road to improvement is always under construction.” That should be the motto for youth civic engagement. As we build and maintain our infrastructure and raise young people to become change agents, we understand that our work is never done. Each young person who comes to the process brings individual gifts and needs. Each year there is a new crop of teens as others move on to college and adulthood. Every time a new neighborhood or business expresses interest, we begin to cultivate another partnership. The cycle of renewal begins again and again. Fortunately, the natural resource we are helping to grow brings a vitality of its own and re-energizes us, too.

Grant Support

The Innovations Site Visit in Hampton was funded by a grant from the Innovations In American Government Award, a program of the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Learn more about Hampton's initiatives and youth development resources at www.hampton.gov/foryouth.com.