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Click Here for Community Center Standards
The Youth Development Resource Center (YDRC)
The goal of YDRC is to strengthen individual and collective impact on youth.
The YDRC focuses on empowering youth development providers that fill opportunity gaps in youth’s access to quality learning experiences — expanding the time, places, and ways in which youth learn and grow. Young people find and ignite their passions, get connected to caring adults, and are more likely to become lifelong learners with skills for success.
Let's raise the bar in our programming by taking some time to honestly evaluate and enhance our ministries.
How It Works
Measure Quality and Impact
We provide access to standardized data, best practices and common measurement tools to help providers assess how many youth they are serving, how much service they are providing, how well the service is delivered, and what difference they are making in terms of the youth skills and outcomes.
Improve skills for effective youth work and management
We provide and connect youth development professionals to professional development designed to promote quality standards and best practices, giving providers the knowledge and skills they need to implement high-quality youth programming that is safe, supportive, engaging, and skill-building.
Connect providers to each other and to professional development opportunities.
We convene networking and peer-learning opportunities for professionals to build relationships and partnerships, connect to local resources and national best practices and share lessons learned.
Advocate for quality programming for all Detroit youth
We champion quality and equity so that more children across the Detroit area can access high-quality youth development opportunities.
The goal of YDRC is to strengthen individual and collective impact on youth.
The YDRC focuses on empowering youth development providers that fill opportunity gaps in youth’s access to quality learning experiences — expanding the time, places, and ways in which youth learn and grow. Young people find and ignite their passions, get connected to caring adults, and are more likely to become lifelong learners with skills for success.
Let's raise the bar in our programming by taking some time to honestly evaluate and enhance our ministries.
Click Here for a Strategic Plan For Improving Your Youth Ministries
Click Here for Quality Standards for Youth Programming
Click Here for Ways to solicit Youth Input
Click Here for Youth Program Quality Assessment Form A
Click Here for Youth Program Quality Assessment Form B
Click Here for School-Age Program Quality Assessment
Click Here for SEL Program Quality Assessment
Click Here for Summer Learning Program Quality Assessment
Click Here for Camp Program Quality Assessment
Click Here for Michigan Out of School Time Standards
5 Tips on how to grow a Youth Group
1. Focus on quality, not quantity
A small group of deeply, discipled and sanctified students is much more effective than a massive spiritually shallow group. Encouraging your youth group teens to have lives surrendered to Christ is not only important for them as individuals, but brings about a strong, long-lasting group.
2. Focus on the students you have, not the students you want
There is a temptation to spend more time thinking about growth strategies than working with the students you have. The opposite should be the case. It's much more effective to focus on the students you already have. Encourage them. Disciple them. Invest in them. If we're doing discipleship the right way, our teens will begin to desire to draw other people in. "Sheep make sheep" in a biological sense and a spiritual sense.
3. Focus on relationships, not events
Students like to be together. Sometimes we can have the misconception that events are what fuel our students' camaraderie. We haven't necessarily found this to be true. Instead of just planning events, plan opportunities for them to be together.
4. Focus on being the "third place," not the only place
Realistically, our youth groups are not the center of our students' universe. For the most part, teens' daily lives are dominated by time at home with family, school work and responsibilities. We want our youth groups to be their "third place." Our students need a place for external community and camaraderie, meaning that our youth groups should foster a sense of safety and connectedness.
5. Focus on being involved, not leading from afar
Students are busy-probably more so than we think. If we want to increase our influence we need to be willing to "infiltrate" the other areas. Speak with their parents. Help with their homework. Go to their soccer games or school plays. Not only is this a good way to get involved with your teens, it engages their families and friends and maybe invite them to the corps.