CENTRE FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT SERVICES

The Centre for Youth Development Services (C4YDS) exists to support efforts towards the professionalization of the youth development sector. We support academic and action research to contribute to the Body of Knowledge in the sector; the design and delivery of relevant trainings and professional certifications to youth development practitioners; and structured consulting engagements to support the design, implementation, and M&E of policies, programmes and institutions in the youth development sector.

ABOUT C4YDS

Introduction and Background
The Centre for Youth Development Services (C4YDS) exists to support efforts towards the professionalization of the youth development sector. We are a development support agency set up in 2014 for the sole purpose of promoting professional services and practice of youth development. After over a year of ideation, C4YDS was formally incorporated in 2015, to focus on youth development as our core business. All our efforts contribute to the sector.

We were born out of the necessity and challenge of not finding a lot of fully dedicated service providers in the youth development sector. While talk of the need and benefits of investing in youth development across the globe is great, actual investment in integrated elements of the framework for youth development is low. While passion abounds in the sector, the overall numbers of trained, professional, and productive youth development practitioners are few or unknown. A huge number of youth development policies and programmes are poorly conceptualised, implemented, monitored or evaluated. A huge number of youth development institutions, clubs, and NGOs are poorly conceptualised, structured, staffed, and resourced. While a number of trained and experienced practitioners may exist, consulting engagements in the sector especially from large agencies and development partners are awarded to people in other professions – economists, social workers, management consultants, etc.

We support four core services:
1. academic and action research to contribute to the Youth Development Body of Knowledge (YDBoK);

2. the design and delivery of relevant trainings and professional certifications to youth development practitioners;

3. support to Professional Associations and Bodies promoting the professionalization of youth development practice; and

4. structured consulting engagements to support the conceptualisation, design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of policies, programmes and institutions in the youth development sector.

Our Philosophy
Imagine going to a hospital for routine check-up and advice. You will definitely want to believe that the doctors and other medical staff there are trained, certified and able to perform the services you desire or need from them in a professional and ethical manner. In short, we trust that they are professionals! Although sometimes taken for granted, this trust and assumption of professionalism is what allows us to engage with them in the first place. If we are unsure of their qualification or certifications, there are many ways to verify or seek redress. The youth development sector, sadly lacks such rigorous assumption of professionalism. Young people sometimes trust youth workers just because they are older without question.

At C4YDS, we believe that Youth Development is a Profession – in the ethos, as a career pathway, conduct, and ethics.

• The ethos – the intent, spirit, passions, or rational for working or contributing to the profession.

• Career Pathways – the formation, training, certifications, continuous development, and different forms in which we can specialise and practice youth development as decent work.

• Conduct – the systems, processes, and guidelines governing how you operate which ensures you earn the designation of professional

• Ethics – (moral, legal, trade guides)

Our Team
We are working to pull together some of the brightest advisors, academics, consultants, and practitioners in the youth development sector from across the world for this cause.

Our Partners
We are collaborating with a number of partners in the field. • Youth Intervention Programmes Association (YIPA), USA
• University of Minnesota, Extension Centre for Youth Development (USA)
• University College of Community and Organisational Development (UCCOD), Ghana
• Zambia Youth Workers Association (ZYWA)
• Tanzania Youth Workers Association (TYWA)

And ... WE NEED MORE PARTNERS in diverse areas of collaboration. CONTACT US to discuss further.

We have four areas of service.

Research and Body of Knowledge (BoK)

There is no shortage of passion about youth, youth issues, youth work, and youth development issues. Passion is however sadly not just enough. The field requires robust, evidence-based decision making processes for ideation, conceptualisation, design, and implementation of policies, programmes and institutions of youth development. Proper data, information and statistics in the field are the bedrock of professionalization. It allows for proper monitoring and evaluation to inform improvements in the practice. C4YDS supports research in the area of youth development. We work with the academia and practitioners to contribute to research. The outputs of projects we support in this area inform the development and refinement of frameworks for youth development by countries and institutions as well as policy, programming, and institutional development.

Training and Certifications

The people involved in youth development practice require proper training and certifications to professional levels. We custom-design practical training curriculum for youth workers, youth officers, youth activists, youth leaders and executives. Executives, managers and board members of Youth Development Organisations (YDOs) benefit from a wide array of training programmes designed to enhance professional delivery of services by C4YDS. No matter what your academic background is, people appointed as youth officers in Ministries and Departments of Youth (DoY) may require additional orientation in youth development practice through our professional development programmes (PDPs). Our Executive Development Programmes (EDPs) are specially designed to allow Permanent Secretaries, Deputy Ministers, Ministers of Youth as well as head of youth agencies of international NGOs and IGOs to interact and deepen their knowledge on contemporary youth development, issues, policies, and research outputs.

Professional Associations

C4YDS supports the development and strengthening of professional associations for youth development practitioners. We work to assist in the conceptualisation, set-up, and capacity development of associations for YDPs. Be it associations for research, policy development, programming, practice, or M&E, C4YDS provides unique tools and services to support professionalization of the sector.

Consulting

C4YDS promotes professional consulting practice in the youth development sector. Using time-tested expert and process consulting frameworks from the Institute of Consulting (UK), the Institute of Organisation Development (USA), and various institutions across the world to streamline youth development consulting. We provide consulting services through a wide network of certified associates in all the other areas of services – research, training, and professional associations.

The objectives of this service area are to ensure that:

Consultants providing services in the youth development sector, irrespective of their backgrounds are orientated in the basics of professional youth development.

Consultants providing services in the youth development sector understand professional consulting processes and tools for effective delivery.