First 90 Seconds Youth Engagement Protocol (Youth Era original)

Source: Training Development Resources/Engagement — "First 90 Seconds Youth Engagement Protocol Training" (in-house Youth Era training content)

Defines youth engagement as "meaningful participation and sustained involvement of a young person in an activity, with a focus outside of him or herself" (Crooks, Chiodo, Thomas & Hughes, 2009), and builds a specific, trainable protocol around the essential question: how do we immediately convey to a youth walking through the door that they're welcome and this is the place for them? The answer is staff's interaction in the first 90 seconds: greet the youth by name and say "I am glad you are here" (or introduce yourself if you don't know them yet); give a brief, genuine check-in ("how's it going?") and actually listen to the verbal and nonverbal response, referencing something you remember about them if relevant. Explicit warning: "youth have excellent adult fake-caring detectors" — if staff are pretending to care, youth will know. Concrete staff behaviors: phone off and out of sight, full attention, warm smile, correct pronunciation of names, awareness of nonverbal communication (eye contact, tone, physical proximity). A modified version applies the same opening ("I am glad you are here") to a youth already in crisis, followed by asking if they want a one-on-one check-in and "how are you feeling?" A strong, ready-to-train protocol for any new direct-service staff.

Youth Involvement and Engagement Assessment Tool

Source: Training Development Resources/Engagement — adapted from Jones, K.R. (2006), University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension

A 41-item Likert-scale (1-5) program self-assessment tool measuring three distinct constructs: youth involvement (do youth take initiative, make key decisions, share ideas, help each other learn), youth engagement with the community (do youth take leadership in the community, express genuine interest, mentor others, apply what they learn elsewhere), and youth retention (are youth recruiting peers, staying involved long-term, choosing the program over competing options). Recommended for use roughly every six months once a program has been running a while. Scoring: 1-2.4 is "low," 2.5-3.4 "average," 3.5+ "high," and the tool includes a diagnostic table cross-referencing the three scores (e.g., high involvement/engagement but low retention suggests youth are being pulled away by competing life demands like jobs or graduation, not that the program itself is failing) plus targeted improvement steps for each low-scoring pattern. Useful for a Youth Era program lead doing a periodic health check on a specific site or cohort, not for individual coaching.

Peer Support Vibe Check Tool (Youth Era original)

Source: Training Development Resources/Engagement — "Vibe Check" tool (in-house Youth Era)

A structured mutual check-in for a peer and their YSS (Youth Support Specialist) to do periodically together: each fills out a parallel worksheet (orange for the peer, pink for the YSS) covering how they'd describe the relationship in 3-5 words, what expectations they had going in and whether those are being met, what parts of the work they enjoy or don't, and at what point they'd talk about ending the peer support relationship. They then compare answers and finish with a Start / Stop / Continue exercise — habits or practices to newly try, to mutually agree to stop, or to keep doing. A simple, reusable relationship-maintenance tool that keeps the peer support relationship itself explicitly negotiable rather than assumed.

The 24 Hour Clock (Youth Era original)

Source: Training Development Resources/Engagement — "24 hour clock UPDATE.pdf" (© 2025 Youth Era)

A simple mood-tracking activity: pick a color for each mood category (e.g. "good," "pretty neutral," "not great"), then walk through every hour of the day starting at 12am and color in that hour's block on a 24-hour clock face, pie-slice style, according to mood at that time. Can be filled out for one specific day, an "average" day, or an "ideal" day, and is designed to be debriefed afterward with someone the young person trusts. A quick, visual way to surface mood patterns across a full day without asking a young person to journal at length. (A companion activity video for this tool exists but is a multi-GB file, well beyond what this extraction pass handles — skipped.)