Helping Young People Navigate Life’s Challenges: Best Practices From the Field

A new brief from the UNC School of Social Work’s Col­lab­o­ra­tive for Imple­men­ta­tion Prac­tice (CIP) explores how nav­i­ga­tion ser­vices can guide youth and young adults through crit­i­cal tran­si­tions into adult­hood. It draws from research fund­ed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

“CIP’s lat­est brief is a pow­er­ful reminder of the role youth nav­i­ga­tion plays in con­nect­ing young peo­ple to the tools, resources and sup­port they need,” said Thomasi­na Hiers, vice pres­i­dent of the Casey Foundation’s Cen­ter for Civic Sites and Com­mu­ni­ty Change. ​“It also pro­vides valu­able guid­ance for non­prof­its who are devel­op­ing, refin­ing and imple­ment­ing youth nav­i­ga­tion ser­vices across the Unit­ed States.”

What is Youth and Young Adult Navigation?

Nav­i­ga­tion pro­grams are designed to help youth and young adults access and coor­di­nate the ser­vices they need to achieve sta­bil­i­ty, well-being and long-term suc­cess. These pro­grams are espe­cial­ly ben­e­fi­cial for young peo­ple aging out of fos­ter care, nav­i­gat­ing the jus­tice sys­tem or liv­ing inde­pen­dent­ly for the first time.

Core Prac­tices That Help Youth Thrive

The CIP brief out­lines sev­en foun­da­tion­al prac­tices for effec­tive youth and young adult navigation. 

1. Build trust­ing rela­tion­ships. Estab­lish safe, respect­ful part­ner­ships that encour­age youth to form per­ma­nent, healthy connections.
2. Col­lab­o­rate on indi­vid­u­al­ized nav­i­ga­tion plans. Help young peo­ple iden­ti­fy their goals, needs and strengths through a learn­ing-ori­ent­ed approach.
3. Sup­port basic needs. Ensure access to essen­tials like hous­ing, food and health care to cre­ate sta­bil­i­ty and focus on long-term goals.
4. Guide tran­si­tions across sys­tems. Offer incre­men­tal sup­port for nav­i­gat­ing com­plex sys­tems such as child wel­fare or juve­nile justice.
5. Strength­en self-effi­ca­cy. Devel­op lead­er­ship, con­fi­dence and prob­lem-solv­ing skills in youth and young adults.
6. Map local resources. Cul­ti­vate a deep under­stand­ing of com­mu­ni­ty assets, from men­tal health ser­vices to employ­ment support.
7. Incor­po­rate youth feed­back. Use insights from young peo­ple to advo­cate for sys­temic change and improve services.

Imple­ment­ing Nav­i­ga­tion Best Practices

Exam­ples of orga­ni­za­tions car­ry­ing out youth nav­i­ga­tion best prac­tices across the Unit­ed States, which the CIP brief high­lights, include:

• A Place 4 Me (Cuya­hoga Coun­ty, Ohio): Youth Nav­i­ga­tors who have expe­ri­enced home­less­ness guide peers through hous­ing instability. 
• Covenant House Alas­ka: Per­ma­nen­cy Nav­i­ga­tors offer mobile ser­vices to youth vul­ner­a­ble to home­less­ness and trafficking. 
• Nebras­ka Chil­dren and Fam­i­lies Foun­da­tion: The Con­nect­ed Youth Ini­tia­tive sup­ports young adults statewide through a sys­tems-change network. 
• Project for Pride in Liv­ing (Min­neso­ta): The PPL Pro­gram links young peo­ple with alter­na­tive edu­ca­tion and career readi­ness support.

Learn More

Dis­cov­er how nav­i­ga­tion pro­grams are help­ing young peo­ple chart a course toward sta­bil­i­ty and suc­cess. Read the full brief.

Learn more about the Bal­ti­more City Schools Nav­i­ga­tor Center