Rock County Data

Community Asset Interviews

From May to September 2019, face to face interviews were conducted with 45 organizations.  The purpose was to define and describe youth success and Rock County’s effort to support this success through community and individual investment in the form of youth/family services and programming.  Special interest was paid to the adult/organizational perception of Positive Youth Development (PYD), specifically Youth-Adult Partnership (Y-AP)

Positive Youth Development Community Asset Mapping Rock County 2019

Positive Youth Development Community Asset Mapping Rock County Data Report 2019

Youth Focus Groups 

From December 2019 to March 2020, seven youth focus groups were conducted in conjunction with community programs who served as hosts, facilitators and promoters.  The purpose of the focus groups was to provide an outlet for youth perspective in regards to the initial community asset mapping evaluation around youth success, engagement and voice in Rock County.  The focus groups were also conducted in order to model youth involvement in the analysis of Positive Youth Development, specifically Youth-Adult Partnership.  

Positive Youth Development Youth Focus Group Rock County Data Report 2019-20 (PDF)

Positive Youth Development Youth Focus Groups Rock County 2019-20 (PDF)

Current Division of Extension Positive Youth Development Focus Areas: 

Positive Youth Development may be developed in any content area as well as various aspects of a program such as content, environment and relationships.  The following tables represent current priority areas in Rock County.  

Key:  1-not important      2-somewhat important      3-very important

Program ContentAverage (1-3)
Equity, Culture and Diversity2.64
Social and emotional learning2.98
Community Engagement and leadership2.47
Healthy living2.65
Economic pathways2.097
STEM2.25

In Rock County, Community Youth Development focuses on youth leadership within community organizations, youth programs and services with youth audiences.  Community Youth Development helps youth make connections with adults and share ideas that create and modify youth programs, for example designing a mentorship program, collaborating on the creation of new spaces like youth centers or new messages like community health or next steps after high school for their peers.  Youth develop practical skills today while building relationships that help the community tomorrow.

Moreover, Division of Extension programming is committed to key practices developed by the Engaging Young People to Sustain Communities.  These include empowering more diverse community leadership, increasing social capital, and strengthening engagement through building the seven Community Capitals: natural, human, social, political, cultural, financial and built capital.  Rock County has many community assets, one of which is a variety of expertise and programming.  The opportunities for CYD work is not one of potential but instead one of access to both supportive adult relationships, learning resources and traditionally adult dominated spaces.

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