Christens and Zeldin reviewed research on the community engagement strategies of youth volunteering, youth organizing, and youth in governance.  They found that youth benefit greatly when they are civically engaged and that youth-adult partnership was a cross-cutting practice underlying effective strategies.

This article synthesizes data and insights from the historical foundations of Youth-Adult Partnership (Y-AP), community based research, and case studies. The authors, Shepherd Zeldin, Brian Christens and Jane Powers propose Y-AP as a unifying concept, distinct from other forms of youth-adult relationships, with four core elements: authentic decision making, natural mentors, reciprocity, and community connectedness. […]

A Typology of Youth Participation and Empowerment for Child and Adolescent Health  Promotion (2010) Wong and her colleagues conclude that adolescent health is best promoted when youth and adults share control by taking on tasks and responsibilities that utilize their own strengths. The authors provide excellent figures that can be used in workshops and training […]

Promoting Children’s Participation in Democratic Decision-Making Of all the things written about youth voice and youth-adult partnership, this might be the best. It describes Article 12 which provides young people with the right to have a voice on all issues related to their well-being. This report, written by Lansdown (2001), is very accessible and identifies […]

Youth-adult partnerships: Entering new territory in community work and research. This article was one of the first to conceptualize youth-adult partnership as a core practice for promoting positive youth development.  This article identifies the (a) key principles and values that underlie Y-AP, (b) the skills and competencies that are required of adults to partner with young […]

This research report, Youth-Adult Partnerships in Public Action: Principles, Organizational Culture & Outcomes, identifies the positive impacts of youth participation on youth organizations.  The research also identifies how practitioners create an organizational culture supportive of youth-adult partnership, with a focus on (a) values, (b) structures, and (c) collective action.  Two case examples of exemplary organizations are […]