Substance use among youth remains a major public health and safety concern. One fundamental way to address youth substance use prevention is to keep young people on a positive trajectory by engaging them in positive activities from early years of their childhood. In this article, the author offers a best practice analysis of systematic review about 12 selected community‐based preventions, and proposes policy changes towards incorporating a strengths perspective. A substantive, methodological, and value‐based critical analysis of the strongly effective preventions was conducted. A strengths‐based positive youth development perspective is specified as one feasible needed improvement and subsequent policy changes in the school district as well as in the local, state, and federal levels are proposed along with the suggestion of a mandated community youth participation strategy. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In recent years, increased attention has been paid to the development and application of the strengths perspective and positive youth development. This paper develops youth promotion practice as a convergence of a strengths perspective and youth development principles. Historical and contemporary contexts of a problem-focused perspective in social work with adolescents are reviewed and a critique developed with emphasis on the evolution of strengths-focused practices. The importance and possibility of combining the strengths perspective and youth development toward youth promotion practice are addressed. Youth promotion is defined as a process of enhancing youth strengths and resources to promote positive outcomes and help young people be healthy adults. Complementary aspects of the two perspectives are expected to support and supplement the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective in synergistic ways. Several advantages of youth promotion practice are discussed as well as its implications for improved social work practices with adolescents.

Spirituality is becoming recognized as an important source of strength within social work and the positive youth development field. However, social work innovations related to spirituality have mainly focused on adults. In order to increase focus on youth, this article integrates insights about spirituality from the positive youth development field and social work. First, it provides a conceptualization of spirituality in relation to youth. Second, the article explains the importance of spirituality for strengths-based social work that can enhance youth development by attending to issues of meaning and identity, development toward adulthood, risk factors, and personal and environmental religious and spiritual resources. It highlights spirituality-based helping practices that may be applicable to working with youth. ABSTRACT Implications for Practice• Researchers and theorists suggest that spirituality is an important aspect of child and adolescent development.• Strengths-based practice can contribute to youths' forming identity, thriving in adversity, preventing risk factors, and accessing religious and spiritual resources.

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