4-H Volunteer Attainment of Quality Positive Youth Development Practices

Abstract

The University of Florida 4-H program evaluated volunteer perceptions of behavior adoption resulting from the completion of training focused on best practices that promote positive youth development. The evaluation effort was a quasi-experimental design that surveyed all enrolled volunteers electronically. The survey was designed to determine the types and frequency of training that 4-H volunteers participated in, their satisfaction with the training, the volunteer’s role of service, and outcomes of adopting best practices of program quality. A response rate of 27% (n = 340) provided a representative sample of the enrolled volunteers across demographic categories and geographical regions of the state. The results show that volunteers report practicing elements of positive youth development as categorized by the Essential Elements framework and that correlations between the type of training volunteers participate in and their implementation of quality practices are significant. Implications for volunteer trainings include the consideration of frequency, expanding opportunities beyond traditional delivery, and incorporating training elements that promote high-quality youth programming. This evaluation effort provides baseline data that informs future research for the Florida 4-H program.

Ambiguous, Affective, and Arduous: Volunteers’ Invisible Work With Young Adults

“…Many mentoring programs devote considerable effort to recruiting volunteers, but actually retaining those volunteers is critical for mentoring relationships to last long enough to have positive effects in working with young people (Grossman et al, 2012;Grossman & Rhodes, 2002;Stukas et al, 2014), such as strengthening the supported young people's capabilities (Grant et al, 2020, p. 38;Worker et al, 2020). In youth work-related fields and in multicomponent program settings, volunteers wish to have training that would help to increase their content knowledge on youth and youth development skills (Hensley et al 2020;Kok et al, 2020;Plourde et al, 2021). However, in order for the volunteering to be meaningful, there should be enough resources for the paid staff to support volunteers in their roles (Restler & Glant, 2020).…”

Volunteerism in Youth Development Programs: Editors' Note

“…also report that volunteers want training focused around organization, program management, positive youth development, and communication Hensley et al (2020). conclude that training should focus on positive youth development and the role it plays in promoting youth outcomes, while also being thoughtful about frequency, modality, and opportunities outside of face-to-face training Franck and Donaldson (2020).…”