Going the distance: serving the needs of older youth at scale

Few communities have developed successful strategies for attracting large numbers of older youth to their out-of-school-time programs. In addition to meeting the unique developmental and programmatic needs of this population, communities have struggled with the challenge of creating communitywide integrated approaches to service delivery and resource development. Communities wanting to build a system of supports for older youth must do so in the context of a communitywide strategy as opposed to fragmented, individually operating programs and services. A communitywide strategy creates greater opportunity for strategic mobilization of resources, greater funding leverage, evaluation and assessment consistency, and more powerful input into creating a public voice and public will for supporting and serving older youth as they make the transition to adulthood.