	Social Development and Enrichment Services for Children and Youth

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

SDE 8: Personnel

Personnel have the education, training, experience, and skills needed to promote positive child and youth development.

SDE 8.01

Personnel have education, training, experience, and/or skills in:

positive child and youth development;
developing positive relationships with children and youth;
designing and implementing activities that engage, involve, and teach children and youth;
appropriate disciplinary techniques;
community advocacy, development, and collaboration; and
topics relevant to the program’s goals, activities offered, and population served.

Interpretation: Topics relevant to the activities offered and population served can include, but are not limited to: education, recreation, and rehabilitation of physical or mental disabilities.

SDE 8.02

Personnel have access to professionals who can recognize children and youth who may be abused or neglected, and understand their legal reporting responsibilities.

SDE 8.03

Personnel who lead or facilitate group activities demonstrate skills in group process and management, including:

motivating children and youth to participate;
facilitating positive peer interactions; and
managing group conflict.

SDE 8.04

The ratio of personnel to children and youth is defined for all programs and activities, and reviewed annually for adequacy.

Interpretation: The ratio of personnel to children and youth should be sufficient to ensure adequate supervision, facilitate positive peer interactions, and encourage supportive relationships between adults and children or youth.

Research Note: Some research suggests that youth report better experiences of adult and peer support when there are more staff to youth in activities.

SDE 8.05

A coordinator is responsible for managing the program’s day-to-day operations, scheduling and overseeing activities, and providing program personnel with ongoing support.

SDE 8.06

Volunteers who provide services to children and youth are supervised by program personnel.

NA The organization does not use volunteers to provide services to children and youth.

SDE 8.07

Employee workloads support the achievement of positive outcomes for children and youth, are regularly reviewed, and are based on an assessment of the following:

the qualifications, competencies, and experience of personnel, including the level of supervision needed;
the work and time required to accomplish assigned tasks and job responsibilities; and
service volume.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Children and youth who participate in Social Development and Enrichment Services gain the personal and social abilities and attitudes needed to form positive identities, build skills, navigate challenging situations, avoid negative behaviors, assume leadership roles, embrace diversity, and establish healthy connections with others in the community.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	LEADERSHIP A nonprofit organization's leadership consists of its governing body, chief executive officer, and may also include its senior management. In a public agency the term refers to the agency head and administration team. The term "leadership" is not generally applied to for-profit organizations. With respect to COA standards, in for-profit organizations the term leadership applies to the owner and board of directors if one exists.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	ADVOCACY An act performed with or on behalf of others through direct intervention, empowerment, or representation. Case advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a particular individual consumer. Cause, social, or systems advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a common issue affecting a group of persons.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	PROGRAM PERSONNEL All direct service and administrators or supervisors of direct services that are involved in the operation of the organization's social service programs. "Program personnel" does not include MIS, accounting, facilities, clerical, or other staff that are not involved in the provision or oversight of direct services.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	VOLUNTEER An individual who performs services for an organization for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered. Such service must be offered freely and without pressure or coercion, direct or implied, from an employer. If the individual is otherwise employed by the same employer for which s/he volunteers, the individual cannot volunteer to perform the same type of services that s/he is paid to perform as an employee.


	WORKLOAD The amount of work assigned to or expected from a person within a specified period of time. See also CASELOAD.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	EMPLOYEE Paid member of an organization. Foster parents are not considered employees and are specifically referenced in relevant standards.