1. Caring Adults-ongoing relationships with caring adults. Communities need to provide all young people with sustained adult relationships through which they experience support, guidance, care, and advocacy. Caring and connectedness within and beyond the family consistently are found to be powerful factors in protecting young people from negative behaviors and in encouraging good, social skills, responsible values, and positive identity. Examples of Caring Adults include teachers, coaches, faith-based leaders, tutors, and even brothers and/or sisters. Ideally, youth develop sustained connections with: - parents or other caregivers - extended family members - neighbors & other adults youth see on a daily basis - coaches, teachers, mentors, childcare workers, youth workers,   emplyers, etc.

While all of these relationships are important, most youth do not experience this web of adult support and care beyond their families.

2. Safe Places-safe places and structured activities during non-school hours. Young people need structure, and they need to be physically and emotionally safe. Providing safe places and structured activities has many benefits to both young people and the community. This promise can:  - connect youth with principled and caring adults - nurture youth's skills like social skills, vocational interests, & civic    responsibilities.  - protect youth from violence and other negative influences - create a peer group that exerts positive influence on one another - enrich youth's academic performance & educational commitment

Research consistently affirms the value of these opportunities. Yet, far too many children and adolescents do not have ongoing access to this critical support.

3. Healthy Start-a healthy start for a healthy future. To many, a "healthy start" focuses on what children need before they start school-prenatal care, immunizations, and school readiness. Indeed, these early years are crucial. But we must also think about this promise more broadly-as a "healthy start" for adulthood. The following are necessary to ensure that children grow up healthy: - accessible & affordable health insurance that covers   immunizations, regular check ups, eye, ear, and dental exams - health education focusing on risk behaviors like violence, alcohol,   drug and tobacco use - adequate nutrition and exercise

Too few young people have access to this support in their communities. We need to provide all of them with a "healthy start."

4. Marketable Skills-marketable skills through effective education. Employers increasingly need workers who can think, learn new skills rapidly, work in teams, and solve problems creatively. Yet, too few youth-whether college bound or not-have these qualities or, in many cases, even basic work skills. Making a successful transition from school to work is a critical milestone in the development journey. Yet, significant shifts in both the workplace and the skills needed make it harder for young people to make successful transitions into the world of work. There are many important qualities, skills, and competencies that young people need to be successful and productive workers/adults.  Among these are: - a foundation in basic skills like reading, writing, math, science,   technology, and communication - thinking skills like creativity, decision making, problem solving,   and reasoning - personal attitudes & qualities such as integrity, responsibility, and   self-motivation Particular supports are needed to enhance skills and readiness for work.  These include school refrom efforts (to ensure students are engaged in relevant, challenging, and interesting learning) and education about economics and business, internships, work study, vocational and career counseling.  Such efforts prepear young people to be valuable workers throughout their lives. 5. Opportunites to serve (opportunities to give back through community service.)  It's time to see young people as part of the solution, not as the problem.  Yet even though youth are more likely to volunteer than adults, fewer than half of the youth consistently serve others.  A result is that they miss this powerful opportunity for growth. Giving children and adolescents opportunities to serve others is an important strategy in shaping America's future.  Though school-based community service received the most attention, there are many different avenues through which youth can contribute to their community.  These include: - Religious                                     - Family volunteering - Neighborhood Teams                   - Youth Organizations - Service Clubs                              - Schools Though service by youth is often "packaged" as a single program run by an organization or social institution, promoting service as a lifetime commitment is enhanced when youth participate at many ages, through multiple avenes, and when opportunity is given to reflect on the act of service -- hence the term "service-learning." An emerging body of research suggests that service-learning experiences enhance self-esteem, a sense of personal competence and efficiency, engagement with school, and social responsibility for others.  With appropriate training and support, there are hundreds of different types of service project young people can perform in their communities.  Just as important -- remember that youth are less likely to volunteer if they ar not asked!