San Diego Youth Development Office (YDO) is an intermediary organization driving systems and policy changes that improve health, education and employment outcomes for children and young adults ages 0–24 in San Diego County. YDO provides expertise, data, technical assistance, services and products that support positive youth development by focusing primarily on prevention.
YDO addresses that inequity by recognizing the pivotal activities, situations and barriers young people face and mitigating them with access to services and opportunities. One example would be disconnection from education — an activity that leads to low-wage jobs and chronic unemployment. YDO collaborates with the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) to find ways to keep students in school and avoid the snowball effect of dropping out. The answer is to look at children and young adults holistically. “It’s not just about failing math and English,” Gordon says. YDO points to underlying barriers (e.g. trauma, homelessness, food insecurity, poverty and other hardships) and the necessary opportunities that promote resilience to overcome them (e.g. mentoring, case management services, alternative educational options, paid internships, etc.). YDO is focused on influencing policy and funding to bring about more and better programming and services available for all children and young adults in the county.
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