Building and Sustaining Community-Based Youth Development Collaboratives

Abstract

Two youth development collaboratives were examined to better understand their formation and sustainability. These collaboratives were started with the purpose of promoting a positive approach toward youth development in their communities and were considered to be successful in their efforts. Employing a qualitative approach, the strategies utilized in building and sustaining these two collaboratives were explored. Although the collaboratives are different in many respects and are located in dissimilar communities, similar themes emerged that provide important lessons about building and maintaining community-based collaborations. These include (a) the style of the founder(s), (b) the significance of continual engagement of new participants, (c) the role of funds and other resources, and (d) the creative tension of control and capacity building. In addition, the same five-step strategy was employed to build and sustain the collaboratives. The findings of this study are potentially useful for other collaboratives either being formed or grappling with sustainability issues.