Enhancing Primary Services for Youth through an Infrastructure of Social Services

Abstract

This article considers how the strengths of primary social services can be integrated more purposefully into a cohesive, community-based infrastructure of youth andfamily services. The term primary services refers to the wide range of programs and activities that are embedded within the familiar social world of children and their families, and addresses broad developmental outcomes rather than specialized problems. The article first highlights five features of practice and participation that research indicates may distinguish primary social services as a sector and suggests some implications of those features for youth development. The features discussed include a youth development outlook, voluntariness, intentionality, flexibility, and connectedness. It then considers how the benefits of primary services could be amplified by integrating them into a comprehensive, community-based infrastructure of social services. A particular model of infrastructure is reviewed, which poses the primary service sector as both a key ingredient and a beneficiary of this approach to social service reform. The article concludes by suggesting key outcomesfor youth associated with infrastructure reform and highlights research issues involving primary services and infrastructure development.