Quality Element 4: Relationships

A quality program fosters and nurtures positive relationships and interactions among staff, youth, families, and communities; provides a tolerant and respectful environment that is safe from teasing, bullying, and violence; and promotes diversity.

Featured Resource

7 Tips to Positive Behavior

Positive behavior begins and ends with relationships—not with the rules. The National Afterschool Association’s 7 tips will help you cultivate an environment of meaningful connections between staff and youth at your program.

Curriculum

Barriers to Building Effective Youth-Adult Partnerships – Advocates for Youth

Tips for Partnering with Youth – Advocates for Youth

Communicating with Children: Principles and Practices to Nurture, Inspire, Excite, Educate and Heal – UNICEF

Youth Participation Guide: Assessment, Planning, and Implementation – UNICEF

Creating Youth-Adult Partnerships – The Innovation Center

Ask-Listen-Encourage Guidebook – David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality

Reframing Conflict Guidebook – David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality

Building Supportive Relationships in Afterschool – SEDL

Resources from the Coalition to Support Grieving Students

Assessing Staff Relationships Among Out-of-School Time Program Practitioners– Child Trends

Putting it All Together: Guiding Principles for Quality After-School Programs Serving Preteens – Public/Private Ventures

Ensuring Accessing to Mentoring Programs for LGBTQ Youth – Williams Institute

Collective Leadership Works: Preparing Youth & Adults for Community Change – Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development

Creating Youth-Adult Partnerships: Training Curricula for Youth, Adults and Youth-Adult Teams – Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development

Reflect and Improve: A Tool Kit for Engaging Youth and Adults as Partners in Program Evaluation– Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development

Research & Best Practices

Building Supportive Relationships in Afterschool – American Institutes of Research

Supporting Social and Emotional Development Through Quality Afterschool Programs (Issue Brief) – American Institutes of Research

Ready for Work? How Afterschool Programs Can Support Employability Through Social and Emotional Learning – American Institutes of Research

Effective Practices to Cultivate Social and Emotional Learning in the Middle and High School Years (Recorded Webinar) – Afterschool Alliance

The Impact of After-School Programs That Promote Personal and Social Skills – Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning

Assessing Self-Regulation: A Guide for Out-of-School Time Program Practitioners – Child Trends

Youth-Adult Partnership Rubric – Community Evaluation and Research Collaborative

How to Build A Successful Mentoring Program Using the Elements of Effective Practice – National Mentoring Partnership

Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring – National Mentoring Partnership

Professional Development

Social and Emotional Learning Practices: A Self-Reflection Tool for Afterschool Staff – American Institutes of Research

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (Resources and Training)

Six Tips for Teaching Social and Emotional Skills After School – Edutopia

My Brother’s Keeper Alliance Webinar Series

• Cultural and Class Conflicts in Mentor-Mentee Matches
• Knowing Thyself- Must Know Me to Build an Effective We
• Overview of Mentoring Boys and Men of Color and Pathways to the Mentoring Effect

Collaborative Mentoring Webinar Series