Pitfalls and promising practices of youth-adult partnerships: An evaluator's reflections

Youth-adult partnerships (Y-APs) are an innovation being used increasingly as a key strategy for promoting youth development, as well as for building strong programs and communities. This article discusses three pitfalls that can undermine their effectiveness: (1) the assumption that youth should do everything of importance; (2) the belief that adults should "get out of the way," and give up power, and (3) the focus on youth as the marked category. The article also describes three promising Practices to overcome pitfalls: (1) integrate reflection into meetings,(2) articulate the logic of programs and Y-APs; and (3) engage a third party to help explore group assumptions and values. (C) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.