Children International's Youth Programs Change Outcomes for Youth in Poverty

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 12, 2013 / 3BL Media/ PRNewswire/ -- Children International's 2013 Youth Report is available beginning today, International Youth Day. The report explains how Children International's youth programs, with community centers at the core, measurably change outcomes for impoverished youth. The majority of the world's 1.7 billion young people ages 10 to 24 live in developing countries – many in extreme poverty where they routinely confront threats to their personal safety and progress. Without positive intervention like Children International's successful youth programs, these at-risk youth can remain trapped in an intergenerational cycle of poverty.

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Children International's youth programs focus on four key elements based on best practices and USAID's youth development policy: support, protect, prepare and engage. The 2013 Youth Report explains how the programs address the issues that plague these communities – from gangs to drugs, disease, environmental hazards, human trafficking and discriminatory social and cultural practices. The organization's community centers are central to the programs' success – providing youth with a safe, secure environment where they engage in constructive activities with caring adults, peers and mentors. Participation rates have more than doubled since 2010 for the programs that serve as strategic solutions to prepare youth to face the challenges in their communities and equip them with skills, education and training to effectively transition into adulthood and work.

The report also explains that the positive outcomes reach beyond the Children International community centers and into the surrounding community. In 2012, for example, 2,383 Children International peer educators trained through the Youth Health Corps shared information about important health issues in sessions with 183,692 youth in underserved communities around the world. The peer educators also reported reductions in substance use.

"Programs designed to engage youth offered in a positive environment with caring adults help prepare youth to make positive choices – these programs inspire passion and give them the opportunity to experience success and be positive change-agents in their communities. The 2013 Youth Report results make it clear that these programs are working, providing youth with tools they need to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty that can so easily keep people in its grip," says Jim Cook, president of Children International.

The advance copy containing program information and results can be found at 2013 Youth Report. 

About Children International

Children International prepares children and youth to escape the traps of poverty by supporting their critical needs, building resilience, and engaging them in transformative activities. Children International accomplishes this by providing crucial benefits and compassionate care through easily accessible, modern community centers. Children International's presence, programs and supporters have a positive impact on children, youth, families and communities; provide protection; encourage self-sufficiency; and serve as catalysts for change.

For more information about Children International or to sponsor a child, visit www.children.org.

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