Mission & Goals

ProYouthWork America is a private non-profit organization established as a consortium of regional intermediary organizations and experts.

PYWA's mission is to build and sustain the child and youth services workforce by growing the workforce; improving workforce quality, effectiveness and sustainability; and promoting public policy changes that support both workers and youth.

Strategy 1.

Document and disseminate knowledge about how the field is evolving through original research and structured discussion with youthworkers and field leaders.

Strategy 2.

Demonstrate the link between quality staff training and positive outcomes for young people. PYWA's training and consultation in partnership with community- and faith-based youth-service providers, educational institutions, and public and private agencies seeks to study and promote practices that increase expertise and effectiveness of front-line youth workers; promote formal certifications and higher education for youth work; advocate for greater compensation for entry-level youth workers; and provide resources for agencies to recruit, support, and retain qualified staff. We seek in all of our work to promote the prominence of youth work as an important profession.

Strategy 3.

Engage in public policy partnerships. Through collaboration, education and advocacy, PYWA promotes national recognition of youth service work as an important profession comprised of educated, empowered, compassionate, and resilient front-line workers. Our linkages with national, regional, state and local youth service advocates and providers, training and technical assistance experts, government programs, and educational institutions are vital to our success. Through them, we disseminate information about the challenges confronting youth service agencies; encourage exploration of evidence-based workforce development practices; and develop a public policy framework for increasing compensation and addressing other critical, systemic weaknesses in the youth service workforce.