Позитивные изменения. Том 4, №1 (2024). Positive changes. Volume 4, Issue 1 (2024)

• Opportunities for decision-making and governance: granting young people the chance to make decisions, engage in leadership roles, and participate in governance as they mature.

Integrated PYD programs typically merge educational, voluntary, artistic, athletic, and various other activities to maximize the potential of youth (Taylor et al., 2017; Ciocanel et al., 2017). Positive youth development schemes center on accentuating the young’s strengths, talents, and interests, rather than on rectifying their deficiencies (Karakulak & Cüre-Acer, 2021; Lerner et al., 2005).

Figure 1. Overview of Case Work Methodology

Source: Borzov, 2020

Elements of the positive youth development concept can be infused into any program; there is no sole and definitive method for executing the PYD strategy (Waid & Uhrich, 2020).

Marian Amodeo and Mary Elizabeth Collins define the core qualities of programs based on the positive youth development concept in the following manner (Amodeo & Collins, 2007):

• Emphasis on strengths. The focus is on leveraging the resources of youth, rather than on addressing their issues;

• Collaboration. Youth are viewed as partners in the planning of their future;

• Community. Significant emphasis is placed on youth activism within the community and on their active participation in community-based institutions;

• Competency development. The goal is to acquire a broad spectrum of skills;

• Connectedness. Emphasis on personal and social connections, as well as establishing ties to community members;

• Identity. Understanding their identity and fostering a sense of belonging to their chosen groups is considered a pivotal part of young people’s development;

• Integrity. Holistic attention is given to every facet of wholesome personal growth, including physical, social, moral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions;

• Durability and a long-term perspective. The approach is centered on strategic long-term planning over temporary fixes;

• Normalization. Young individuals are encouraged to perceive themselves as resembling their peers in both behavior and development;

• Prosocial behavior and proactive attitudes. The nurturing of healthy prosocial behaviors is encouraged;

• Accessibility. Activities are designed to be inclusive for all, not just targeting youth with challenges.

A CASE STUDY OF THE PYD CONCEPT APPLIED AT THE VICTORIA CHARITABLE CHILDREN’S FUND

The Victoria Charitable Children’s Fund, with its mission to protect, restore, and establish support structures for children facing life challenges, bases its work on the “Positive Youth Development“ concept. Specific components of this approach have been implemented by the organization since 2017 and fully integrated since 2020.

One of the foundation’s significant projects is the “Graduate’s Home,“ within which graduates from foster families and boarding institutions in the Krasnodar Territory receive social, psychological, legal, and other forms of assistance, as well as the opportunity for temporary residence in a social hotel.

Social workers, psychologists, and coordinators at the Victoria Charitable Children’s Fund integrate the PYD concept with the “Case Work“ methodology (Borzov, 2020). The fundamental steps of this method are outlined in Figure 1.

This integration allows for the simultaneous management of three types of processes.

THE FIRST TYPE OF PROCESSES. PROBLEM-SOLVING

Case managers primarily focus on resolving the issues faced by young individuals with orphanhood experience. Together with the client, specialists translate issues into tasks or a series of tasks, establishing a collaborative work process. This may involve actions such as reinstating education, securing employment, resolving housing matters, or retrieving lost documents.

The supporting professional and the client jointly draft an action plan, detailing respective responsibilities and specific actions to be undertaken by both parties, the professional and the client.

THE SECOND TYPE OF PROCESSES. DEVELOPMENT OF THE CLIENT’S COMPETENCIES

The case supervisor considers the problem-solving process as a psycho-educational opportunity to develop the client’s skills: competency, confidence, the ability to forge connections, rely on one’s values, and care for others. In planning the implementation of the action plan, the supporting professional and the client strive to maximize the use of strengths for these tasks, as well as to set tasks within the zone of proximal development for each skill (Obukhova, 2010).

THE THIRD TYPE OF PROCESSES. DEVELOPMENT OF A SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT