Facilitating young people to come up with areas of focus and/or change ideas that Core Teams can implement can happen very quickly or over a long period of time depending on many factors. Oftentimes, young people will immediately have actionable ideas without needing to spend a lot of time discussing it!
This guide reviews the basic steps you may want to move through with some simple activity ideas.
Framing The Purpose:
Right away, young people should be clear on what their role is and the context for the meeting they are participating in, including the area of work and goal the Core Team is focusing on, such as reducing unsheltered, increasing housing placements, prevention, reducing disproportionality for queer youth and/or youth of color. Clearly state the purpose of the meeting and how the insights shared will be used to improve the system (ie: identify problems with the Coordinated Entry Process for the ACI Core Team to problem solve).
Brainstorming Problems with the System:
Young people often identify problems within the system that service providers don't and sometimes can't see. This information is very useful for ACI Core Teams and should influence the tests of change you implement. Ask young people to describe what isn't working with whatever part of the system you are focusing on. Go for a big list - remember, there are no bad ideas in brainstorming! See our Big Goal, Small Questions resource for more ideas on questions to ask.
Pro-tip: Many of these ideas can be reformatted for brainstorming solutions!
Activity Ideas:
Looking at the Data Dashboards and/or sandbox together: Showing data to young people doesn’t need to be complicated. Start by explaining where the data comes from (providers putting it in HMIS, seeing who goes in and comes out each month), then pull out some specific graphs or numbers to focus on. Ask what they think - does this housing placement rate look right? This number of unsheltered? Who is missing? Why? If they wanted to change the situation, what is the first 3 things they would do?
Tug o War Brainstorm: This brainstorm asks young people to spend time talking both about what did work for them and what didn't work for them. On a white board, draw a tug o war rope and write the two sides of the question (ie: what things supported you in the homelessness system, what held you back?). Ask YYA to write stickies for each side, then have them each share the ones they want to with the group and stick them up. This strategy is great for pulling out bright spots as well as illuminating challenges.
Tug o War Example
Chalk talk: This is a silent brainstorm, which allows different people to be heard quickly and in a new way. Come up with 3-4 questions you want to ask - put up flip charts around the room with one brainstorm question each written in the center. Give each participant a marker, put on some music and let them walk around and write answers to their questions, star ideas they love, respond to each other and ask more questions. After, debrief to pull out the big themes.
Chalk Talk Example
3 Whys Mind Map: This activity takes an issue and drills down to the key problem. In small groups of 3-5, give each group a flip chart paper with a problem written in the middle (ie: minors can be locked up for being truant). Ask participants to spend 5 minutes talking about why they think that happens (ie: family conflict, valid court order). The next 5 minutes, have them talk about why the things they just wrote happen, and repeat one more time. Have each group share and see if anyone else wants to add, then have everyone start their top 3-5 root problems they think would have the biggest impact if solved.
3 Whys Mind Map Example
Problem Tree: This tool helps guide folks in thinking about and articulating an issue as a problem, and then going further by breaking down the causes and effects of the problem. Start by drawing a large tree on a whiteboard with 1) roots, 2) a trunk and 3) branches and leaves, with space to write or place sticky notes in each of those three sections. In the middle of the tree (trunk), write the big problem the group wants to think about further. Discuss as a group (or use sticky notes) what the “roots” of that problem are (the causes) and write or stick those ideas on the diagram. Next, have them write what the symptoms/consequences or evidence we can see of that problem in the branches/leaves of the tree diagram. See longer description here.
Narrowing the Focus:
Focusing helps groups identify which areas they want to apply their limited energy on changing. Sometimes there will be a clear consensus of what young people want to focus on, but sometimes it requires some conscious discussion.
Activity Ideas:
Creating Criteria: Together as a group, identify 3 criteria that young people think is important to consider when choosing areas to focus on. Examples could be things like biggest impact, easy to change, affects the most people, etc. This also works for narrowing solution ideas to tackle first!
3 stickies: Give each young person 3 stickies/color dots and have them pick their top 3 choices among the total.
Top choice, would be cool with, veto: One way to balance the desire for consensus and the desire to move quickly is to use a hybrid consensus model. Give each person the chance to share which option is their favorite, which options they would be OK moving forward with if others wanted to, and if there are any options they absolutely are opposed to. This way, every young person gets to be heard and has the option to veto.
Brainstorming Solutions:
Once young people have focused in on one or more problems they really want to solve, it is time for solutions! For each focus area, ask the group to brainstorm and discuss the changes they think would make an impact. Often, solution ideas will start off vague (ie: capitalism, bad case management, not enough housing), and will get more specific when prompted by intentional questions (ie: what kind of housing would you want to stay in and what kind of support would you need to stay there? What about your friends?). Specific solutions from young people help ensure that their idea doesn't get twisted into something very different from what they want.
1 Problem & 1 Solution: Ask the young people to identify 1 problem about the topic you’re discussing. Have the group explore some questions that may come up around this problem; these questions can point you towards areas of improvement. Try answering the questions to see what young people already know, what is unclear and what answers, even if correct, feel wrong. Ask the group what it would take to solve the issues identified by the questions that were raised. To keep the conversation focused, try working through one solution at a time.
Rapid Ideation: Once you’ve selected a topic to focus on and have identified a problem, have everyone write down as many ideas as possible in a set amount of time before any ideas are discussed, fleshed out or critiqued. By allowing everyone to capture their ideas before critique begins, this activity avoids the premature shooting down of ideas.
Identifying Tests of Change:
‘Test of Change’ is more technical language than ‘what would you change?’ The young people who are also on the Core Team are great people to take the lead on translating a solution or idea into a test to bring to the Core Team. See the components of a solid test of change here!
Pro-tip: Don’t wait for a polished test idea to bring information to the Core Team - its valuable for the Core Team to hear polished test ideas AND also unpolished descriptions of problems and ideas.
Activity Ideas:
Scoping Down: Ask young people ‘what's the smallest thing we could ask the Core Team to try to test if this could work?’ Can we get them to try it in one program? With one staff member? For one week?
Debriefing with Youth Leaders: Debrief with the 2 ACI YYA Core Team Members about the meeting. Pull out the Change Idea Reflection tool, and try to answer the key questions together to translate the idea into a test to ask the core team to do. Identify what questions the Core Team needs to help answer to make the test happen.