Question 1
The city officials believed that contacting Youth Action Program (YAP) to undertake the Housing Model project was the best option. For a long time, Dorothy worked with the youth by guiding YAP in reconstruction of buildings with much success. City officials had a notion that Dorothy and her time had the right skills to carry out the project. At first, Dorothy turned down the offer claiming that if all the money were handed over to her, the coalition would collapse. We learn that Dorothy was not greedy for money and fear factor contributed in the decision to decline the offer. She was not ready to see people split over opinions on management of the funds since the onset of the project was marked by voluntarism. Dorothy assumed that allocating the resources directly to the community groups would work, but the project failed terribly. The initial expansion in New York taught us that the role of a project manager is vital in ensuring the success in the program. If Dorothy had taken up to the task, high chances are that everything could have succeeded. The community-based agencies lacked the training and technical assistance to guide them in rolling out the program. The initial expansion of NY lacked proper coordination at the start, and this attributed to total failure of the community-based agencies.
Question 2
There are numerous ways for a leader to know the right time for expansion. A competent leader can establish the presence of the right people and right number of people to ensure a smooth flow during expansion. With the right workforce, proper training and efficient technical skills, expansion can kick off. The productivity indicators of the workforce are also a major factor. When a leader finds that his team is highly productive at the moment, he can take the advantage to expand the venture. Also, the team may be willing to spend most of their time working in the project when they are available. Such a situation shows a lower resistance and readiness of the workforce to commit their time in the project. Nonetheless, when the growing curve indicates a positive trend, the leader may take advantage of the situation to carry out expansion. A real leader is one who is in a position to analyze the current situation, evaluate the strengths and weakness, and take advantage of the opportunities for expansion. The right time for expansion is when all the involved stakeholders are fully committed to being part of a successful team.
Question 3
Dorothy realized that the movement had attracted most of the population inclusive of groups perceived to be the most difficult to reach. The project was so popular, because functionality operated with success and faced minimal deficiencies. Dorothy believed that expanding the YAP Housing Model would provide opportunities for many youths to participate in community programs to improve their livelihoods. Dorothy said that, “This discovery was a conceptual breakthrough that would influence the entire field of workforce development and national service over time.” She was passionate to improve the status of the community by mobilizing youths to volunteer in the program.
The quick response to expanding the YAP Housing Model experienced both advantages and disadvantages. Dorothy assumed that it was the right time for expansion since the youth were highly motivated to engage in YAP and offer their skills in housing projects. As a leader, she had realized there was an opportunity to receive funds that would boost the YAP project. On the other hand, she could have been disadvantaged because of the absence of a manual guide to provide guidance for the YAP Housing Model. Also, if rigorously tested, formally evaluated, and standardized, the loopholes that faced the program would have been eliminated. Dorothy failed to wait for the reevaluation of the project and during its onset most of the local agencies failed.
Question 4
In my opinion, Dorothy made the wrong decision of failing to accept the initial funding from the Department of Employment for her organization to replicate the Housing Model. She thought that the community-based agencies would handle the money allocated to them in the right manner, but this flopped. If only she had taken the responsibility to be in charge of the funds, she could have provided a manual to guide the managers of the community-based agencies in managing the funds. The decision was unwise because Dorothy was not ready to be charge with responsibility as she argued, "The surest way to destroy a coalition is for the leader to take all the money." The approach was associated with numerous risks. The allocation of funds failed to realize success because most of the projects stagnated during the first two years of operations. The funds provided went to waste, and the YAP Housing Model disappointed the stakeholders. Dorothy could have prevented the worst scenario if she had accepted to guide the local agencies with her proven expertise in housing projects.
Question 5
The decision to form a national coalition to go after the federal government money is a good and effective idea. The coalition will represent the youths with diverse interest, but who share common goal and objectives related to youths. As a result, the youths in the coalition will be equally and broadly represented to the extent the federal government will have to listen to their voice. With diverse ideas from youths, with different goals, they will be able to convince the government to fund their projects. In addition, the coalition will be serving the community and service sector as their “voice”. In this case, since the government tends to respond well to organized and diverse group, they are most likely to get the federal money. This is one of the significant policies that the Federal government can establish to ensure that it serves the needs and preferences to its citizens.
In addition, the national youth coalition is anticipated to improve the service sector profile and hence encourage government to adopt or seek ‘service first approach’. The service first approach is a quality driven approach that recognizes services standards are established. In this case, the Federal Government can establish a partnership with the youth coalition to ensure that it offers the best and quality services to the community, through this coalition. Consequently, the coalition is anticipated to improve the services sector, and hence increase the investment opportunities and foreign exchange in the country. Therefore, I believe that the decision of the national coalition is not only effective idea, but a more productive idea that can generate funds to the Youth Build’s initiative.Question 6
There are various alternative strategies that can help the youth group to achieve the national expansion and movement-building. First, this youth group should not only focus on the national level but also in the local level through the youth networks. This involved improving the local facilities and planning for broader and diverse service to the young people. In addition, it is also important to engage national level and local level youths into recruitment, training and reorganization so that the can be in a position to offer quality community services always. This indicates that the group can integrate grassroots base-building and advocacy in the group and the external culture.
Other strategies involve creating a clear-long term strategy that leverages their goals and objectives to ensure that they make necessary moves to bring change. The clear-long term strategy should ensure that the group practice consistent, and value-based and strategic services and utilize the available communication plans, rather than solely depending on the field work. The youth group must also realize the significant of the consciousness. The conception of consciousness allows the youth to take a broad view from their precise situation to realize the patterns of development. As a result, this conception allows the youth to face the reality and hence they can be able to perform better.Question 7
The aim of creating a YouthBuild USA as a separate entity from YAP was to ensure that need for a national organization had been met. As a separate entity, the YouthBuild USA was anticipated to orchestrate the overall movement-building process and replication. In other words, the organization was created as a separate entity to serve as the “core National YouthBuild Movement.” Such entity would be able to provide a wide range of services such as guidance in planning and implementation and advocacy for the public guidance and funding. People around the country needed an organization that can bring the program to the communities and YAP was not in a position to do that. Subsequently, it was important to establish a group that focuses on the local and national level to ensure that all the youths across the country were well and equally served.Question 8
I think the nest step for the YouthBuild USA is to diversify its services and also develop a new network with other non-governmental organization and the federal government. The organization needs to broaden their community services so that they can efficiently capture the needs of different communities in the country. For instance, talking to youths by youth about disturbing situations such as obesity, drug and substance abuse could be a very strategic idea. Various studies indicate that the youths respond better when they are counseled by other youths because they seem to understand their situation. On the other hand, the group should also develop a recognition program for the volunteers who are in the community organizations. Furthermore, the organization should seek and adopt networks with other organization aiming to improve the lives of the youths in the country. Such organizations include Winds Across the Bay, Stag Leadership Development and YMCA Youth and Government among others. Such network can help this organization identify and understand different needs and culture of different community. It is also significant to consider partnership with international youth organizations such as United Nations Youth Funds among others.
References
Center For the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship. (2004). THE GROWTH OF YOUTHBUILD: A CASE STUDY. CASE SE-02.
