New Haven Independent

So said Elaine Johnson (on the left) when she came to the roof garden of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven on Wednesday to be feted by 75 staffers from young people’s programs from across Connecticut.

“Declare youth a priority to this country,” Johnson in a conversation prior to being recognized as the godmother and guide of New Haven’s Youth Development Training and Resource Center (YDTRC), which was established in 1993.

Johnson said cities like New Haven would benefit from a unified federalvoice for kids 10 to 20. Why not even a cabinet post?

“We do fund youth, but a lot is when they’re in trouble. We’re paying on the wrong end of the spectrum,” she said.

Moreover, the funding is not sustained, Johnson said; t’s haphazard, and spread all over various departments, Johnson added.

Absent a cabinet post, she went on to speculate that “It’d be great to have the White House declare a week dedicated to youth development.”

Johnson, a pioneer in helping to professionalize youth development work, noted that early childhood programs receive more money than programs for older kids. That’s because “the people who pushed for the federal role were women returning to work; they pushed for the early childhood care.”

But just as in day care, where there today are in place federal regulations for how many times babies must be picked up a day, aso advances must be made in the important work with adolescents, she argued.

Johnson credited New Haveners like Barbara Tinney (in the photo with her), the director of the Family Alliance for incubating important advances in the field right here in New Haven.

Tinney was the first director of the BEST Initiative (Building Exemplary Systems for Training Community Youth Workers). Johnson helped to establish the program in New Haven at the YTDRC as part of a national pilot in 1993.

Tinney echoed Johnson’s views on the shortsightedness of seeing kids as problems to be solved instead of as a resource. What stuck in her mind of Johnson’s influence was captured in a mantra she quoted: “Fixed is not fully prepared.”

That means it’s one thing to get kids to put down guns. It’s another matter to know how to work with them, at their stages of development, to give them benefits, opportunities, and, often, yes, stipends and incentives.

Johnson hailed as significant that youth work certification is possible to obtain now at Gateway Community College. Solar Youth’s Joanne Sciulli (high fiving with Tinney) teaches a course on youth development, which is now also part of an associate’s degree offered through Charter Oak State College, Connecticut’s online university.

Johnson called for creation of a federal agency to look after youth development, similar to one that exists in the United Kingdom.

Wednesday’s program was sponsored by, in addition to the foundation, the CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Office of Policy & Management, and the Perrin Family Foundation.

Sharing the hosting honors for Johnson with YDTRC were the Consultation Center, the Connecticut Afterschool Network, and the Citywide Youth Coalition.