As a first step in the Harris Transition Coalition, TNOYS researched definitions of youth engagement and developed a ladder of youth engagement that depicts levels of youth engagement in social service program settings. It is based on a ladder of engagement developed by Dr. Roger Hart of the Children’s Environments Research Group and on a Continuum of Youth Participation developed by Jack Nowicki, LCSW, of TNOYS. Both of these ladders of engagement influenced the development of the Ladder of Engagement for the Coalition, which serves as the definition of youth engagement for the initiative.
