CDLI_Guidebook_18_Final_Print

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AT THE Y:
OUR STORY
Welcome to the Character Development Learning Institute (CDLI) Experience. We are happy
that your Y is ready to begin its journey to build on our Y's core values through a commitment
to character development. All adults in the Y have a critical role to play in creating experiences
and environments that support and strengthen the social emotional competencies of youth.
Our core values unite us a Y Movement. Every day we embed, model, and foster our core values of
Caring, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility in everything that we do. To continue supporting all youth
in cultivating these values so that they reach their full potential, we must ensure that all adults in the
Y are playing their role in creating experiences and environments that strengthen the social emotional
competencies of youth and support the development of youth’s character.
As your YMCA begins this journey, your
involvement in the CDLI Experience will
help you to build and integrate improved
organization-wide systems,structures
and effective practices to support youth
character development. Over the past two
years, Y-USA has collaborated with 64 Ys
across our movement to verify five adult
practice areas to support youth character
development: emotion management,
empathy, personal development,
relationship building and
responsibility. An intentional focus on
character development is a means
to realize a strong, rigorous youth
development strategy. Character is a key
element of the Y’s approach to working with
youth and we have identified five areas that
Y leaders can elevate in their practice when
interacting with young people, encouraging
youth character development. With you,
we are now scaling these practice areas
movement-wide.
CARING | HONESTY | RESPECT | RESPONSIBILITY
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT GUIDEBOOK
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