Helping Opportunity Youth identify their strengths and challenges to help position them to build happy, healthy lives while working toward their personal and professional goals – that is the goal of a new app created by the UNC School of Social Work. The Aspire tool was created with the needs, experiences, and feedback of young adults at the center of the design process. Learn more in this Carolina Across 100 blog.

Youth between the ages of 16-24 who are disconnected from school or work are often referred to as “Opportunity Youth.” Anyone who has worked with this population knows the difficulties and challenges associated with engaging youth in meaningful services that meet their needs.  

Through the “Our State, Our Work” program, the UNC School of Social Work’s Community Aspirations Hub provided access to a customized version of Aspire to community organizations across the state who serve Opportunity Youth, called Aspire for Opportunity Youth. Aspire is a multi-dimensional self-assessment of well-being. It is a technology-based application that provides an engaging and interactive way to support participants in identifying their strengths, needs, and personal goals. Aspire measures six dimensions of holistic well-being and pairs participants with a coach to help them develop an action plan and connect them to resources to better meet their needs.  

 Creating a Customized Assessment Tool for Youth

The first major goal of this partnership was to adapt and customize Aspire to ensure it met the unique needs of Opportunity Youth. We used an electronic survey to solicit feedback from staff from OSOW partner organizations on the previous version of Aspire that was tailored to families. We conducted focus groups with Opportunity Youth to gain their feedback during the adaptation process. We also facilitated a classroom activity with UNC undergraduate students about the wording and images associated with each indicator.  

During these sessions, we explored important questions like, “How do you define ‘well-being’?” “What conditions are necessary for youth to have positive wellbeing?” “What challenges or barriers do youth face in achieving health and wellbeing?” We received suggestions for new indicators, such as a question about “Interview Readiness” and “Career Readiness” to focus on specific aspects of employability. Some questions were reframed in response to feedback and based on the age of the target audience. “Access to Credit” was changed from a focus on a participant’s credit score to whether they understood the importance of credit and how to pull a credit report.

Youth-Specific Indicator Images

The value of the feedback received from youth cannot be overstated. Their perspectives on what questions to include in the assessment tool, how to ask about sensitive topics, what images to use, and the relevance of certain issues often contradicted what we heard from adults who work with youth. This was a powerful reminder of why people with lived experience should be involved in the design of tools meant to support them. Thanks to youth feedback, we created an assessment that was relevant and relatable to Opportunity Youth and reflected what holistic well-being means to them.  

“As someone who has experienced some of these hardships growing up, I wish I had this survey when I was younger. It very thoroughly assesses some crucial aspects of a person’s life that can make or break their futures as functioning adults in today’s society.” –ANTH 395 Student 

Implementation Challenges 

Implementing a new tool or service process into an existing program is difficult, even under ideal circumstances. The OSOW partners faced a variety of challenges in implementing Aspire, even though their motivation to do so was high. Examples of implementation barriers included:  

• Lack of dedicated staff to oversee the implementation process on the ground 
• Not enough staff or one-on-one time with youth to administer the tool 
• Funding limitations that raised concerns about the long-term sustainability of the initiative 

However, partners who did implement Aspire reported positive feedback. One staff person from HIGHTS shared: 

“The tool was instrumental in opening conversations about wrap-around resources needed such as health care. Aspire brought awareness to our team that budgeting and financial literacy workshops are a need. Case Managers found the tool helpful to broach subjects about nutrition and healthcare and how we could assist with resources to alleviate. The tool also gave even our most experienced case managers ideas for questions we need to ask or be mindful of such as, ‘do you have a stove or refrigerator in your home.’ We often do not realize that the poverty is so deep that those do not exist. Thus, our team realizes that when we offer food boxes, we need to be mindful of their kitchen capabilities.” 

Implementation: Lessons Learned

When starting a new program or service in a human service organization, it is important to ensure the organization is ready to implement something new. One way to do this is to consider the implementation drivers that provide a foundation for long-term success.  

According to the National Implementation Research Network, implementation drivers are “the key components of capacity that facilitate the use of the program or practice,” and include relevant competencies, necessary organizational supports, and engaged leadership.  

Our team was able to focus on enhancing competency drivers via selection of implementation sites, training, and coaching. We did this by:  

• Assessing readiness and ability to engage youth over long periods of time (via an electronic survey of partner organizations)  
• Developing a customized assessment tool for Opportunity Youth with input from those with lived experience 
• Ensuring partners were trained on how to facilitate Aspire and had tools to help measure fidelity  
• Providing technical support, assistance, and follow-up coaching 

In addition to new competencies or skills development, successful implementation also requires organizational support and leadership engagement. Some partners experienced challenges in these areas that posed barriers to implementation.  

Ultimately, this project resulted in the creation of a technology-based tool for assessing the holistic well-being of youth that was designed with input from youth and professionals who support them. Feedback from organizations who pilot tested this tool was positive and focused on the value-add of the tool to their programs and clients.    

We are appreciative of the opportunity to serve Our State, Our Work participants to support youth well-being of young people across the state of North Carolina.   

Carolina Across 100 is a five-year Carolina initiative housed at the School of Government’s ncIMPACT Initiative. This pan-University effort, guided by the Carolina Engagement Council, will form meaningful partnerships with communities in all 100 North Carolina counties to respond to challenges stemming from or exacerbated by COVID-19. “Our State, Our Work” is the first program of Carolina Across 100, connecting young adults to living wage employment opportunities. “Our State, Our Wellbeing” is the second program, focused on improving mental health and reducing suicide in North Carolina. The Rural Pharmacy Health Initiative is the fourth program of Carolina Across 100.