YouthBuild Global: BUSSW Research Shows How Caring Relationships Transform Opportunity for Young People
Renée Spencer, EdD, professor and associate dean for Faculty Affairs at Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW), co-led a three-year research partnership with Dr. Antoinette Delmonico, a doctoral alumna of BUSSW, at YouthBuild Global, examining how caring relationships shape outcomes for young people.
Supported by the John Templeton Foundation, the study focused on YouthBuild’s Mental Toughness Orientation, students’ first introduction to the program. Through interviews, focus groups, and site visits across programs worldwide, the research identified specific behaviors that program staff engage in to foster a culture of love, respect, belonging, and high expectations within their programs. Researchers translated those insights into a scalable training curriculum for staff, now being implemented across the global network.
“It is exceedingly rare to hear love spoken about in the youth development literature,” Spencer said. “But for the young people we interviewed, the genuine care they experienced from YouthBuild staff made all the difference. It was a lifeline that kept them engaged and motivated.”