Current Issues in Out of School Time It Takes an Ecosystem

"It Takes an Ecosystem" explores the potential of Allied Youth Fields, emphasizing the importance of connections across systems where adults engage with young people. It highlights how interactions with adults shape youth development and offers ideas, tools, and visions for a more connected, equitable world for young people and adults. It Takes an Ecosystem explores the idea and potential of the Allied Youth Fields—an aspirational term that suggests increased connection across the multiple systems in which adults engage with young people. Recent research and initiatives make a strong case for what developmentalists have argued for decades: A young person’s learning and development is shaped in positive and negative ways by the interactions they have with all the adults in their life. Now is the time to reshape our systems to support this scientific understanding. The chapters in this book provide ideas, tools, examples, and visions for a more connected, more equitable world for young people and the adults in their lives.