Master Planning for Youth in Rural Communities

Youth master planning isn’t just for cities and towns. It can work in rural places, too.  But rural planners must take into account the unique challenges and opportunities that go along with life in the country.

While rural areas confront many of the same problems as urban centers, they also face some that are distinct, including the variable nature of the rural economy, the relative isolation of rural areas, and the lack of easy-to-get-to support services. At the same time, people who live and work in rural places say, these areas boast a strong sense of community and neighbors willing to work together to make things better.

Prepare for hard times

In many rural areas, people live in economic realities that are simply out of their control. In agricultural communities, self-sufficiency can hinge on something as unpredictable as the weather.  An early frost that ruins the crops, for example, can devastate a farming community.

And in areas outside resort towns, where people support tourism, working in hotels and restaurants, the national economy can have a profound effect. When the national economy goes south, tourism slows, and people lose jobs.

Similarly, mining communities tend to be “boom or bust,” says Bob Coulson, who administers the Colorado Department of Human Services’ programs for adolescents. Young people flock there because they hear they can earn a lot of money. But the work is usually short-term, and when it dries up, youth can become homeless.

In all of these places, then, planners need to prepare for the hard times, even in prosperous periods.

No cookie cutters

Coulson, who works with the Family and Youth Services Bureau’s Support Systems for Rural Homeless Youth (SSRHY) demonstration project in Colorado, says each rural community has a unique character, and planners need to recognize that people living in these areas have diverse needs. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, he says.

Steve Michael, who works with the Iowa State Division of Child and Family Services, says creating a plan that fits the community means tapping into an area’s biggest asset: the people who live there. “We need to get the right people around the table,” he says. “We need to make sure that the community develops priorities and a plan that will work for them.”

Understand the issues

While each has different needs and resources, most rural places lack public transportation and have limited Internet access and few home computers—factors that lead to the relative isolation of young people in rural areas.

This remoteness means that youth problems, in general, and youth homelessness, in particular, may be hidden. Folks may be unaware of homeless youth in their communities. “Kids might have a roof over their heads, but it’s not their own,” says Michael.  And it may be a different roof from night to night.

Knowing and communicating the extent of the problem is crucial, rural youth workers say. Michael, along with Becky MCalley, who work with the SSRHY demonstration project in Iowa, are conducting community meetings, stakeholder interviews, and readiness assessments in two rural communities to understand each place’s needs, what services are available to youth, and what gaps need to be filled. This surveying or mapping of the community will help inform their selection of a community for the demonstration project and the planning process as well.

Use existing connections

The nature of the rural economy and the wide open spaces characteristic of rural areas lead to another challenge faced by young people living outside the city—fewer support services.

Indeed, young people living in rural communities encounter both economic and physical barriers that prevent them from receiving the social support and opportunities typically essential to Positive Youth Development.

Because of the sheer numbers of youth in urban areas, it makes sense that there would be more services there, like street outreach and residential services, Michael says.

In rural communities, there are fewer people to provide needed services. And fewer people serve in formal leadership roles in helping the community. “In rural areas, folks tend to know each other and work together,” Michael says. Rural planners should take advantage of these existing connections.

Work Together

What rural communities may lack in formal resources, they make up for in informal networks, a sense of community, and the desire to “help each other out,” Coulson says.

Rural folks are more likely to “roll up their sleeves and help” instead of waiting for others to do what needs to be done, says McCalley, Transitioning Youth Coordinator with the Iowa State Division of Child and Family Services.

For instance, when word got out that the Colorado State agency was looking for a local partner for the SSRHY demonstration project, six rural communities pooled their resources and applied together. They knew they couldn’t all be selected, Coulson says, but they didn’t want to compete. One site would be selected, and the other five would at least have a plan.

“You know how in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location?” Coulson says. “In rural communities, it’s relationships, relationships, relationships.”

Master planning in rural areas might take three times as long as in urban areas, Coulson says, because you must take the time to build real relationships. He believes it’s a strong rural value.

McCalley also sees the positive effects. In rural communities, people get involved because they want to help their friends and neighbors, she says. They may not be service providers, but they certainly offer support and guidance. In rural communities, in particular, then, planners should include among the stakeholders the laypeople—including youth—who serve the community every day in nonpaid positions.

A final tip for rural planners: “Once rural communities get engaged, they will work hard as a community,” McCalley says. “But you have to ask people.”