YMCA of the USA sought to strengthen its character development approach with current research and clearer resources. 

YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) relaunched its character development program as the Character Development Learning Initiative (CDLI+), built around the adult practices that foster positive youth development. With community needs evolving and local YMCAs continuing to serve young people in thousands of communities, Y-USA sought a refreshed approach that reflects current evidence and better supports local YMCAs, staff, and volunteers. 

Y-USA needed to know what current scholarship says about effective adult practices, what resources local YMCAs already use, and where there are gaps. An updated foundation would let local YMCAs adopt practices that help young people build character and feel a sense of belonging.

NORC conducted a structured literature review, environmental scans, and youth-centered engagement to update and strengthen the CDLI+ approach. 

We refreshed the evidence base underlying adult practices that support youth character development, using a structured literature review focused on research published since the program was first designed. 

We also conducted internal and external environmental scans. The internal scan identified existing resources, such as implementation supports, outcome measures, and fidelity tools, already used across YMCAs. For the external scan, we conducted in-depth interviews with national youth-serving organizations and reviewed publicly available resources to identify capacity-building approaches and gaps relevant to CDLI+.

To ground the revised approach in the perspectives of young people and YMCA practitioners, we engaged the YMCA Project Advisory Group (YPAG) and youth from participating YMCAs. Youth listening sessions provided direct input on measures and resource priorities, while facilitated sessions with the YPAG surfaced practical insights for the compendium design. We synthesized all findings into two, user-friendly compendiums: a tiered inventory of resources and a catalog of approaches and strategic areas to guide implementation.