Stages of Change

YOUCAN Youth Services uses the Stages of Change model because we understand that at-risk youth will typically move through, knowingly or unknowingly, six stages on their way to making intentional efforts to improve their lives and maintain those changes.

1. Pre-Contemplation Stage: The youth is not thinking about or has clearly rejected change;
2. Contemplation Stage: The youth is thinking about change and perhaps seeks out support from a YOUCAN Youth Services Youth Worker; 
3. Planning Stage: The youth is talking to a YOUCAN Youth Services         Youth Worker about what it would take to make change happen and what she or he wants for the future;
4. Action Stage: The youth begins to take positive steps toward improving his or her life by putting into practice (through trial and error) the plan that the youth and a YOUCAN Youth Services Youth Worker have discussed in detail;
5. Maintenance Stage; Through continuing support from YOUCAN Youth Services Youth Workers and other resources that are established for the youth, he or she is able to achieve concrete developments in his or her life, is moving toward achieving a self-sustaining lifestyle and is living with many more protective factors than risk factors.
6. Relapse: When a youth relapses, a YOUCAN Youth Services Youth Worker must be relentless in identifying with the youth what triggered the relapse, and again be relentless in motivating the youth to go back and make either a new plan or a modified plan. Ultimately, the youth returns to the action and then maintenance stages.

Relentless commitment to case management and refusal to give up on young people is what enables YOUCAN Youth Services to re-engage youth in personal development, education and employment. YOUCAN Youth Services has worked hard to create a place where our young people can learn and practice the necessary skills that will allow them to successfully reconnect and advance their educational and employment opportunities. 

For a printable version of Stages of Change click here.