Getting the Most From The Community

Youth-serving professionals need more than access to information. They need relevant learning opportunities, practical tools, trusted guidance, and support from people who understand the realities of serving young people and families.

The Community™ brings those supports together. National Safe Place, Inc. created this professional learning and capacity-building network to help youth-serving professionals continue developing their knowledge while strengthening the organizations and programs in which they work.

The Community also helps members discover valuable tools developed throughout the youth-services field. Sharing these resources does not replace the training, technical assistance, and support available through The Community. Instead, it ensures members have access to a broader range of credible information that can complement their learning and help them respond to emerging needs.

Begin with The Community

The Community connects youth- and family-serving organizations and professionals with learning, guidance, practical resources, organizational support, and one another.

Through The Community, organizational members can access:

• Webinars, educational events, and other professional learning opportunities
• Technical assistance, consultation, and customized training
• Organizational capacity-building support
• Expert-developed educational materials, templates, publications, and implementation tools
• The Support Center resource library
• Leadership development and continuing education opportunities
• Discounts on eligible training and professional development
• Professional recognition and eligibility for national awards
• Opportunities to participate in national initiatives, collaborative projects, and special learning opportunities
• Funding, advocacy, and field updates
• Support letters for grant applications
• Monthly member communications
• Opportunities to contribute expertise and share promising practices

Community Members also receive access to Connect, The Community’s private online peer-learning forum. Through Connect, professionals can ask questions, exchange ideas, discuss emerging issues, participate in Innovation Circles, and learn from others who understand the realities of youth-serving work.

Together, these benefits help professionals strengthen their knowledge while giving organizations practical support to develop their workforce, build capacity, and improve services for young people and families.

Start With the Need

The best learning begins with a clear understanding of what the organization or professional needs.

A team may need foundational information for new employees, guidance for supervisors, assistance reviewing an existing procedure, or support implementing a new practice across several programs. An individual professional may be looking for new skills, a deeper understanding of an emerging issue, or perspectives from others who have faced a similar challenge.

Before choosing a resource or learning opportunity, consider asking:

• What do staff members need to understand?
• What should they be prepared to do differently?
• Does the need affect one professional, a team, or the entire organization?
• Would training, technical assistance, a practical tool, or peer discussion be most helpful?
• What support will staff members need to apply what they learn?
• How will the organization know whether the resource or learning opportunity helped?

These questions make it easier to select the right type of support rather than assigning a training simply because it is available.

Use the Right Community Benefit

Different needs require different forms of support.

A webinar may help staff members build foundational knowledge. A template or checklist may help a team review a procedure. Customized training may be appropriate when several staff members need to develop the same skills. Technical assistance or consultation may be more useful when an organization is navigating a complex challenge or implementing a change across multiple roles.

The Support Center can help members locate practical resources, publications, and organizational tools. Connect can extend that learning by giving professionals a place to ask questions, compare experiences, and hear how others have approached similar situations.

Leadership development, collaborative initiatives, and educational events offer additional opportunities for professionals and organizations to grow. The goal is not to use every benefit at once. It is to identify the combination of learning, resources, guidance, and connection that best supports the need.

Extend Learning Through Connect

Professionals often learn as much from discussing a resource as they do from reading or viewing it.

Connect gives Community Members a private space to continue conversations, exchange ideas, and learn from professionals across the country. A question posted in Connect may reveal how another organization addressed a similar challenge, what barriers it encountered, and what its staff members would do differently next time.

Members can use Connect to:

• Ask questions and exchange ideas
• Share promising practices and practical tools
• Discuss challenges affecting young people, staff members, and organizations
• Continue conversations after a training or educational event
• Participate in Innovation Circles
• Build relationships with professionals in similar roles
• Contribute to field-informed discussions and collaborative efforts

Connect is an important part of The Community, but it works alongside the broader training, technical assistance, professional learning, resources, and organizational support available to members.

Explore Complementary Resources From Across the Field

No single organization can create every resource that youth-serving professionals may need. Federal agencies, national organizations, researchers, and technical-assistance centers have developed valuable materials addressing trauma, behavioral health, mentoring, youth homelessness, organizational practice, and other important topics.

The Community is committed to helping members find useful information, regardless of where it originated. The following free resources can complement the learning and support available through The Community:

• SAMHSA Training and Technical Assistance provides access to federally supported resources and technical-assistance centers addressing topics across the behavioral-health field.
• The National Child Traumatic Stress Network Learning Center offers online education related to child and adolescent trauma and support for child-serving professionals.
• The MENTOR Resource Library includes standards, research, training materials, and tools for mentoring programs and professionals.
• SchoolHouse Connection Tools and Resources provides practical materials related to supporting children and young people experiencing homelessness.

These resources are not substitutes for The Community. They are additional tools that members can bring into conversations, training plans, technical-assistance requests, and organizational improvement efforts.

Turn Information Into Practice

A resource becomes valuable when it informs action.

After completing a training, reviewing a tool, or participating in a discussion, professionals can identify:

• One idea they want to apply
• One current practice they want to review
• One question that remains unanswered
• One person or team that should be included in the next conversation
• One form of support that would help them move forward

Supervisors can revisit these commitments during team meetings, individual supervision, or case consultation. Organizations can also use The Community to identify related resources, request guidance, or learn from members who have implemented similar practices.

This follow-through helps move learning from an individual activity to meaningful organizational improvement.

Keep Resources Current

Websites, recommendations, eligibility requirements, and professional guidance can change. Before incorporating an outside resource into organizational policy, required training, or public materials, confirm that it remains current and applicable.

Organizations should also compare outside guidance with relevant laws, grant requirements, professional standards, and internal policies. When questions remain, technical assistance or consultation may help an organization determine the most appropriate next step.

Make The Community Work for You

The youth-services field contains more information than any professional or organization can navigate alone. The Community helps bring training, resources, expertise, and professional relationships together so members can find what they need and determine how to apply it.

Getting the most from The Community means using more than one benefit. It may begin with a webinar, continue through a conversation in Connect, lead to a practical resource in the Support Center, and result in technical assistance that helps an organization put an idea into practice.

Through The Community, youth-serving professionals and organizations do not have to learn, adapt, or grow alone.

Join The Community

Connect with youth- and family-serving professionals, access practical resources and professional learning opportunities, and find support for strengthening your organization and services.

Learn more about The Community and membership benefits.