MASN provides high quality training and formal coursework so that there are clear pathways for professionals to improve their skills, meet higher education goals, and pursue career pathways within the field of youth development.
Professionalizing the Field
The field of youth work is relatively new compared to career areas such as formal (K-12) education, early childhood education, and social work. We can see a time in the future where high school–and maybe even middle school–students pursue an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Youth Development with the intention of working with children and youth outside of the school day. Positions in the field of youth work are varied and span all education levels: entry-level site staff, group leaders, program administrators, 4-H Specialists, trainers, coaches, and more. To professionalize our field, we establish common expectations of youth workers (Core Competencies for Early Childhood and Youth Development Professionals) and build infrastructure to provide the education and training to support various levels of this career pathway.
Training Clock Hours
Youth Workers need ongoing professional development. MASN’s staff and Quality Committee work with partners across the state to ensure a variety of DESE-approved clock hours are offered. Training ranges from conference sessions and multi-session or multi-day workshops to virtual synchronous and asynchronous trainings. All DESE-approved sessions are posted on the Missouri Professional Development System.