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Service, Youth, and Communities

YSCAL Executive Director Mark Batenburg YSCal Executive Director Mark Batenburg shares his vision for youth service in California

Service is part of America's civic ethic, and is a priority for all Americans.  We are dedicated to ensuring that all people, especially young people have the opportunity to serve their communities and develop their skills and knowledge and be engaged in society.  Many youth today do not experience this reality, and we seek to change that. 

By working with young people and committed adults across California, we form partnerships with schools, community-, and faith-based organizations to implement high-quality service-learning programs.  We bring together people across class, faith, racial, and ethnic lines to serve together on projects that benefit everyone. 

Communities and individuals involved engage in a cyclical process of Planning, Action, and Reflection that continually is advancing.  

When young people are engaged in service to their community, they:

• Are more likely to stay in school, and are more likely to vote when they are of age
• Experience their own power to effect change
• Become more connected to people who are different than them
• Understand the connections between the real world and what they are learning in school
• Engage in the life and issues of their communities
• Are less likely to engage in antisocial behaviors such as gang membership
• Realize that putting themselves at the service of others is key part of growing up

At the same time, the community:

• Shifts its view of young people from being a problem and a drain on resources to being a resource for addressing issues facing it
• Benefits greatly from the service work the young people do in the community
• Gains creative approaches to solving problems
• Adds huge numbers of engaged volunteers in service
• Nurtures homegrown future leaders
• Increases the number of citizens who vote and are civically engaged
• Improves relationships among groups who can otherwise be antagonists