Street Culture 2.0: An Epistemology of Street-dependent Youth (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781490949628)

Jerry Fest has been an advocate for young people since 1970. He is the founder of and worked 12 years as the director of Janus Youth Program's Willamette Bridge -- a continuum of services including streetwork and outreach, emergency shelter, transitional living, independent living, case management, and youth business and partnership programs. In 1987 he developed the "self-government" model for residential services; one of the earliest program models based on the principles of Positive Youth Development. Mr. Fest has served on the Board of Directors of the Northwest Network for Youth, the National Network for Youth, and served two terms as the Region Ten representative to the National Council for Youth Policy representing federally funded runaway and homeless youth programs in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington State. In 1996 he received the Oregon Child and Youth Care Association "Citizen of the Year" award for his work with street-dependent youth, and received the Year 2000 Helen Reser Bakkensen award for exemplary leadership, service, and advocacy on behalf of homeless youth. Mr. Fest provides consultation and training for programs nation-wide from his home in Portland, Oregon. He has been certified in the Advancing Youth Development curriculum and served as the lead trainer for the Portland BEST Initiative (Building Exemplary Systems of Training, a national Youth Development training project). His unique one-day presentation of the Youth Development approach, Youth Development: A Winning Hand, has been presented nation-wide helping audiences to quickly grasp the basics of Youth Development and strategies for youth participation. In addition to his Youth Development emphasis, Mr. Fest offers training and consultation for programs working with runaway, homeless, and other at-risk youth populations, with specific expertise in federal Street Outreach Programs, Transitional Living Programs, and Basic Centers. Mr. Fest has served as a federal Peer Monitor and Peer Monitor trainer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, and as an Expert Witness for cases involving street-dependent/homeless youth. His clients have included the Administration for Children and Families, Head Start, Job Corps, and a diverse community of private non-profit organizations.