Youth development lies at the heart of the Workforce Investment Act and the Youth Opportunity Movement. Like employment training programs for adults, employment training programs for youth should focus on acquisition of skills, gainful employment, and productive citizenship. Beyond these three characteristics, it is essential that programs for youth incorporate the following key principles of youth development: (1) have a clear, well articulated "theory" that serves as a reference point for everyone involved; (2) operate within an organizational structure that is as developmental for staff as the program structure is for participants; (3) calculate all policies, programs, decisions, priorities, and designs to help kids build caring relationships with adults and fellow participants; (4) have a membership element that encourages youth to foster an affiliation with and connection to the program; (5) grant broad, genuine responsibility to youth for program design, decision making, and management; (6) make service to community a key program element; (7) provide specific training in leadership and "followership" skills; (8) utilize a planned, well maintained system of recognition and reward; (9) design learning experiences and teaching methods to be as experiential as possible; (10) provide program staff with ample training; and (11) monitor program effectiveness closely and strive for continuous improvement, flexibility, and innovation. (MN)