Abstract Since youth work is a relatively new career path, there is debate regarding the competencies necessary to advance overall professional practice. This debate is particularly relevant in African countries, such as Kenya, with a growing number of youth in need of assistance. The purpose of this study was to identify the competencies needed to meet the goals and challenges of Kenyan youth workers, and assess whether these competencies align with prominent youth development competency frameworks. Data were collected from Kenyan youth workers related to the challenges, goals, and barriers they faced. These data were matched to two competency frameworks. Four themes emerged: (1) programs management competencies are most important; (2) holistically developed youth is a primary goal; (3) differences exist in how competency frameworks map to Kenyan youth workers; and (4) all competencies are not equal in the view of youth workers. Implications for program and system development are discussed.

中文翻译：

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使用核心能力框架探索肯尼亚青年工人的需求

摘要 由于青年工作是一条相对较新的职业道路，因此关于推进整体专业实践所需的能力存在争议。这场辩论在肯尼亚等非洲国家尤为重要，因为需要援助的青年人数不断增加。本研究的目的是确定满足肯尼亚青年工作者的目标和挑战所需的能力，并评估这些能力是否符合突出的青年发展能力框架。从肯尼亚青年工作者那里收集了与他们面临的挑战、目标和障碍相关的数据。这些数据与两个能力框架相匹配。出现了四个主题：（1）项目管理能力最重要；(2) 全面发展的青年是首要目标；(3) 在能力框架如何映射到肯尼亚青年工人方面存在差异；(4) 在青年工人看来，并非所有的能力都是平等的。讨论了对程序和系统开发的影响。