German Sports Youth promotes and supports youth engagement. It creates scope for this and gives young people the opportunity to develop and strengthen their own personality and to champion other people and a variety of topics. In the self-organised and democratic structures of German Sports Youth and its member organisations, young people assume responsibility and thus actively help to shape sport. Youth engagement is the future of not-for-profit, organised sport. The basis for this is the Concept on funding for youth engagement.

Therefore, dsj considers its main task to be encouraging and promoting the voluntary engagement of young people. The dsj Management Board has enacted a policy paper about this. 
It shapes youth work in sport not only for, but also, and above all, with children and teenagers. Building on the approaches of co-determination (participation), self-organisation and voluntary action, it is important to encourage and support the work of youth associations, youth education and the development of engagement in their various forms. dsj bases its activities in the field of action “youth engagement” on the following principles. In conjunction with the Frankfurt Model and the recommendations for action from the funding programme ZI:EL+, they form the basis for its work.