A Quick Start Guide to Building Assets in Your Prevention

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Introduction:

Building the Web of Support

All Youth Need

T his book is for prevention-program leaders and staff in schools, youth and family-serving orga-
nizations, juvenile justice systems, and health-care settings who sometimes find themselves
overwhelmed by programming demands, funding criteria, and statistics. Much of your work must
focus, by necessity, on trying to prevent individual risk behaviors. We want to show you how Devel-
opmental Assets can be blended with prevention programs to build a broader, more effective core
set of protective factors within young people.
What we’re describing here is an approach, not a program in and of itself. Asset building is
based on Search Institute’s framework of 40 Developmental Assets—supportive conditions that help
young people thrive. The framework (which you’ll find on pages 4–5) describes a set of concrete,
commonsense, positive experiences and qualities essential to raising successful young people.
These assets, divided into eight categories for ease of understanding and use, have the power during
critical adolescent years to influence choices young people make and help them become caring, re-
sponsible adults. Research shows that young people who report having more Developmental Assets
are less likely to abuse alcohol and other drugs or engage in violence and sexual activity.
This book provides guidance on how to infuse assets into your prevention efforts. We recom-
mend integrating assets into existing programs rather than just adding them on. Infusing assets into
the work you’re already doing can be a win-win situation all around: adults will be energized by a
new, more optimistic outlook; youth will be empowered to make positive changes in their own lives.
Weaving assets into your program starts by refocusing the lens through which you view your
work. Here’s a table to help you think about what the shift from a deficit focus to an asset focus
looks like:

Essential Shifts Needed to Build Assets for All Children and Young People
From… To…
Deficit language Asset language
Focus only on youth identified as troubled Focus on all children and young people
Focus on only one age group for intervention Focus on all ages, from birth to 18
Age segregation Intergenerational community
Self-interest Shared responsibility
Buy and implement new programs Infuse assets into existing programs
Fragmented agenda Unifying vision around Developmental Assets
Youth as objects of programs Working with and for youth in a change process
Constant switching of flavor-of-the-month priorities Long-term commitment
Civic disengagement Engaged public

2
Building Assets Works
Extensive research confirms the power of Developmental Assets in young people’s lives. Search
Institute has conducted more than 1,200 surveys of students in grades 6 through 12, and the results
show that, regardless of gender, ethnic heritage, economic situation, or geographic location, the
more assets young people have, the better they do in school and in many other areas, such as mak-
ing healthy choices, exhibiting leadership, and valuing diversity.
Search Institute research also clearly demonstrates that the more assets young people have,
the less likely they are to become involved in risky behaviors. Increasing the number of Developmen-
tal Assets youth have is especially powerful in preventing or delaying the use of alcohol, tobacco,
and other drugs (ATOD), and engagement in violence and sexual activity.
It’s important to encourage programs and communities to increase all of the categories of Devel-
opmental Assets for all youth, but we also know that certain categories of assets are more strongly
related to lower levels of risk in certain key areas. For example, the Boundaries and Expectations as-
set category is most strongly related to lower levels of ATOD use while Constructive Use of Time and
Commitment to Learning also seem to play a strong role in reducing high-risk behaviors.
We all want programs to be effective in achieving goals and outcomes, not just for the sake of
science, but to know that we are truly making a difference in the lives of young people. New pre-
vention research is documenting the evidence-base for proven programs, which means a program
demonstrates consistently positive results through scientific study. Power-packing proven programs
with assets significantly increases your chances of success.
What we’re after here is something we call asset “pile-up.” We want youth to experience lots of
assets in lots of contexts throughout their lives. Consider research that shows the benefits of asset
pile-up in these four critical ways:

• Youth who experience more assets in their families, schools, communities, and among
peers do better than those who experience assets in fewer of these contexts (horizontal
accumulation).

• Youth who experience more assets throughout their lives are better equipped to navigate
transitions (vertical accumulation).

• Youth who repeatedly experience the same assets find that those assets renew and
reinforce each other over time (chronological accumulation).

• All children and youth benefit from the extended reach of intentional asset building, not
just those judged to be “at risk” (developmental breadth accumulation).

Clearly, prevention programs working alone, even those using assets and evidence-based strat-
egies, cannot influence every area of young people’s lives. We want to intentionally attempt to build
the capacity of all communities, individuals, organizations, and networks to support young people’s
healthy development. This effort helps us address all the influences in young people’s lives.
The tips, ideas, and strategies you’ll find in this guide, when combined with your work and what
we know about community building, can help you identify ways to connect with others and strength-
en the impact of your programs.

3
 40 Developmental Assets ®

Essentials for Helping Every Young Person Succeed

Search Institute has identified the following building blocks of development
that help young people grow up healthy, caring, and responsible.

EXTERNAL ASSETS
S upport
1. Family Support — Family life provides high levels of love and support.
2. Positive Family Communication — Young person and her or his parent(s) communicate positively,
and young person is willing to seek advice and counsel from parent(s).
3. Other Adult Relationships — Young person receives support from three or more nonparent
adults.
4. Caring Neighborhood — Young person experiences caring neighbors.
5. Caring School Climate — School provides a caring, encouraging environment.
6. Parent Involvement in Schooling — Parent(s) are actively involved in helping young person
succeed in school.

E mpowerment
7. Community Values Youth — Young person perceives that adults in the community value youth.
8. Youth as Resources — Young people are given useful roles in the community.
9. Service to Others — Young person serves in the community one hour or more per week.
10. Safety — Young person feels safe at home, at school, and in the neighborhood.

B oundaries and E x pectations

11. Family Boundaries — Family has clear rules and consequences and monitors the young person’s
whereabouts.
12. School Boundaries — School provides clear rules and consequences.
13. Neighborhood Boundaries — Neighbors take responsibility for monitoring young people’s
behavior.
14. Adult Role Models — Parent(s) and other adults model positive, responsible behavior.
15. Positive Peer Influence — Young person’s best friends model responsible behavior.
16. High Expectations — Both parent(s) and teachers encourage the young person to do well.

C onstructi v e U se of T ime
17. Creative Activities — Young person spends three or more hours per week in lessons or practice
in music, theater, or other arts.
18. Youth Programs — Young person spends three or more hours per week in sports, clubs, or
organizations at school and/or in the community.
19. Religious Community — Young person spends one or more hours per week in activities in a
religious institution.
20. Time at Home — Young person is out with friends “with nothing special to do” two or fewer
nights per week.

4
INTERNAL ASSETS
C ommitment to L earnin g
21. Achievement Motivation — Young person is motivated to do well in school.
22. School Engagement — Young person is actively engaged in learning.
23. Homework — Young person reports doing at least one hour of homework every school day.
24. Bonding to School — Young person cares about her or his school.
25. Reading for Pleasure — Young person reads for pleasure three or more hours per week.

P ositi v e Values
26. Caring — Young person places high value on helping other people.
27. Equality and Social Justice — Young person places high value on promoting equality and
reducing hunger and poverty.
28. Integrity — Young person acts on convictions and stands up for her or his beliefs.
29. Honesty — Young person “tells the truth even when it is not easy.”
30. Responsibility — Young person accepts and takes personal responsibility.
31. Restraint — Young person believes it is important not to be sexually active or to use alcohol
or other drugs.

S ocial C ompetencies
32. Planning and Decision Making — Young person knows how to plan ahead and make choices.
33. Interpersonal Competence — Young person has empathy, sensitivity, and friendship skills.
34. Cultural Competence — Young person has knowledge of and comfort with people of different
cultural/racial/ethnic backgrounds.
35. Resistance Skills — Young person can resist negative peer pressure and dangerous situations.
36. Peaceful Conflict Resolution — Young person seeks to resolve conflict nonviolently.

P ositi v e I dentity
37. Personal Power — Young person feels he or she has control over “things that happen to me.”
38. Self-Esteem — Young person reports having a high self-esteem.
39. Sense of Purpose — Young person reports that “my life has a purpose.”
40. Positive View of Personal Future — Young person is optimistic about her or his personal future.

The 40 Developmental Assets® may be reproduced for educational, noncommercial uses only (with this copyright line).
Copyright © 1997 by Search Institute®, Minneapolis, MN; 800-888-7828; www.search-institute.org.

5
 The Power of Assets
On one level, the 40 Developmental Assets® represent common wisdom about the kinds of positive experiences and characteris-
tics that young people need and deserve. But their value extends further. Surveys of more than 2 million young people in grades
6–12 have shown that assets are powerful influences on adolescent behavior. (The numbers below reflect 2003 data from 148,189
young people in 202 communities.) Regardless of gender, ethnic heritage, economic situation, or geographic location, these as-
sets both promote positive behaviors and attitudes and help protect young people from many different problem behaviors.

0–10 assets 11–20 assets 21–30 assets 31–40 assets

Promoting Positive Behaviors and Attitudes

Search Institute research shows that the greater the number of assets students report having, the more likely they are to also
report the following patterns of thriving behavior:
88% 89%
87%
78% 76%
69%
66%
60% 54%
48% 48%
39%
34%
27%
19%
9%

Exhibits Leadership Maintains Good Health Values Diversity Succeeds in School

Has been a leader of an Takes good care of body (such as Thinks it is important to get to Gets mostly As on report card
organization or group in the eating foods that are healthy and know people of other racial/ethnic (an admittedly high standard).
past 12 months. exercising regularly). groups.

Protecting Youth from High-Risk Behaviors

Assets not only promote positive behaviors, they also protect young people; the more assets a young person reports having,
the less likely he or she is to make harmful or unhealthy choices. (Note that high-risk behaviors are defined in terms of multiple
occurrences in order to distinguish between casual experimentation and more serious, ongoing problem behaviors.)
62%
45%
38% 38%
34%
26%
18% 18% 23%
11% 11%
6% 6%
3% 1% 3%

Problem Alcohol Use Violence Illicit Drug Use Sexual Activity

Has used alcohol three or more Has engaged in three or more Used illicit drugs (marijuana, Has had sexual intercourse three
times in the past 30 days or got acts of fighting, hitting, injuring cocaine, LSD, PCP/angel dust, or more times in lifetime.
drunk once or more in the past a person, carrying a weapon, or heroin, or amphetamines) three
two weeks. threatening physical harm in the or more times in the past 12
past 12 months. months.

Reprinted from The Asset Approach: 40 Elements of Healthy Development ; copyright © 2006 by Search Institute®. This handout may be
reproduced for educational, noncommercial uses only (with this copyright line). From A Quick-Start Guide to Building Assets in Your
Prevention Program. Copyright © 2008 by Search Institute®, Minneapolis, MN; 800-888-7828, www.search-institute.org.

6
Using the Five Action Strategies
to Transform Prevention Programs
Search Institute has identified Five Action Strategies (pictured below) for naming, encouraging, and
linking all the important people, places, activities, and programs necessary to build a world where all
young people are valued and thrive. The Five Action Strategies provide a practical framework to help
you understand and describe how your work affects young people. As program leaders and com-
munity initiatives work to build assets and strengthen relationships within and among the spheres
of influence shown in the Five Action Strategies graphic, they build a web of interconnected efforts.
Merging the asset-building capacities of all community members increases our chances of success
in making lasting, positive change.

This guide uses the Five Action Strategies to illustrate ways you can incorporate the Developmental
Assets into what you’re already doing. In each section, you’ll find:

• A brief summary of each Action Strategy

• Research, tips, and ideas for building assets in a variety of prevention programs

• Stories and practical examples illustrating how others are already using assets

• Where to find additional information or other useful resources

The overarching strategies we’ve embedded in this book emphasize the importance of:

• Building strong relationships with and for young people

• Creating multiple, positive environments to surround youth

• Enhancing programs and practices using proven, concrete methods

Unless otherwise noted, the research cited in this book comes from Search Institute studies.

7
Invigorate Programs

What This Means

Invigorate, expand, and enhance programs to become more asset rich and to be available to and
accessed by all children and youth.

The Goal
Inspire your own organizations and assist others to infuse asset building into cultures, programs,
and practices.

rograms that share a common, asset-enhanced vision and that send strong messages
about expectations and values to youth provide a powerful web of support for young people.
You can find ways within your programs and organizations to power-pack your work with assets.
You can also find new, creative ways to join forces with others in the community to deliver your
work in complementary, resource-efficient ways. Consider these strategies:

I D E N T I F Y W H AT Y O U ’ R E A L R E A D Y D O I N G — Sit down with the asset framework and

create a list of the ones you’re already building. Share this list! Ask others to add their insights.

I D E N T I F Y W H I C H A S S E T S Y O U “ O W N ” — Be clear about which assets your program

can actually build. Schools or alcohol or other drug prevention programs may each “own” some
assets more than others.

I D E N T I F Y W H E R E T O S TA C K U P A S S E T S — Infuse assets in creative and

inexpensive ways. Some examples include making asset building part of job descriptions or in-
fusing asset language into existing curricula.

Combining assets with proven prevention programs can make a meaningful difference in the
lives of young people, but sometimes, evidence-based programs cost a lot of money, or they
don’t fit for youth in your community. How should you proceed?

U S E A N E X I S T I N G P R O G R A M — Try to find a program already developed in your topic

area that’s been evaluated and shown to be successful with youth similar to yours.

A D A P T A N E X I S T I N G P R O G R A M — If a program doesn’t exist or the costs are too high, you

might be able to carefully borrow, model, or replicate successful programs using best practices.

8
D E S I G N Y O U R O W N I N N O V AT I O N — Practitioners can and do develop new programs
and strategies using best practices. Local innovations should meet generally accepted criteria
for effective programs before being implemented or disseminated.

Here are ideas and activities you can use to invigorate your prevention programs and strategies.

Schools
A study of 104 schools in 12 states found that many are adopting research-based curricula ac-
cording to the U.S. Department of Education’s Principles of Effectiveness, but only 19 percent
were implementing the curricula with fidelity. To improve the quality and performance of your
programs:

• Make sure teachers are adequately trained in the curriculum (or retrained if
necessary)

• Make sure all classes using a curriculum have access to it

• Make sure that a complete set of curriculum materials is used when classes are taught

Researchers looking at a diverse sampling of adolescents in nine California and Wisconsin

high schools found higher levels of protection against delinquency and substance use among
youth who experienced a group or “cluster” of assets. The students:

• Experienced warm relations with parents

• Came from relatively well-organized households

Find Out More
To learn more about
• Valued academic achievements evidence-based programs
• Engaged in school, felt close to teachers, and performed well in school and best practices to help
you adapt or design your
own work:

Youth-Serving Organizations National Registry of

Evidence-based Programs
Many youth-serving organizations are infusing assets into their work and monitoring their re- and Practices
sults, including 4-H, Boys and Girls Clubs, Girl Scouts, and Big Brothers Big Sisters. nrepp.samhsa.gov
The YMCA conducted its own study, asking the question, “How does the Abundant Assets
Blueprints for Violence
Initiative affect the institutional culture of the YMCA?” Some of the answers included:
Prevention
N A M I N G A N D T E L L I N G — The initiative’s use of asset language gives the Y more con- colorado.edu/cspv/
crete ways of describing its impact. blueprints
Centers for Disease Control
V E R I F Y I N G A N D P R I O R I T I Z I N G — Asset research helps staff focus and demonstrates
Best Practices of Youth
to staff, funders, and community stakeholders that programs make a difference.
Violence Prevention:
M E A S U R I N G A N D R E I N F O R C I N G — The Y and its partners can better see the impact of A Sourcebook for
its investment. Community Action
cdc.gov
Here’s an example of how one YMCA boosted its asset impact in an urban community:

9
 The YMCA in Bellevue, Washington, had been regularly opening its facilities for free one Fri-
day night a month to low-income or new-to-the-community families. A small local grant allowed
them to also provide free meals for about 25 people. The Bellevue Parks and Recreation Depart-
ment was looking for a way to support more asset building in the community without starting new
projects. A brainstorming session of local asset builders came up with Family Friendly Fridays.
The city kicked in additional money to the Y to feed up to 100 people, and volunteers gave short
Family Dinners talks at each of the Friday dinners on asset-oriented topics such as how to involve children in
Have Power planning and eating nutritious meals together and different ways to celebrate holidays. Young
Parade magazine reported
people also helped present some of the programs. Attendance was packed for each event.
these startling results of
several studies:
• Teens who eat regular
Family-Serving Organizations
meals with their family Pioneer Camp is a Lutheran retreat center in Angola, New York. Among the many activities it
earn better grades and offers is the Papyrus Program for children in foster care, who sometimes have only five days at
are less depressed (Uni- camp as a transition between foster homes. The challenge of infusing assets into a short-term
versity of Minnesota).
program was met by using some of these strategies:
• Children are 15 percent
F O C U S — Clear, obtainable objectives with simple outcomes were written for each of the eight
less likely to be over-
weight if they eat meals
asset categories, such as making sure that all staff say hello to each child so that campers come
with their families (Har- away from their experience with a greater sense of personal identity.
vard University). T R A I N I N G — All staff connected to the camp learned about asset building, from the 16-year-
• Preteens whose parents old lifeguards to the board members.
tell family stories at din-
A C C O U N TA B I L I T Y — Staff checked in at every meeting to report the number of children
ner report higher self-
esteem and better peer
they had greeted that day and the quality of the responses they got.
relations through adoles- C U R R I C U L U M — New asset-infused games were developed and assets were inserted into
cence (Emory University). existing activities, such as daily “Cabin Time.”
• Teens who eat five or
E V A L U AT I O N — Camp staff worked with Search Institute to develop simple evaluation forms
more family dinners a
such as a short survey, counselor response forms, observation and daily logs, and a follow-up
week are less likely to
smoke, drink, and hang
phone survey.
out with sexually active
friends (National Center
on Addiction and Sub- Juvenile Justice
stance Abuse, Columbia
It might seem more difficult to build assets in programs and settings when youth appear to be
University).
unreachable or are in crisis. But who needs asset building more than young people in crisis?
Chairman and president “They probably don’t have control over their lives,” says writer and curriculum developer Neal
of the National Center on Starkman. “Identifying what they can do as opposed to what they can’t is an important step on
Addiction and Substance
the road to building those assets. What better haven in a crisis than the ability and confidence to
Abuse, Joseph A. Califano
rely on your own strengths?”
Jr., cited family dinners as
Michael Clark agrees. A former juvenile probation officer, Clark now runs the Center for
better than any law or pun-
ishments, saying, “Parental
Strength-Based Strategies, which promotes strength-based practices across all helping profes-
engagement is a critical sions through training and technical assistance. “When we use asset-building approaches in
weapon in the fight against child welfare, juvenile delinquency, or adolescent substance abuse work, we still try to resolve
substance abuse.” problems just like any other approach, but instead of fixating on problems and failure, we focus

10
on the hopes, dreams, proclivities, wants, desires, and talents of those who are troubled,” says
Clark. Some of Clark’s suggestions:

C H A N G E F O C U S — Incorporate asset assessment in intakes and interviews to help map out

a path for change; ask young people to identify their strengths as well as their dreams, then help
them achieve them.

I N C L U D E F A M I LY — Staff should share the “expert” role with youth and family. Find Out More
F I N D O U T W H AT ’ S W O R K E D — Asking youth about what has helped and not helped will Pioneer Camp
give you lots of useful information. pioneercamp.org

Clark also advocates quickly checking in with youth after every conversation to see if they feel
they’re being listened to, that issues discussed were important to them, and if they liked what they
did that day. The advantage: staff can quickly assess if there’s a relationship problem and fix it.

Health
Several programs are getting good results in promoting healthy teen relationships using Devel-
opmental Assets in their curricula as well as in how they deliver their programs.
The Arizona-based nonprofit Peer Solutions concentrates on uniting schools, families, and
communities to reduce harmful behaviors. One of the chief aims of its Stand & Serve program is
reducing sexual, dating, family, and gang violence. The program concentrates on building several
Find Out More
asset areas—respect, communication, responsibility, social competencies—to achieve its goals.
Center for Strength-Based
A key to the program’s success so far is the leadership roles played by youth who deliver the
Strategies
program to their peers through:
buildmotivation.com
• Weekly meetings with discussions and projects at high schools before school, during
lunch, and after school

• Weekly peer education workshops at middle schools after school

• Monthly training; peer mentor projects with elementary students; and school, family, and
community awareness and resource referral campaigns

A sample of evaluation results from participants showed that the program improves youths’ under-
standing of violence, their respect for others, and their ability to resolve conflict and help others.
The Virginia-based Teens Against Sexual Assault (TASA) program is a volunteer group that
educates communities about healthy relationships and works to stop dating violence and sexual
assault. Teens designed their own peer education manual and brochures, including quizzes for
males and females called “How healthy is your relationship?” Teachers support the program by
letting teens have time away from school to give presentations, and adults involved in supporting Find Out More
the teen educators say evaluations are better and volunteer recruitment is higher when teens Both of these programs
are running the show. Why? Students who can answer questions more candidly from their own are described in Moving
experiences with the issues are seen as live resources in their schools. Said one teen about Upstream, Virginia’s
what she learned from her peers, “It makes the information seem more real.” Newsletter for the Primary
Prevention of Sexual &
Intimate Partner Violence.
vsdvalliance.org

11
Engage Adults
What This Means
Engage adults from all walks of life to develop sustained, strength-building relationships with
children and adolescents, both within families and in neighborhoods.

The Goal
Build as many relationships between youth and positive adults as possible.

elationships of all kinds provide the energy that animates the Developmental Assets
framework. The power of every single one of the 40 assets is enhanced when you make
building relationships an essential ingredient of your work. Search Institute president Peter Ben-
son writes in All Kids Are Our Kids, “Of all the assets, it may well be that adult relationships—
particularly for teenagers—generate more asset-building energy than any other developmental
resource.” Here’s what research tells us are the benefits:

• Supportive relationships with adults erect a protective buffer against risk behaviors.

• Relationships become more powerful the longer they’re sustained.

• The more relationships youth have with positive adults, the better.

Let’s look at some activities you can use to engage more adults in asset building and
strengthen your prevention strategies.

SCHOOLS
When St. Louis Park High School in Minnesota decided to tackle alarming increases in 9th-grade
truancy, academic failure, and alcohol and other drug use, staff concentrated on integrating the
asset categories proven to help reduce risky behaviors as well as promote thriving interactions.
The 9th-grade program that emerged focused on bolstering Support, Boundaries and Expecta-
tions, Social Competencies, and Positive Identity asset categories.
The main vehicle for delivering the risk prevention program was an emphasis on relationship
building between all incoming 9th graders and positive adult role models. To do this, a federal
three-year State Incentive Grant (SIG) was used to:

12
I N C R E A S E T I M E — Class sizes were reduced and core subjects reorganized into longer
blocks so teachers could have more sustained time with students.

I N C R E A S E C O N N E C T I O N S — Staff met with every incoming 9th grader to get acquainted.

A simple “strengths and needs” assessment was done with each student, focusing on activities
they were interested in doing while in high school. Staff made sure every student got connected
to his or her desired activities.
Find Out More
I N C R E A S E S K I L L S — A new curriculum called “I Time” was developed to help build com-
For a complete set of logic
munication skills and social competencies. For 30 minutes every week, teachers and students
models, process, and sum-
participated in team-building activities. Teachers received training in the new curriculum. mative evaluation reports
I N C R E A S E S U P P O R T — Staff teams consisting of administrators, counselors, and teachers on the St. Louis Park
met weekly to discuss each 9th-grade student and focus on those needing additional support. 9th-grade program, go
to cehd.umn.edu/CAREI/
Parents were also encouraged to become more positively involved with the school.
reports/sig, click on Evalu-
The program documented gains by the end of its first year, including upticks in areas of ation Plans and Grantee
academic and social competence due, in part, to additional resources that allowed support staff Reports on the left side of
to work with students of greatest need while freeing teachers to focus on the remaining majority the page, then scroll down
of students. The project’s regular meetings gave school staff, administrators, the student as- to St. Louis Park.
sistance team, project coordinator, and teachers a way to deal with crises and challenges for
students as they occurred. Because of the positive trend in results the first year—and because
teachers viewed the project as responsive to their concerns about 9th graders—teachers start-
ed lobbying the school board right away (successfully) for funding to keep the program going
when the federal grant ran out.

YOUTH-SERVING ORGANIZATIONS
Youth-serving organizations have a unique opportunity to “up the asset ante.” First, there’s ample
evidence to back up the claim that youth involvement in programs reduces the chances they’ll
engage in risky behaviors. Second, program staff have a number of opportunities to develop
positive relationships with all kinds of young people of different ages and backgrounds. Third,
youth-serving programs can also recruit other adults to participate as volunteers, creating the
potential for young people to develop still more much-needed relationships.
Here are some ideas to help you multiply the benefits of adult-youth relationships in your
organizations:

P R O V I D E L E A D E R S H I P I N S M A L L A N D B I G W A Y S — Search Institute findings re-

ported in “Sorting Out What Makes a Difference” identify the importance of working with staff to
ensure that youth get a variety of opportunities to make decisions within youth programs. Helping
youth feel more comfortable accomplishing small tasks increases a sense of connection to the
organization as they grow up and develop more leadership skills.

M A K E I T E A S Y F O R O T H E R A D U L T S T O G E T I N V O L V E D — In a U.S. study called

Grading Grownups, adults identified actions they believed were important to take with youth,
such as having meaningful conversations or teaching respect for cultural differences. However,
many also reported their reluctance to do these things, leaving a big gap between what adults

13
 said and what they actually did. You can offer adult volunteers the chance to act on their beliefs
by inviting them to engage with youth in your programs, and ease the process by assigning spe-
cific tasks with clear expectations.

FAMILY-SERVING ORGANIZATIONS
Many family-serving organizations have successfully engaged parents and other adults by show-
ing the natural connections between assets and different cultures. For example, native communi-
ties throughout Alaska contributed hundreds of village-specific ideas to the book Helping Kids
Succeed: Alaskan Style.
Volunteers in Colorado work with Spanish-speaking parents, using the proverbs they grew
up with, known as dichos, to help them make the cultural connection to the asset framework.
“Once parents begin to see that their own parents and grandparents transmitted similar asset
messages from one generation to another through dichos, they begin to understand the process
and importance of intentionally building assets in their families, schools, and communities,” says
Patsy Roybal of the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition.
Find Out More Roybal and others use dichos as the basis for:
Colorado Statewide Parent B U I L D I N G A W E B O F S U P P O R T — Parents are led through an exercise to identify not
Coalition only what they will do to help ensure that every student in their school will experience success,
coparentcoalition.org but what other parents, staff, and community members can do, too.

C R E AT I V E LY S H A R I N G T H E A S S E T M E S S A G E — A group of Spanish-speaking
moms called Flores índigenas formed around the idea of sharing dichos in a bilingual presenta-
tion that incorporates song, dance, stories, and narration. Children dance with their parents
during the presentation, which features authentic Mexican dresses on which the eight asset cat-
egories are artistically portrayed and linked to dichos to help participants make the cultural con-
nection. For example, the Positive Values category is promoted through the dicho “Live in such a
way that when your children think of justice, love, and integrity, they will think of you.”

JUVENILE JUSTICE
The YMCA in Victoria, Australia, runs several Y programs seven days a week inside juvenile
justice centers. The Visiting Community Group program helps young people in custody prepare
gradually for a return to community life through regular contact with positive adult role models.
Community volunteers are invited to play team games with youth.
The program as originally conceived had been viewed as a success, but staff thought apply-
ing assets more intentionally would improve its outcomes. In particular, they realized that there
wasn’t much interaction going on between visitors and youth once games were done. Here’s
how they tweaked the program:

• A young person was selected to be a team representative to welcome visitors.

• The sports teams were mixed up so youth and adults were playing together.

• A social element with drinks and snacks was added at the end of the game.

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 • After each visit, different young people got the chance to thank visitors.

• Community teams were invited to visit several times in succession.

Says Sherilyn Hanson, the Y’s Youth Justice and Forensics director, “To see a young person
with not much confidence thank a team of volunteers for making the effort to come and visit
them—and invite them back again—was really a joyful experience.” Hanson reports that inten-
tionally adding assets has not only benefited youth but also given the program more asset-rich
material to use in reports and grant applications.

HEALTH
One prevention program has found great success combating childhood obesity by making par-
ticipation as easy as possible for adults and children. The Tennessee Governor’s Council on
Physical Fitness and Health, the Tennessee Department of Health, and BlueCross BlueShield of
Tennessee have teamed up to create BlueCross Walking Works for Schools, a program to en-
courage physical activity in elementary schools.
The program requires teachers to incorporate a minimum of five minutes of walking into
each school day for a period of 12 weeks each semester. The teachers get basic materials to
make it easier for them to participate such as pedometers to record the number of steps taken,
tracking posters that chart class progress, information packets, and wristbands and achieve-
ment certificates to increase excitement and participation. Schools that reach a certain level of
involvement receive recognition and big banners to display. Here are some of the key findings
from evaluation of the program’s first two years:

S I M P L I C I T Y A S T H E C O R E A P P E A L — The program set realistic goals for teachers

and students of just five minutes of walking every day. Teachers were only asked to complete a
10-question survey every 12 weeks and materials they needed to promote the program were eas-
ily accessible on a Web site (walkingworksforschoolstn.com). Simplicity has also made replica-
tion and sustainability easier.

C O L L A B O R AT I O N C R E AT E D A B E T T E R P R O G R A M — The initial partnership be- Find Out More

tween the state, schools, and BlueCross BlueShield attracted other partners such as the state’s This and other programs
Department of Education as well as university and corporate interests that all added elements are described in the online
to the program’s success. The Department of Education’s contacts and credibility, for example, report Childhood Obesity:
helped gain wider access to more schools for better implementation. Harnessing the Power of
Public and Private Partner-
ships, available at nihcm.
Evaluations gathered from participating teachers in the first year showed improved classroom
org/pdf/FINAL_report_CDC_
behavior, improved attention span, increased energy levels, improved learning readiness, in-
CO.pdf.
creased physical endurance, and some weight loss.

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Mobilize Young People
What This Means
Mobilize young people to use their power as asset builders and change agents.

The Goal
Increase youth voice and engagement in every aspect of your work.

veryone wants to feel valued and valuable. Too often, however, young people are identified
as problems. Program funders or other stakeholders frequently require program designs
and reports to have a deficit focus, forcing even well-intentioned programs to concentrate pri-
marily on risk behaviors or “fixing” youth. But many deficit-focused prevention programs have
designed ways to use asset building to reduce risk while also increasing protective factors. One
powerful strategy for accomplishing this task is to find as many ways as possible to increase
youth voice and involvement in every aspect of your work.
Developmental psychologist Peter Scales, Ph.D., has examined youth engagement issues in
numerous studies for Search Institute, concluding that Empowerment and Social Competencies
categories are optimal targets for increasing assets in young adolescents. “Many young ado-
lescents want, and are ready for, more responsibility and chances to play meaningful roles but
don’t get enough opportunities,” writes Scales. Show young people their value by providing them
opportunities to:

• Make decisions and help set rules

• Govern themselves

• Resolve conflicts through peer mediation

• Develop their own initiatives with peers and other adults for solving school or community
problems

• Ensure they have opportunities to serve others

Here are some strategies for mobilizing and engaging young people in your prevention efforts.

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SCHOOLS
In a study done by the U.S. government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin-
istration (SAMHSA) that examined the connection between youth activities, substance use, and
family income, some interesting findings emerged:

• More than 92 percent of surveyed youth ages 12 to 17 reported participation in one or

more activities through their school, community, or faith-based organization. Involving
• Regardless of family income, the greater the number of activities in which youth were
Ethnically
involved, the lower the rate of reported cigarette, alcohol, or other drug use. Diverse Youth
Consider these principles
It’s clear that involvement in lots of different activities has a positive effect on youth. Schools can from Assets for Colorado
power-pack their activities with some of these asset-building extras: Youth (ACY) when engaging
ethnically diverse youth:
I N C L U D E C H I L D R E N I N P A R E N T- T E A C H E R C O N F E R E N C E S — Elementary
1. Culture influences be-
school teachers using this strategy in Malverne, New York, and Chula Vista, California, report
havior, but it doesn’t de-
that children are more accountable for their behavior, and parents are more connected to their termine behavior. While
child’s school. The Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships found that parents are there are shared qualities
more likely to attend school conferences if their children have to come, and young people also and experiences within
benefit from the goal-setting that takes place. ethnic groups, it’s impor-
tant to remember there
P U T T H E M I N C H A R G E — The Teen Center in Essex, Vermont, is run by teens who develop
is also diversity within
the programs, oversee the budget, and hire (and fire) staff. Two school-centered youth governing
ethnic groups.
boards are in charge of the center—one at the high school level and a second one at the middle
2. Relationships are key.
school level, which also acts as a training ground. Adults are involved as trusted advisors. Young
People change people.
people gain confidence and learn to lead on the job, as well as discover new talents in them-
Strength-based relation-
selves that influence positive life choices.
ships provide a platform
C H A N G E P E R S P E C T I V E O N M E N T O R I N G — Many successful programs connect for skill development,
youth with adult mentors, but young people themselves are an untapped resource when it behavioral change, and
comes to mentoring. Schools have experienced success when youth run homework clubs for informed decision making.
elementary-age children and help senior citizens learn how to use e-mail and the Internet. These 3. Culture influences
activities have changed adult and youth perceptions of youth. worldview. This is true
for providers as well
G O O U T A N D TA L K T O Y O U T H — One high school principal invited a group of youth out
as participants. Youth
for coffee and asked what it would take to get them involved in an activity. Reluctant at first, the (and adults) may not be
teens eventually entered the conversation and defined their own mentoring program, backed by able to articulate the
the school, that involved ski trips and learning how to install car stereos from local adults. The influences of culture,
program increased connections with previously unconnected youth, leading to new opportunities but that doesn’t mean it
for their growth. should be ignored. Nam-
ing and sharing cultural
experiences allows for
YOUTH-SERVING ORGANIZATIONS worldviews to be more
meaningfully understood.
Sometimes there are barriers to developing meaningful youth-adult relationships. Both youth and
adults can have preconceived notions about each other or have difficulty understanding each
other’s language or views. Often, youth and adults share the same concerns, but those concerns
might be defined a bit differently. Here are some ideas to help you better engage youth:

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