Want to know more about the youth development frameworks used in Healthy Communities that Care?
40 Developmental Assets: Based on the research conducted by Search Institute there are 40 positive things that every child needs to lead healthy and successful lives. These assets include personal traits as well as support, empowerment and bonding to community, school and family. This framework encourages communities to come together and promote and foster assets in all youth. The more assets a child has the less likely the are to become involved in antisocial behaviors such as teen pregnancy, school drop out, violence and substance abuse. The average youth has 18 assets. For more information on the 40 developmental Assets click here: http://www.search-institute.org/assets/
Risk and Protective Factor Model/ Communities that Care: This is a system that gives communities the tools to go through a step by step process to engage community leaders, form coalitions, conduct needs and resource assessments and to plan, implement and evaluate effective strategies to promote healthy behaviors in youth. This model uses the public health or community-wide approach to prevention. It utilizes risk and protective factors to involve the entire community in creating strategies that will build positive, healthy futures for their youth. The process involves the following phases:
Phase 1: Getting Started- involved conducting a community readiness assessment and identifying key people in the community that can help lead the process
Phase 2: Organizing, Introducing, Involving- involves building a coalition and building on existing initiatives
Phase 3: Developing a community profile- involves collecting data from youth by using focus groups and surveys, conducting a community resource assessment, and collecting archival data
Phase 4: Creating a community action plan- involves defining measurable outcomes, reviewing effective programs/policies/strategies, creating an action plan and developing an evaluation plan
Phase 5: Implementing and Evaluating the Community Action Plan- involves forming task forces, training implementers, building and sustaining collaborations, developing information and communication systems, educating and involving the entire community, evaluating outcomes and processes, adjusting programming to meet plan goals and CELEBRATING SUCCESSES.
For more information on the Communities that Care Framework and Process click below to view "Investing in Your Community's Youth: An Introduction to the Communities that Care System"
http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/prevline/pdfs/CSAP4P51/CBFM/501968-Investing/501968-C-2C-OT-PH-EG.pdf
America's Promise: Encourages building relationships and collaborations that support providing five fundamental resources to youth; they are: caring adults, safe places, healthy start, effective education and opportunities to serve. For more information click here: http://www.americaspromise.org/
ABCD (Asset-Based Community Development): Community building through encouraging the community to access the communities resources. This is a community development model- not just a youth development model. For more information click here: http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/abcd.html
U.S. Healthy Communities Initiative: This is a community development model- not only focused on youth- that builds communication structures through training community leadership in collaboration. For more information click the link below: http://www.ncl.org/cs/services/healthycommunities.html
Resiliency: Focuses on providing communities with tools to promote resiliency in all youth (the ability to bounce back and successfully adapt to adversity). For more information click here: http://www.resiliency.com/index.htm
For more information on how to use any of these frameworks in your community contact Rachel Pena, HCTC coordinator at (585) 227-0279 or r.pena17@yahoo.com |