FYI will be sponsoring an event this April on the 40 Developmental Assets. It will focus on five aspects of Developmental Assets, Search Institute’s research-based framework of building blocks of development that help youth be competent, caring, and responsible.  The assets, 40 common sense, positive experiences and qualities, help influence choices young people make and help them become asset builders for themselves and for their communities.

In this informational and interactive session, participants will (1) learn a positive youth development model through research findings from more than 3 million young people; (2) discover their own experience of Developmental Assets in their personal, organizational, and community life; (3) review the relevance of this framework to the For Youth Initiative in Toronto neighborhoods where they work; (4) identify steps for infusing the assets approach into ongoing programs; (5) become acquainted with an evaluation tool, the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP), a short, effective Search Institute survey for assessing program effectiveness. 

April 5^th (Full-Day)

Research Findings

In contrast to problem-focused approaches to helping young people develop, assets approach studies show that the more assets young people have, the less likely they are to engage in a wide range of high-risk behaviors and the more likely they are to thrive.  Assets have power for all young people, regardless of their gender, economic status, family, or race/ethnicity, and are better predictors of high-risk involvement and thriving than poverty or being from a single-parent family.

Experience

Participants will identify their implicit knowledge of the assets from the perspective of positive influences during their growing up years; assets that are explicit within the mission and goals of their organizations or systems; and their own capacity as asset builders for youth.

Relevance

Because of its basis in youth development, resiliency, and prevention research and its proven effectiveness, the Developmental Assets framework has become one of the most widely used approaches to positive youth development in the United States and abroad, including many communities in Canada  This approach has been found useful among community and religious leaders, educators, parents, youth, business representatives, health care leaders, tribal leaders, law enforcement personnel, government policy makers, and youth workers. 

Infusing Assets into Our Organization

When organizations more fully incorporate strength-based approaches to intentionally build assets in young people, the organization and individuals become more skilled in identifying young people’s strengths and building on them.  During the “infusing assets” retreat, participants assess their current organizational realities around youth development, become familiar with the impact of a change process, and create a strength-based plan.  Organizational teams will consider multi-faceted dimensions of creating an intentionally asset-rich organization, identify starting points with high likelihood for success, and prepare action plans that move beyond “assets” as a term, toward assets as a way of life.

April 6^th (Half-Day)

Assessing Outcomes—the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP)

Search Institute has created a short assets survey that is quickly administered and scored.  The DAP measures the youths’ perceptions of their experience of the eight asset categories. Those categories are Support, Empowerment, Boundaries and Expectations, Constructive Use of Time, Commitment to Learning, Positive Values, Social Competencies, and Positive Identity.  The data can also be scored within five context areas, so you can learn how your young people are faring personally, socially, and within the family, school, and community contexts. 

Search Institute has established qualifications guidelines for users of the DAP.  During the add-on half-day training, participants will be introduced in depth to the DAP, experience it, learn about its administration and interpretation, and identify the ways in which it could be most helpful in their organizational setting. This half-day training would be of interest to organizations who are looking to implement outcomes-based programming or would like more information about measuring the Developmental Assets.   

40 Developmental Assets_Training _Flyer

Please register at: http://fyi40assets.eventbrite.com

 For More Information Please Contact: Haniyyah Ali at getinvolved@foryouth.ca

Costs include all training materials and meals during the event.

Participants will receive an information package with more details prior to the event.