The Assets Community Team welcomes you to

a Community Conversation on

What Do Young PeopleNeed to Thrive?

Middletown, ConnecticutApril 26, 2007

Middletown High School

Purpose of Tonight’s Community Conversation

Tonight we will discuss 40 building blocks that help children

thrive and grow up well called Developmental Assets.

We will talk throughyour ideas about:

• What are the key building blocks critical for youth to grow up well?

• What should be the role for schools, families and the broader community in fostering an environment that promotes and supports developmental assets?

• What can we do as individuals and organizations?

External Assets

• Support• Empowerment• Boundaries &

Expectations• Constructive use of

Time

Internal Assets

• Commitment to Learning

• Positive Values• Social

Competencies• Positive Identity

The Community has a stake in promoting Developmental Assets

• ASSETS simply stated - the more, the better.• All young people need assets.• Everyone can build assets.• It’s an ongoing process.• Relationships are key.• Consistent messages about what is important.• Redundancy - young people hear the same

messages and feel support over and over again from many different people.

Youth thrive - achieve success -when they have more Developmental Assets

What Do Young PeopleNeed to Thrive?

Tonight’s Question

A framework to help guide our discussion

A. Publicly promote community institutions such as schools, libraries, faith communities, social services, civic and business organizations that support positive youth development through developmental assets.

B. Raising children is a family responsibility that reflects their own values and culture.

C. While most children are doing well, some children are not. Community efforts should focus on identifying at-risk youth and developing special services to help those children.

Why are we discussing Developmental Assets?

• Communities do better at helping children grow up well when they discuss and adopt a common belief for youth development.

• Focusing on the assets and resources of people and places can impact people’s health, help children grow up well and contribute to sustained change rather than focusing on problems and symptoms.

A. Publicly promote community institutions such as schools, libraries, faith communities, social services, civic and business organizations that support positive youth development through

developmental assets. • Middletown has an array of institutions and organizations for

youth and families.

• A focus on youth-serving organizations will strengthen the quality of services and reach more families.

• This approach is most likely to find children who would be overlooked by narrowly focused programs for “at-risk youth.”

• Sixty percent (60%) of young people spend three or more hours per week in sports, clubs, or organizations at school and/or community organizations (Asset #18).

• Nineteen percent (19%) of young people perceive that adults in the community value youth (Asset #7).

A

B. Raising children is a family responsibility that reflects their own values and culture.

• Families are provided opportunities to connect to the community in their own language.

• Families are given as many resources and as much information as possible to help them raise their children.

• This approach allows families to set boundaries and expectations for their children that reflect their own standards.

• Sixty-eight percent (68%) of youth perceive a high level of family support (Asset #1).

• Twenty-six percent (26%) of youth perceive that a young person and his or her parent(s) communicate positively and a young person is willing to seek advice and counsel from parent(s) (Asset #2).

B

C. While most children are doing well, some children are not.  Community efforts should focus on identifying at-risk youth and developing special services to help

those children.  • The community offers school readiness and full day kindergarten programs for at-risk children.

• The community provides afterschool programs to support positive youth activities during out-of-school time.

• Narrowly focused programs can better target the population of youth that is most at-risk.

• Seventy-four percent (74%) of young people are optimistic about his or her personal future (Asset #40).

• Twenty-eight percent (28%) of young people know how to plan ahead and make choices (Asset #32).

C

A – B – C: Making ChoicesThese strategies are not mutually exclusive and may overlap……..

• Which strategies are most effective?• Which strategies are best for children and

their families?• What are the most important building blocks

for our community to focus on?• How will your discussion about the three

choices relate to the perception of youth and the assets that support them to thrive in Middletown?

Finally, Our Thanks to… The Mayor, Superintendent, Common Council, and Board of Education Middlesex United Way League of Women Voters State Department of Education School-Family-Community Partnerships Middletown Youth Services Bureau Royal Printing Middletown Transit District Green Street Arts Center for videotaping Balloon Express Our registration assistant Jeffrey LaGrange The high school custodial staff YMCA, Vinnie’s Jump ‘N’ Jive, and Oddfellows Our Planning Committee for organizing the Conversations!!!

• All of you for coming tonight!