Using the assets model to understand adolescent development
Abstract
The Paso del Norte Assets for Youth AmeriCorps program provides youth, ages 12 to 18, of El Paso, Texas, with positive influences and activities based on the 40 developmental assets framework identified by the Search Institute. This effective practice was highlighted in the National Service News , Issue No. 140, September 3, 2001, published by the Corporation for National and Community Service.Issue
The Search Institute identified 40 developmental assets that act as powerful positive influences on adolescent behavior. This power is evident across all cultural and socioeconomic groups of youth. Yet too few young people are exposed to the basic building blocks of healthy development. According to research conducted by the Search Institute, 62 percent of youth in the United States experience fewer than half of the 40 recommended developmental assets.Action
In an effort to identify the elements of a strength-based approach to healthy development, the Search Institute designed the framework of developmental assets. When drawn together, the assets offer a set of benchmarks for positive adolescent development. The assets clearly show important roles that families, schools, congregations, neighborhoods, youth organizations, and others in communities play in shaping young people's lives.
Paso del Norte Assets for Youth AmeriCorps is based on the developmental model advanced by the Search Institute. The program credits its success to the active and inclusive participation of community stakeholders, among them the University of Texas at El Paso, the Paso del Norte Health Foundation, local neighborhood Action for Youth partnership sites and community youth. Approximately 138 AmeriCorps members, in addition to community volunteers, now serve as mentors, tutors, coaches, and friends in response to these and other indicators of youth in crisis.
In East El Paso, AmeriCorps members are involved in an existing tattoo removal and violence prevention program and at the Wayside Cafe, a restaurant run by and for local high school students, where teens have a safe place to get together. AmeriCorps staff and supervisors helped the Action for Youth Regional Youth Council stage a youth driven Jamfest: "Got Assets" event that drew 4,000 area youth to participate in basketball, skateboarding, music, graffiti art and break dancing contests. In the neighboring community, Ysleta, AmeriCorps members are working closely with the Ysleta Area Action for Youth partnership to develop parents' groups aimed at building and sustaining relationships between parents and teens based on the assets model. Local schools, churches, and non-profit and community organizations are involved. Finally, young people are giving back through service: 58 Summer Only AmeriCorps members, ages 16-18, served their El Paso communities in the summer of 2001.
Context
The Paso del Norte Assets for Youth AmeriCorps program at the University of Texas at El Paso mentors youth in the El Paso area of western Texas. The program responds to a challenge graphically described in a recent survey of El Paso high school seniors. Of the 308 students surveyed, only 26 percent participated in a club or group, while 28 percent carried a weapon and 23 percent had considered suicide in the past year.
The program has a mix of 42 full-time and 52 part-time AmeriCorps members. Most of the full-time members are parents and local residents who found AmeriCorps service a natural outgrowth of their previous volunteer service, while many part-time members are university students or recent high school graduates who want to give back to the community while developing new skills.
Outcome
An editorial in the El Paso Times (May 18, 2001, Borderland Section) made the following observation, "Serving one's community, especially its young people, is an investment in the future. AmeriCorps members in the El Paso area are providing valuable services, and benefiting from their experiences as well." AmeriCorps member Elsa Amezaga agrees, saying, "It's a great way to give back to the community."Posted On
October 25, 2001Related Practices
Related sites
Search Institute - Developmental Assets