We often say that Developmental Assets can be used by anyone working with youth-but how many times have you seen a group other than a school or a local community initiative working to promote the assets? ActingOut, a New Hampshire improvisational theater group, provides a great example of how to integrate Developmental Assets into a program outside of the typical setting.
According to the program’s Web site, ActingOut’s mission “is to cultivate resiliency, social skills and healthy development in youth through theater training.” By offering both after-school and in-school programs that address issues such as relationships, school, peers, and substance abuse, ActingOut seeks to encourage resiliency, social skills, and overall healthy development of youth.
Monadnock Family Services, the parent organization of ActingOut, has begun integrating the Developmental Assets into the theater program in an effort to familiarize program staff with positive youth development and prevention practices. “Being able to more fully describe what it is we do with the language of the 40 assets has been very helpful in terms of getting artists to understand prevention-speak in a more approachable language,” says Jodi Clark, Assistant Director of Youth Initiatives of Monadnock Family Resource Center & Prevention & Community Outreach Services and ActingOut coordinator.
Clark also says that using the language of the Developmental Assets has enabled Monadnock Family Services “to more fully describe the impact of the programming [and] the protective factors we build.” The ability to articulate these protective factors is crucial in ActingOut’s quest to measure the outcomes created by their program, a necessary step in finding funding. Without being able to prove that the program makes a positive difference in the lives of youth, it would be difficult to find organizations willing to fund the work of the theater.
“We are using Getting To Outcomes to provide ActingOut … with a way to approach creating a much bigger partnership,” explains Clark, “with another arts organization, our local community health initiative, and local universities.” By uniting all of these organizations around both the Developmental Assets and an outcomes-oriented approach, Monadnock Family Services will be creating a unified group that is dedicated to prevention and positive youth development.
ActingOut is just one of the many youth-serving organizations around the world that is using the Developmental Assets to work with other individuals and programs to create a brighter future for youth in the community. Do you have a story that you’d like to share? We’ve love to hear what your local initiative or organization has done to build assets with kids. Email stories to promisefellow@search-institute.org.
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