The YMCA's approach to programs is to help create better people. This does not happen by accident. Great effort is placed on building programs that build people. The way we measure this is through "Developmental Assets."
Developmental Assets
Essential Building Blocks of Human Development
What do young people need to succeed? Research by Minneapolis-based Search Institute has found 40 key factors called "developmental assets" that have a great influence on young people's lives. These developmental assets provide the foundation for the Abundant Assets Alliance. This is a partnership between the YMCAs in the USA and the Search Institute. The YMCA in Tucson celebrates this partnership and embeds its concepts in all of our programs. We also hope to share our successes with other organizations within Southern Arizona.
What Are Developmental Assets?
In an effort to identify the elements of a strength-based approach to healthy development, Search Institute developed the framework of developmental assets. This framework identifies 40 critical factors for young people's growth and development. When drawn together, the assets offer a set of benchmarks for positive child and 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. They provide a powerful framework and lense for how YMCAs engage with children, youth, families, and communities.
External Assets
The first 20 developmental assets focus on positive experiences that young people receive from the people and institutions in their lives. Four categories of external assets are included in the framework:
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Support-Young people need to experience support, care, and love from their families, neighbors, and many others. They need organizations and institutions that provide positive, supportive environments.
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Empowerment-Young people need to be valued by their community and have opportunities to contribute to others. For this to occur, they must be safe and feel secure.
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Boundaries and expectations-Young people need to know what is expected of them and whether activities and behaviors are "in bounds" and "out of bounds."
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Constructive use of time-Young people need constructive, enriching opportunities for growth through creative activities, youth programs, congregational involvement, and quality time at home.
Internal Assets
A community's or YMCA's responsibility for its young does not end with the provision of external assets. There needs to be a similar commitment to nurturing the internal qualities that guide choices and create a sense of centeredness, purpose, and focus. Four categories of internal assets are included in the framework:
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Commitment to learning-Young people need to develop a lifelong commitment to education and learning.
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Positive values-Youth need to develop strong values that guide their choices.
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Social competencies-Young people need skills and competencies that equip them to make positive choices, to build relationships, and to succeed in life.
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Positive identity-Young people need a strong sense of their own power, purpose, worth, and promise.
What Are Assets for All Ages of Children and Youth?
Since 1989, Search Institute has measured developmental assets in almost 2 million 6th to 12th graders in communities across the United States. In addition, the institute has blended the literature on child development with the framework of assets for adolescents to identify parallel, developmentally appropriate sets of assets for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary-age children. The institute is launching new, long-term research efforts to refine, measure, and test the asset frameworks for children of all ages.
Drawn together, the five lists of age-specific assets offer a vision for a foundation of developmental assets through the first two decades of life. Here are the lists for each age group:
