The Cornerstone Youth Center believes in Positive Youth Development, which is an approach that focuses on young people's strengths rather than their weaknesses. Many adults tend to view youth as problems to be solved, rather than as assets who can contribute much to their communities. The term youth development often refers to a specific approach to working with young people in which youth are actively engaged in their own development and are positively involved in their communities. Community organizations and programs that use this approach create environments in which young people thrive.

To include Postive Youth Development in our programming, Cornerstone uses two models as researched by experts in the field to plan and impliment programming: Asset Building and the Eight Features of Daily Developmental Settings. The first, Asset Building, is an approach studied extensively by the Search Institute, a nonprofit, independent research organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Started in 1990, it identified 40 concrete, positive experiences and qualities, or Developmental Assets, youth need most to succeed in life. Some of these assets were found to be external, coming from the family, community, and school. Other assets were found to be internal, what the youth need to look at themselves as valued people in society.

Some basic conclusions of the study include:

• The more assets youth have, the more they will demonstrate positive behavior, such as academic success, appreciation of diversity, and good health practices.
• The more assets youth have, the less they will engage in high-risk behavior, such as alcohol and drug use, sexual activity, and violence.
• Youth who possess 31 or more of the 40 assets are six times more likely to succeed in school, twice as likely to be a leader, and three and a half times more likely to maintain good physical health.

Our second model behind programming uses the Eight Features of Daily Developmental Settings as researched by Jacquelyn Eccles and Jennifer Appleton, captured in their report, Community Programs to Promote Youth Development. The research emphasizes that although they describe these as features of settings, this is really shorthand for saying that they are features of the person's interaction with the setting. It is the experience of the adolescent in the setting, the process of interaction, that is critical to development. When adolescents walk in the door of Cornerstone, it is not what they see that is important, but rather it is how they become engaged. This opportunity for engagement is where youth development and the assets are strengthened.

Some basic conclusion of their report are:

• Community programs can expand the opportunities for youth to acquire personal and social assets and to experience the broad range of features of positive developmental settings.
• Adolescents who spend time in communities that are rich in developmental opportunities for them, experience less risk and show evidence of higher raters of positive development. A diversity of program opportunities in each community is more likely to support broad adolescent development and attract the interest of and meet the needs of a greater number of youth.

The Eight Features of Daily Developmental Settings

• Physical and Psychological Safety
• Appropriate Structure
• Supportive Relationships
• Opportunities to Belong
• Positive Social Norms
• Support for Efficacy and Mattering
• Opportunities for Skill Building
• Integration of Family, School, and Community Efforts

The Forty Developmental Assets
External Assets
Support

• Family Support
• Positive family communication
• Other adult relationships
• Caring neighborhood
• Caring school climate
• Parent involvement in schooling

Empowerment

• Community values youth
• Youth as resources
• Service to others
• Safety

Boundaries and Expectations

• Family boundaries
• School boundaries
• Neighborhood boundaries
• Adult role models
• Positive peer influence
• High Expectations

Constructive Use of Time

• Creative activities
• Youth programs
• Religious community
• Time at home

Internal Assets
Commitment to Learning

• Achievement motivation
• School engagement
• Homework
• Bonding to school
• Reading for pleasure

Positive Values

• Caring
• Equality and social justice
• Integrity
• Honesty
• Responsibility
• Restraint

Social Competencies

• Planning and decision making
• Interpersonal competence
• Cultural competence
• Resistance skills
• Peaceful conflict resolution

Positive Identity

• Personal power
• Self-esteem
• Sense of purpose
• Positive view of personal future

To learn more about the Forty Developmental Assets, visit the Seach Institute's Website at www.search-institute.org/assets

(The complete listing of the assets and an explanation of each, can be found here)