Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance launches Got Assets? based on the 40 Developmental Assets model
In the Hopewell Valley, the 40 Developmental Assets are nothing new: way back in 1996, the school district identified the Search Institute’s research-based building blocks as tools that could be used to help the region’s kids do well both in school and at home.
But it wasn’t until November 2013 that a clear picture began emerging that shows how kids are doing in the Valley with regard to the 40 Developmental Assets — where they are strong, and where there may be room for improvement.
To put things into focus, The Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance, with the support of the Board of Education as well as stakeholders throughout the region, administered a survey to more than 700 students in grades 7–12 last spring, and in November they shared the results with the community at large. With an average score across all grade levels of 22.6, Hopewell’s youth are doing well. Scores of 21 or greater generally indicate kids who are thriving in their environment. Those who score 31 or higher are doing still better.
But taken as a region, Hopewell and Pennington could be doing even better, which is why in November, the Alliance also launched its “Got Assets?” initiative, aimed at increasing awareness of the assets and encouraging parents and other caregivers to help the kids of the community thrive while also cutting down on risky behavior.
The mission of Got Assets? is to “infuse the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets framework into our local schools and communities … to encourage leadership, success in school, service to others, and a strong sense of self in our youth.”
For Heidi Kahme, who for the last seven years has served as the coordinator of the Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance, Got Assets? is about the community embracing whatever it is that can be done to make sure its kids are on the right path.
“We wanted to take a positive approach — look at the positive in kids rather than the negative in kids,” she said. “If you know Hopewell, you know we always want to look at the positives. This initiative is a way for us to reinvigorate the asset model.”
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First enumerated by the Minneapolis-based Search Institute in 1991, the 40 Developmental Assets are designed to assess how young people are faring in eight major areas: Support, Empowerment, Boundaries and Expectations, Constructive Use of Time, Commitment to Learning, Positive Values, Social Competencies and Positive Identity.
In each major area there are five assets, and when kids are surveyed, they are asked to choose whether they believe those assets pertain to them or not. Examples of assets would be “Young person perceives that adults in the community value youth” under Empowerment, or “Young person knows how to plan ahead and make choices” under Social Competencies.
Such a data-based approach may not appeal to everyone. But as Kahme says, “We have to accept that the data is the data.” The work Search Institute has done has shown that kids who have higher asset counts tend to engage in fewer risky behaviors than those with lower counts. The Institute has named 24 risky behaviors, ranging from alcohol use and illegal drug use to skipping school to attempting suicide.
In general, the data compiled by Search Institute for kids nationwide corresponds well with what the Hopewell Valley surveys showed. In this area, kids who reported having between 0-10 assets had engaged on average in 6.9 of the risky behaviors on the list. For kids with 11-20 assets the number was 3.7; for 21-30 it was 1.7, and for 31-40 it was 0.4 risky behaviors per child.
As Kahme said, though, the 40 Developmental Assets model looks at the positive as well as the negative side. Search Institute has also identified eight indicators of thriving youth. They are experiencing school success, helping others informally, valuing diversity, maintaining good personal health, exhibiting leadership, resisting danger, controlling impulsive behavior, and overcoming adversity.
Once again, the Hopewell Valley survey revealed that area kids align pretty well with what national studies show. For each group, the thriving indicators rose the more assets kids had. Those who reported 0-10 assets exhibited 2.9 of the 8 thriver indicators. Those with 11-20 assets reported 4.2, those with 21-30 had 5.4, and those with 31-40 had 6.3 of the indicators on average.
The 732 kids who were surveyed represent only a fraction of the community’s youth. But by participating in the survey process, they were able to provide a pretty clear picture of a typical HoVal youngster, which in turn should enable teachers and principals, parents and neighbors, and even the kids themselves to address shortfalls and look to lead more fulfilling lives while engaging in less risky behavior. (The full report is available from the Municipal Alliance.)
Now that the survey results are in, the goal of the Got Assets? initiative in short has to be how to increase overall scores. Because whether one believes that these 40 assets are the most important ones or not, the rise in thriving indicators as one goes up the charts, as well as the drop in risky behaviors, suggests there is something to the system.
One area where the survey can’t help is in identifying individual kids who are in need of assistance. The survey was conducted anonymously, meaning the results do not provide a complete picture of any one child.
“But I think [with the report] if we brought everyone to a better understanding of what our youth are experiencing, it gives us a lens to look through,” Kahme said. “When we learned that certain students might have been depressed, it put the lens on things that made us pause and think through a little more clearly,” Kahme said.
The data did show a slight dip in assets for students at the 10th grade level, and while Kahme is cautious not to read too much into that — since the sample sizes are relatively small — she said it did lead people in the Alliance and in the school district to take a closer look at last year’s 10th graders. They want to try to see if perhaps there are some specific reasons for the blip, or whether it has more to do with ages 15 and 16 being a difficult time for all kids.
Kahme praised superintendent Dr. Tom Smith for his support of the initiative.
“I had my elevator pitch all ready for Dr. Smith, and I sat down and got ready to start my pitch and he’s just, like, ‘We’re doing it.” I said, ‘That’s it? Awesome.’” Smith sent a letter out to parents telling them about the initiative, and he shares one asset a week in a weekly e-newsletter for parents.
The Municipal Alliance was formed in 1996 with a mission of “creating a community united in the development of caring, confident and responsible youth.” The alliance supports and administers more than 20 programs in Hopewell Valley, including the Middle School Peer Leadership Initiative, the Teen Summer Job and Service Fair, youth summits at the middle and high schools and the annual Pennington 5K race.
Kahme coordinates those programs and others on a part-time basis, using an office in the township municipal building. She also has the help of a wide variety of community members, including all three mayors, police chiefs, business leaders and more. There are between 35 and 40 people on the alliance executive committee, which meets five times a year.
Kahme said when Hopewell Valley’s group meets five times a year, she is “awestruck.” She said there are 400 municipal alliances throughout the state, but most are envious of the level of participation in Hopewell Valley.
“Every time I look around the room I say, ‘I can’t believe you people come back month after month,’” she said. “We really have been able to build relationships with one another. I think a lot of that does take place at the Alliance table.”
For more information about the survey results or the Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance, call (609) 737-0120, Ext. 642.
