Findings, Solutions on Teen Mental Health Presented to Council

Monday evening Project Safety Net took a field trip to visit the City Council meeting and share our work on the Developmental Assets Initiative.  Developmental Assets team members Ray Bacchetti, Scott Glissmeyer, Sally Bemus, Micaela Presti, Rob De Geus and I waved our banners literally and figuratively.  The councilmembers were attentive, appreciative and asked good questions. 

We had a five minute slot (that ran 20 minutes).  We struggled with how to cover many months’ worth of work on such an important topic in five minutes.  Here’s what we said:

Project Safety Net Refresher

PSN was formed in 2009 in response to our tragic teen suicide cluster. The PSN plan reflects the crisis and our immediate response to keeping our kids safe. While dealing with youth at risk the team also wanted to find ways to create a community that nurtures youth.  The team’s research and discussion led to the Developmental Assets framework. 

The 41 Developmental Assets

The Search Institute in Minnesota has done research around what makes kids more likely to thrive.  This research led to a list of 41 Developmental Assets that are highly correlated with thriving youth. Developmental assets are the positive values, relationships, and experiences that youth need to thrive. Youth with low asset levels are more likely to engage in risky behaviors and fail to achieve at school. Youth with high asset levels are more likely to choose healthy activities, succeed in school, and avoid risky behaviors.  Put simply, “More Assets ==> More thriving.”

Survey

In 2010 to get a snapshot of the current asset levels of our youth. 

All grades surveyed, average assets levels were Adequate, except 11th graders, who dipped into the Vulnerable range.

For all students:  60% were adequate or thriving; 40% were vulnerable or at risk (with 5% at risk)

Good news

>2/3 of our youth report positively on family support, youth programs, positive peer influence, bonding to school and integrity. 

Not so good news

<1/2 of our secondary school students believe they live in a caring neighborhood,

Only 22% of high schoolers think the community values youth

13% of high schoolers have felt sad or depressed most or all of the time in the last month. 

See more about the results here.

The Way Forward

PSN partners are activated.

• Each school has its data and a school climate committee (or similar) to address weaknesses and fortify strengths.  This work has been going on for months and the feeling on the campuses is markedly more positive. 
• The City has taken the Developmental Assets framework to heart by embedding it in the work done that touches youth. 
• Other Project Safety Net partners are also embracing the framework and it’s becoming part of our language and landscape. 

PAUSD reaches 12,000 students; the City reaches thousands of youth. The Developmental Assets team is tasked with reaching the rest of us that make up the 60,000 citizens of Palo Alto. So after focusing on getting the survey administered and the data analyzed we turned to the aforementioned partners to get the hard work started.

To Engage the Community We Have

• Launched the Asset of the Month campaign to raise awareness.  (Banners promoting asset building can be seen around the city.)
• We recently brought Clay Roberts, a wonderful trainer, to Palo Alto to train and inspire community leaders, middle school staff at all three public middle schools and parents. 
• We are in the process of sending out our elected officials to help spread the word and gain commitment from the wider community.

Up Next

The team is taking the next steps on deciding which assets we will address community-wide.

Many organizations are concentrating on assets that they can affect but some assets require a community-wide effort (e.g. Caring Neighborhood, Adult Role Models).    The Developmental Assets team will identify the assets not yet being addressed by others and work with the community to build those assets.

So there, in about five minutes, is what we’ve been devoting many hours to over these last many months.  The councilmembers were engaged and seemed grateful for our work and our coming to share it with them.

Councilmember Price commented on Asset #41 Positive Cultural Identity and on the difficulty of knowing the subtleties of understanding when teens need to pull away being at risk of diminishing assets.  Councilmember Scharff commented on the surprising number of teens who are depressed and asked what else is being done. (Answer = two examples are more support at the schools through the 3-6-9 referral program, teaching the students about identifying and talking about depression, doing gatekeeper training for the secondary staff and city employees who deal with youth.)  Other councilmembers thanked us and commented on the importance of this being a community effort and not just a city effort. 

All in all, it was great outing.