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Reports and Publications ::
2003 Report
Asset Building in Arlington
In 2000, the Partnership adopted the Assets Approach as the basis for a community plan to invest in the positive growth of our children and teens. Assets are 40 positive experiences and qualities that all young people need to make smart choices and grow up with the skills to be healthy, caring, responsible community members. Decades of research show that, the more assets a young person has, the less likely he/she is to engage in risky, unhealthy behaviors, and the more likely he/she is to thrive. The Partnership continues its work to ensure that the Assets Approach becomes an integral part of our community and the guiding philosophy of all our interactions with children and families.
Working Toward a Culture Shift with Specific Organizations
In 2003, Mary Ann Moran, the Partnership Assets Liaison, made more than 40 assets presentations, reaching over 1500 people. In addition, the Partnership has developed articles on a variety of assets-related topics for organizational and PTA newsletters. We continue to develop and improve the assets information on our website. Our booth at the County Fair presented an opportunity to deliver assets messages to hundreds of young people and adults. The presentations and other outreach efforts reflect our strategy of infusing assets into the fabric of the Arlington community. We are intentionally moving the community, as individuals and institutions, through a process of change that includes:
- Building an awareness of and receptivity to the Assets Approach
- Mobilizing and connecting with others for change
- Providing valid survey data on the level of assets of Arlington youth
- Taking specific actions to build assets
- Sustaining those actions and changes over time
As one would expect, groups and individuals are at various points on this continuum of change. Some of our presentations focus on a basic understanding of assets, as well as our survey results. Other presentations begin with general assets information, but then move to particular issues viewed through an assets lens. Working with Long Branch Elementary School over the past two years, we have developed a model for involving an entire school community with assets, moving from awareness to specific actions taken by families and school staff, to sustaining those actions over time through an assets team.
We continue to work with other groups, including youth leaders in the faith community, who are now collaborating on several asset-building activities. We are also encouraged by the leadership that Arlington Parks and Recreation and Arlington Public Libraries have shown by weaving the assets message into their organizations. As essential youth-serving organizations, their commitment to assets brings us closer to our vision of having every child in Arlington surrounded by caring, supportive adults.
A Community-Wide Campaign to "Connect with Kids"
Although efforts with specific groups have been successful, we believe it is essential that individual and organizational asset-building efforts be connected to a larger community-wide campaign. As a result, we are introducing a slogan during the coming year that our entire community will take as a call to action. Given our rather unique demographic of having 7 adults for every child, and over 80% of our households with no school-age children, we think a very powerful slogan for asset-building in Arlington is "Connect with Kids." In essence, this message is about the positive power of adults intentionally connecting with children and teens. We hope this slogan will inspire all adults to make the connection. We are again looking to the Arlington County and School Boards for leadership in helping us move forward with this community effort to make Arlington an optimum place for children to grow and develop.
Completion of the 2003 Assets Survey
In March 2003, the Partnership administered the Profiles of Student Life ("Assets") Survey for a second time to 3400 students attending Arlington Public Schools in grades six, eight, ten, and twelve. As expected, little has changed since the first Assets survey was conducted in 2001. The kind of culture shift required for consistent, measurable changes takes 5 to 10 years. We conducted the survey again this year, however, to sustain the awareness around assets and to use the results to engage young people themselves to explore the meaning of assets in their lives. Soon after getting the survey results, we conducted focus groups with students to share the information and get their reactions. These focus group discussions will continue in 2004.
There was no statistically significant change in the percent of young people reporting any one of the 40 assets. Young people who participated in the survey reported on average 19 assets, the same as in 2001. Most young people (44 percent) reported between 11 and 20 assets. One-third reported 21 to 30 and only 8 percent reported the ideal level of 31 to 40 assets.
However, the general conclusion of "no change" between 2001 and 2003 does not hold for youth with the lowest level of assets (zero to ten). Among this group, a number of risk behaviors have significantly worsened and none have improved. Young people with the fewest assets reported that they are more likely to get drunk (from 30 to 36 percent); drive after drinking alcohol (from 15 to 22 percent); get into trouble with the police (from 33 to 41 percent); get into a group fight (from 31 to 37 percent); and attempt suicide (from 20 to 31 percent).
Within grades, there were a few changes. The percent of 12th graders reporting ever having sexual intercourse rose from 44 percent to 51 percent. The percent of 12th graders reporting gambling rose from 24 to 30 percent.
High risk behavior related to depressive symptoms and/or suicide attempts also changed, apparently due to cohort effects. In 2001, 33 percent of 10th graders reported this high risk behavior. Two years later, as seniors, 30 percent of this group of students reported depressive symptoms or suicide attempts (as opposed to only 25 percent of the previous cohort of 12th graders).
There was a significant reduction in the percentage of youth who report being left home alone for more than two hours per day - from 56 percent in 2001 to 47 percent in 2003. However, students in grade eight reported no change in this area.
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