Community Building Chronicles
September 1999
In Seattle, It's About Time for Kids
for more information…
Molly Stearns
VICE PRESIDENT,
PROGRAM AND PROJECTS
425 Pike Street, Suite 510
Seattle, WA 98101-2334
206-622-2294
mstearns@seafound.org
www.seafound.org
Photo courtesy of
It's About Time for Kids
It's About Time for Kids rallies Seattle around the message that everyone has a role in raising kids.
Imagine a place where every child and teen:
- is loved and supported by family and other caring adults.
- feels secure and valued and, in turn, contributes to the betterment of the community.
- knows what is expected of him or her at home, at school and in the community and knows that everyone expects the best.
- uses time well.
- reads for pleasure and appreciates education.
- demonstrates values such as tolerance, integrity, honesty and restraint.
- builds healthy relationships and makes good choices.
- feels positive about himself or herself and the future.
This is the vision championed by The Seattle Foundation four years ago, when it and many youth organization and foundation leaders launched It's About Time for Kids, an effort to rally the entire Seattle community around a common message and set of behaviors known to make a difference in the lives of young people.
The Initiative uses the "asset model" developed by Search Institute of Minneapolis. The eight points above are more than common sense. They represent 40 attributes, values and behaviors, i.e., developmental assets, that research has shown to be associated with pro-social behaviors by teens and inversely associated with high-risk behaviors. These 40 building blocks of healthy kids are the heart of It's About Time for Kids.
Most significantly, It's About Time for Kids enlists the entire community, not only parents and youth agencies, but also schools, businesses, organizations and all adults, to build a web of support for kids. The initiative provides training and practical tools for parents, adults and institutions to incorporate asset building into their everyday lives and practices.
TAPPING MOMENTUM IN THE COMMUNITY
The initiative grew in part out of dissatisfaction in the community with traditional,
deficit models of youth service. Molly Stearns, The Seattle Foundation's
Vice President, Program and Projects, recalls in particular a meeting with
a group of youth service agency heads. According to Stearns, "They
told us, ‘We need your help. We can't do it alone anymore. We
can't fix kids after they're broken.'"
Research and convening by the foundation led to Search Institute and its practical, research-based message and tools for organizations and the general public. From the start, It's About Time for Kids' strategy has been to build the asset model into the fabric of the community—by focusing first on organizational change and later on individual attitudes and behavior.
Under the Seattle Foundation's quiet leadership and the guidance of a collaborative leadership council and working group, It's About Time for Kids has engaged broad sectors of the community. Hundreds of youth service, educational, faith-based, civic and business organizations have been trained to implement the asset model and are providing training to others.
ASSET BUILDING IN ACTION
Asset building can now be seen in grantmaking, curriculum planning, youth worker
hiring and training, volunteer programs, social ministries, and protocols
for working with youth. "The mindset is changing," explains Anne
Farrell, President/CEO of The Seattle Foundation. "Instead of asking
a young person, ‘What did you do wrong?' the first question now
is, ‘Who cares for you?' If the answer is nobody, work begins
to connect the youth to supports."
It's About Time for Kids is already having an impact on funding. The United Way of King County has included developmental asset building among its priority outcomes for service accountability. The City of Seattle's recently adopted Family and Education levy is incorporating the asset model into its funding priorities and RFPs.
NEXT STEPS
With the organizational change phase well under way, the initiative is now
shifting its attention to reaching parents and non-parents alike at home,
in the community, at worship, and at the workplace.
The tips are concrete and the message is simple: Everyone has a role in raising kids.