FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Involvement of parents, community representatives, health specialists, and volunteers in schools provides an integrated approach for enhancing the health and well being of students both at school and in the community. School health advisory councils, coalitions, and broadly based constituencies for school health can build support for school health programs. School administrators, teachers, and school health staff in all components actively solicit family involvement and engage community resources, expertise, and services to respond effectively to the health related needs of students and families. Qualified professionals such as principals, teachers, and school health staff, along with parents and volunteers, provide leadership in this area.

Have you heard of the 40 Developmental Assets? They are building blocks for raising healthy children and youth. Since its creation in 1990, Search Institute's framework of Developmental Assets has become the most widely used approach to positive youth development in the United States.
Background: Grounded in extensive research in youth development, resiliency, and prevention, the Developmental Assets represent the relationships, opportunities, and personal qualities that young people need to avoid risks and to thrive.
The Power of Assets: Studies of more than 2.2 million young people in the US consistently show that the more assets young people have, the less likely they are to engage in a wide range of high-risk behaviors and the more likely they are to thrive. Assets have power for all young people, regardless of their gender, economic status, family, or race/ethnicity. Furthermore, levels of assts are better predictors of high-risk involvement and thriving than poverty or being from a single parent family.
The Gap: The average young person experiences fewer than half of the 40 assets. Boys experience three fewer assets than girls (17.2 assets for boys vs. 19.9 for girls).
For more information: www.search-institute.org/ developmental-assets-are-free