What are Developmental Assets?

Developmental assets are concrete, common sense, positive experiences and qualities that are essential to raising successful youth.  Developmental assets influence the choices young people make at critical times of their life and help them to become caring, responsible adults.

Developmental assests are broken into two categories:

External - families, schools, congregations, neighborhoods and youth organizations can all play an important role in promoting healthy development.

• support (family support, positive family communication, other adult relationships, caring neighborhood, caring school climate, parent involvement in schooling)
• empowerment (community values for youth, youth as resources, service to others, safety)
• boundaries and expectations (family boundaries, school boundaries, neighorhood boundaries, adult role models, positive peer influence, high expectations)
• constructive use of time (creative activities, youth programs, religious community, time at home)                   

Internal -internal characterisitics and behaviors that reflect thoughtful and positive choices in order to be prepared for challenging situations that will test youth's inner strenth and confidence. 

• commitment to learning (achievement motivation, school engagement, homework, bonding to school, reading for pleasure)
• positive values (caring, equality and social justice, integrity, honesty, responsibility, restraint)
• social competencies (planning and decision making, interpersonal competence, cultural competence, resistance skills, peaceful conflict resolution)
• positive identity (personal power, self-esteem, sense of purpose, positive view of personal future)

Would you like McCAP to show you how to build each asset?  Contact ballenger@mccap.org to schedule a presentation or workshop.