Who We Are
About Us
The Essex County Asset Builder (ECAB) Network creates regional connections and supports for individuals, families and organizations from Amesbury, Georgetown, Newbury, Rowley, Salisbury and Newburyport, in using a positive youth development approach to help youth thrive.
Positive Youth Development
- The Positive Youth Development approach engages youth with peers, family and community in a way that enhances their strengths and promotes positive outcomes. It can also be used as an approach to prevention that encourages healthy decisions.
- A positive youth development approach to prevention is an effective, evidence based way to look at the opioid epidemic and how we can prevent future harm to our youth. Specifically, it uses a whole community approach rather than just relying on schools and social services agencies.
Being a part of the ECAB Network brings local and regional opportunities. Locally, communities have access to trainings, data, and best practices, and receive guidance on implementation and outreach strategies that build positive youth development possibilities. Communities also get the benefit of regionalizing efforts, where networking, combining resources, current policies, and a shared vision strengthen the towns and cities as well as the region.
History
Recently, the communities of Amesbury, Georgetown, Newbury, Rowley, Salisbury and Newburyport came together to form the Essex County Asset Builder Network. Funded by a three year grant, the goal of this Network is to create a common language of asset- based youth development (creating protective factors). It has been shown that youth who have more assets are less likely to engage in risky behaviors. This grant will use the 40 Developmental Assets framework to build these protective factors and reduce risk behaviors by focusing on both the youth and the environment that shapes them. The community partnership will enhance the great work already being done to support youth and families, as well as expand community supports, opportunities, and resources. Additionally, the grant will collect and disseminate regional data, coordinate shared resources and bring educational opportunities for various sectors of the community.
Goal
To spread the philosophy and practice of the positive youth development approach through implementation of 40 Developmental Asset framework within communities across the region.
We will accomplish this goal by:
- Collecting and disseminating regional and community specific data that can then be shared and used among all agencies.
- Increasing the number of community members who feel comfortable using the language of positive youth development and the 40 Developmental Assets approach
- Increasing the number of community members who implement a positive youth development approach in their work
- Increasing the number of developmental assets youth report
Mission
To use a positive youth development approach to build networks within each community and across the region that help decrease risk behaviors in youth and produce a healthier community.
Vision
A network of communities that welcome, value and empower youth through meaningful opportunities and collaborative efforts to support and strengthen youth assets and increase healthy decision making.
Some numbers
Every two years youth in grades 6-12 are surveyed to understand the strengths and gaps for the young people in the Network. This survey, developed by the Search Institute, includes a measure of the 40 Developmental Assets (protective factors) as well as questions about risky behaviors. This data gives us a picture of the highest needs of our young people and programming is built to support those needs.
We know that the more assets youth have, the more likely they are to thrive. The opposite is also true. The more assets youth have, the less likely they are to participate in risk behaviors. While there is no “right number” of assets for young people, there is the greatest decline in risk behaviors for youth who have over 20 assets.
Supportive, healthy relationships make a big difference
Support is important for everyone, young or old. We like knowing we have people who will be there for us and whom we can count on. Yet, in a hectic society with so many demands, we sometimes forget the importance of noticing and connecting with one another. The result is that too many young people (and adults) feel isolated and alone. While most people understand the important role families have in supporting young people, some overlook the other adult role models such as friends, neighbors, teachers, or coaches. Simple actions such as saying “Hi” or asking, “How was your day?” can help young people feel heard and supported.
Give young people a chance to show you what they can do
When young people feel safe, serve others, and perceive that others value them, they can take healthy risks and try new challenges. Instead of feeling self-conscious and being overwhelmed with worry or fear, they can experiment with new ideas and activities.
That doesn’t mean that young people won’t make mistakes or find times when life is difficult. But empowered youth bounce back from mistakes. They know who they can count on when the going gets tough, and they know that difficult times will get better.
%
Number of Youth with more than 20 Assets
Listed here are 3 Developmental Assets from regial data collected from the 2023 Attitudes and Behaviors Survey. These assets help us identify and engage the people and places in young people’s lives that can serve as valuable resources for their growth, resilience, and success.