Strengthening Facilitation Skills: A Training Curriculum for Programs Working with Youth, is a free, three-module curriculum designed to help facilitators of youth-serving programs improve the quality of their facilitation skills. It was developed as part of a formative evaluation of Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education programs conducted by Mathematica and its partner Public Strategies in conjunction with two community-based organizations called STREAMS. Join Erin Welch and Scott Roby for this webinar where they will share details about the curriculum’s development, describe its resources, and explain how it can be used to foster facilitators’ development. Learn how you can maximize learning and engagement using best practices and participant-centered and trauma-informed facilitation Objectives: Participants will internalize the goals and development process of the Strengthening Facilitation Skills curriculum. Participants will explore the content and resources included in the curriculum. Participants will understand how to use the curriculum and hear tips from the field….
Teen Parents
Beginning in the mid-2000s, the federal government authorized funding to support healthy relationship education (HRE) for youth. These programs aim to improve young people’s relationship skills, knowledge, and behaviors and prepare them to build healthy romantic relationships in adulthood. In 2020, the federal government awarded more than $24 million to 25 programs serving high-school-age youth and young adults. In a project supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mathematica has summarized the existing research on the effectiveness of HRE programs for youth. The research team identified and reviewed 15 impact studies of HRE programs for youth and summarized the findings using an evidence and gaps map. Join us as we discuss what we know and what we don’t know about the effectiveness of HRE programs for youth and promising future directions for continuing to build the evidence base for these programs. Objectives: Participants will learn: What an…
From underperforming schools to unsafe neighborhoods, from institutional racism to other structural barriers, hindrances often stand in the way of financial success for young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds. Given these challenges, many young adults lose hope, thinking they have no way of changing their life trajectories. However, there is a path that frequently leads to the “American Dream” and away from poverty. This path is called the “Success Sequence.” The sequence entails three steps: (1) getting at least a high-school degree, (2) working full-time, and (3) marrying before having children. Young adults who manage to follow the sequence – even in the face of challenges – are much more likely to forge a path to a better economic life. Join Brad Wilcox and Wendy Wang as they discuss how poverty is basically nonexistent among young adults who followed all three steps according to their new analysis of data from the…
For the past 10 years, youth serving programs across the United States have been teaching healthy relationship skills to hundreds of thousands of young people using Relationship Smarts PLUS 4.0 and Love Notes 3.0. Now, The Dibble Institute is excited to announce that both of these evidence-based programs have been updated with brand new information crucial to supporting teens and young adults in today’s world! Both Relationship Smarts PLUS 5.0 and Love Notes 4.0 continue to use a strengths-based, asset building approach to help young people make wise choices about relationships, sex, and the timing of family formation plus setting a path towards achieving their goals. New and updated contents include: Navigating relationships in the digital age Sex trafficking prevention Consent and sexual assault prevention Unique approach to addressing internet porn Current research, music, videos, images Improved activities for greater engagement and easier facilitation Medical accuracy updates on contraceptive and STI information Objectives:…
Youth Voice and Youth Engagement are pillars in youth development and program implementation. As part of the implementation plan for their Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) grant, The YMCA of Greater Louisville partnered with the Teaching and Learning Magnet of Central High School to train seniors as peer facilitators in Love Notes. The peer facilitators then led sessions of Love Notes with adult support, both within their schools and at other community programs. Join YMCA of Louisville’s TPP grant manager, Kelley Luckett, as she describes their model of program implementation that uses peer facilitators to increase both youth voice and engagement. This presentation will demonstrate how this model benefits not only the youth participants but also the peer facilitators. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Describe how the YMCA of Louisville used peer facilitators in the implementation of Love Notes. Explain how the use of peer facilitators increases youth voice. Explain…
Researchers from Child Trends using the Social Genome Model (SGM) explored how preventing births to teenagers would alter the lives of youth over time. The results show education, economic, and health benefits associated with preventing births to teens – findings that lead to an important question. How is childbearing among teenagers best prevented? Join Dr. Kristin Moore and Alison McClay as they share decades of experience with varied approaches and highlight how wisdom about preventing teen births has accumulated over time. Information is important, services are important, but motivation is important as well. The presentation will also describe how intervention approaches have evolved over time and outline considerations for future research and programs, including an overview of El Camino, a research-based sexual health promotion program developed by Child Trends. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Discuss the implications of teenage childbearing; Describe varied approaches used to discourage sexual activity and…
The “Success Sequence” refers to the concept of milestones a young person should complete in their life that are associated with greater economic self-sufficiency and family stability. These steps are most commonly understood as 1) finishing high school, 2) having a full-time job, and 3) waiting for marriage to have children. Up until now, a key part of the Success Sequence has been the order in which a young person achieves these milestones. With funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mathematica conducted an economic analysis of the Success Sequence steps to assess their actual benefits for young people. Join us to discuss Mathematica’s findings about the Success Sequence including new thinking about the order of the milestones, what some alternative pathways may be for young people, and the significance of their order in creating economic self-sufficiency and family stability. Objectives: Participants will be able to explain:…
From hooking up, to living together, to bearing children prior to clarity about having a future together, relationship and family development has changed. New paradigms have important implications for how we understand the romantic and sexual relationships of young adults. Ambiguity is a preferred condition of relationships for many, which makes it easier to finesse intentions and hide asymmetrical commitment. However, this new relationship paradigm can lead to a person losing life options before making a clear choice about what they want the most. In this webinar, Scott Stanley, Ph.D. will explain the ways motivated ambiguity intersects with types of commitment (e.g., constraint and dedication) to impact mate selection and lasting love. Some themes include the role of commitment in securing attachment, asymmetrical commitment, and research on how common types of relationship transitions can impact long-term outcomes. Objectives: Webinar participants will be able to: Understand how teen and early adulthood…
For the past five years, programs across the United States have been teaching healthy relationship skills to thousands of young people through Relationship Smarts PLUS 3.0 and Love Notes 2.1. Now, The Dibble Institute is excited to announce that both of these evidence-based programs have been updatedwith brand new information crucial to supporting teens and young adults in today’s world! They respond to changing conversations and conditions spurred on by #metoo, #timesup, smart phones, and social media. Relationship Smarts Plus 4.0 and Love Notes 3.0 both feature brand-new, age-appropriate content on: Sexual consent Online pornography Sexting Sexual assault Drugs and alcohol – and their impact on relationships Cyberbullying Relationship Smarts PLUS 4.0 is ideal for younger teens, and Love Notes 3.0 is ideal for older teens and young adults who are at risk of seeing their personal goals derailed by troubled relationships, unplanned pregnancy, and single parenting. Presenter: Marline E. Pearson. M.A., Author, Love Notes and…
Many first romantic relationships occur during adolescence. These relationships can help shape a variety of experiences (both positive and negative). Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs for youth can shape these experiences by improving youth attitudes and expectations concerning romantic relationships and by helping youth develop key skills to form healthy relationships and avoid unhealthy relationships. This webinar will provide participants with an in-depth look of federally funded HMRE programs for youth. Quantitative and qualitative data of the programs will be looked at. At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to: Describe the organizations implementing federally funded HMRE programs for youth and the youth served by these programs Assess the practices identified through research and evaluation to be optimal for serving youth most effectively; and Identify promising approaches used by grantees to better serve youth in HMRE programs Presenter: Mindy E. Scott, Ph.D., Deputy Program Area Director and…
A record 55 percent of Millennial parents (ages 28-34) have put childbearing before marriage, according to a new analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Panel data by the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for Family Studies. The rise of nontraditional routes into parenthood among Millennials is one indicator that today’s young adults are taking increasingly divergent paths toward adulthood, including family formation. New research by Dr. Wilcox and others shows that the success sequence works even for young adults today. In fact, 86% of Millennials who follow the sequence have now moved into the middle class and only 3% of Millennials who follow the sequence are poor today. Given the importance of education, work, and marriage—even for a generation that has taken increasingly circuitous routes into adulthood—Dr. Wilcox challenges policymakers, business leaders, and civic leaders to advance public policies and cultural changes to make his sequence both more attainable…
Many adults—especially parents—often fret about youth and the “hook-up culture.” But research suggests that far fewer young people are “hooking up” than we are commonly led to believe. This focus on the hook-up culture also obscures two much bigger issues that many young people appear to be struggling with: forming and maintaining healthy romantic relationships and dealing with widespread misogyny and sexual harassment. What’s more, it appears that parents and other key adults in young people’s lives often fail to address these two problems. Making Caring Common’s new report, The Talk: How Adults Can Promote Young People’s Healthy Relationships and Prevent Misogyny and Sexual Harassment, explores these issues and offers insights into how adults can begin to have meaningful and constructive conversations about them with the young people in their lives. Making Caring Common (MCC), a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, helps educators, parents, and communities raise children…
Relationships, whether sound or not, are central to the lives of disconnected youth. When at-risk youth learn healthy relationship skills they discover how to make beneficial decisions about their lives, their romantic relationships, and their family connections. We will identify risk factors that foster youth and runaway, homeless youth experience and how healthy relationship education offers protective factors that empower them to make healthier choices for their futures. At the conclusion of this webinar, attendees will: Identify the risk factors that disconnected youth experience and the protective factors that healthy relationship education offers them. Learn how healthy relationship education increases social and emotional well-being as well as decision making for youth. Discover how the evidence-based curriculum Love Notes is being used to improve outcomes for at-risk, homeless youth. Presenter: Dixie Zittlow, Director of Outreach l The Dibble Institute Resources: April 2017 Webinar PPT
In this webinar, Dr. Anita Barbee, will discuss how the “Theories of Change” in the Love Notes Evidence Based Program Model are effective for adolescent life planning and healthy relationship initiation and maintenance. She will also cover how helping youth think about sex fits into their quest for connection In this webinar you will: Understand how Love Notes is similar to and different from other Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) interventions. Understand the reasons why Love Notes is an effective TPP and IPV prevention intervention and a brief view of research results. Learn the key content in Love Notes regarding life planning, relationship initiation and maintenance, and sexual health. Presenter: Anita Barbee, Ph.D., University of Louisville, Kent School of Social Work, Program Director of CHAMPS! Resources: Love Notes Evaluation OAH Study Synopsis of Love Notes
Working directly with teens to robustly build healthy relationship skills gives us a unique and positive approach for primary and secondary dating violence prevention with males and females. Developing adolescents’ knowledge about and skills for their romantic lives is an especially effective approach to deescalating conflict, developing a personal sense of responsibility, and staying safe. This webinar will: Review the research on comprehensive relationship education as it relates to teen dating violence; Explore how relationship education positively impacts other outcomes for adolescents, and Learn strategies that participants can use to bring evidence-based relationship skills to their schools and communities. Presenter: Kay Reed, President and Executive Director, The Dibble Institute Resources: HRE for Dating Violence Prevention Among High-Risk Youth NIJ Journal Issue Number 261 Relationship Smarts Plus Sample Lesson STOP SV-A Technical Package to Prevent Sexual Violence Teen Dating Violence as a Public Health Issue
Many first romantic relationships occur during adolescence. These relationships can help shape a variety of experiences (both positive and negative). Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education (HMRE) programs for youth can shape these experiences by improving youth attitudes and expectations concerning romantic relationships and by helping youth develop key skills to form healthy relationships and avoid unhealthy relationships. This webinar will provide participants with a better understanding of federally funded HMRE programs for youth and will describe best practices for serving youth based on research and evaluation findings. At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to: Describe the organizations implementing HMRE programs and the youth served by these programs Assess the alignment of HMRE programs for youth with best practices in the field Presenter: Mindy E. Scott, Ph.D., Deputy Program Area Director and Senior Research Scientist with Child Trends Resources: Snapshot of HMRE Programs for Youth
Healthy relationships are important in “all” young people’s lives! Disconnected and vulnerable youth including Runaway Homeless Youth, Pregnant Teens, LGBT, and youth living in low-socioeconomic neighborhoods want to have healthy relationships. What’s the best way to help them achieve their dreams? Join us to see how the healthy relationship education curriculum – Love Notes – is changing attitudes, behaviors and lives of these most vulnerable young people. Guest speaker Vanessa Mejia will present a successful model of healthy relationship education with disconnected youth in schools, and community centers, as well as a shelter in Brooklyn, NY. Presenter: Vanessa Mejia, MPH, Youth Services Program Coordinator, Diaspora Community Services, Brooklyn, NY Resources: September 2015 Webinar PPT
In today’s world young fathers must co-parent, complete their education, and navigate romantic relationships while supporting their child emotionally and financially. Relationship skills training helps them make wiser choices that enable their goals for education, employment, parenting, and family. Join LA County Child Support Services Department and The Dibble Institute as we discuss how our collaboration in the successful Building Brighter Futures project accomplishes these goals. At the end of this webinar, participants will learn: How love lives impact family formation and how that matters to children. How non-custodial parents can be better parents when their relationships are healthier. How to help non-custodial parents “Build Brighter Futures” through relationship education. Presenters: Kay Reed, Executive Director, The Dibble Institute and Vera Ashley-Potter, Supervising Child Support Officer, Los Angeles County Child Support Services Department Resources: Child Support Logic Model Executive Summary
Teen parenting, poor refusal skills, early sexual involvement, and family complexity characterize the experiences of many youthful offenders. When teens and young adults are incarcerated, they often return to society still lacking healthy relationship skills necessary for successful family reunification and job retention. Relationship Smarts Plus and Love Notes curricula are about the building of the developmental assets missing in this population. Attendees will hear how a youth detention program is tackling this issue and a re-entry program experienced successful outcomes by addressing relationship skills first and job skills second. Presenters: Marcia White, IMPACT Community Action, Columbus, OH; Re-Entry Program, Relationship Education/Workforce Readiness and Laura Waggle, Perry County Detention Center, OH; Relationship Education in Juvenile Corrections; sponsored thru Forever Dads and the Ohio Office of Jobs and Families Resources: August 2014 Webinar PPT
Professor Edin discusses her most recent work, “Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City,” just published in May 2013, through which in-depth interviews allow unmarried low-income fathers to tell their side of the story. The book’s intimate interviews make real the significant obstacles low-income men face at every step in the familial process: from the difficulties of romantic relationships, to decision-making dilemmas at conception, to the often celebratory moment of birth, and, finally, to the hardships that accompany the early years of the child’s life, and beyond. Professor Edin will discuss the radical redefinition of family life “Doing the Best I Can” reveals, one that has revolutionized the meaning of fatherhood among inner-city men. Presenter: Dr. Kathryn Edin, Author “Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City” Resources: June 2014 Webinar PPT