Centering Youth Voice Using Peer Facilitators in Relationship Education to Engage and Empower Youth Join Kelley Luckett and Daiya Thompson of the Louisville YMCA as they discuss lessons learned over the last two years of implementing Love Notes in Teen Vibe Camps using peer facilitators. Teen Vibe Camps, offer a transformative blend of summer camp nostalgia and comprehensive curriculum sessions. Through activities like podcasting, music, and social media graphics, these camps foster a sense of community and belonging. Statistical evidence showcases significant shifts in positive identity markers among attendees who form trusted adult connections and show higher program engagement. Complementing this approach is an innovative Peer Facilitator model, which introduces youth as Love Notes facilitators. Peer facilitators excel in building trust, fostering community, and encouraging participation outscoring adult facilitators in quality observation scores. Through a dual-track system involving collaboration with local high schools and self-selection from camp attendees, peer facilitators…
Workforce Development
What happens when you organize college undergraduates to provide healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) to their peers in a structured service-learning class? This presentation will describe a community engagement strategy and pedagogical approach to prepare emerging professionals and strengthen romantic relationships by utilizing undergraduate peer educators to facilitate HMRE to other undergraduate students in their campus community. Join Drs. McElwain and Finnegan as they discuss the process of training, planning, and implementing content from the evidence-based Love Notes curriculum that helped college peers see human development and family relations concepts “come to life,” open a “whole new world” of career opportunities, and develop key professional skills. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Understand the benefits of a peer education model for delivering HMRE through structured university service-learning courses. Identify peer impact and practical gains of facilitating relationship education through a service-learning experience Learn from peer educators’ reflections on their…
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:…
Young mothers in Delaware have the option of attending school with other expecting and parenting young ladies in one of three locations throughout the state. This alternative educational option is the 54-year-old organization called the Delaware Adolescent Program, Inc. (DAPI). DAPI combines programming for pregnant and parenting teens through academics, health, and outreach. DAPI’s model helps its “DAPI Daughters” soar to new heights both academically and personally. Join DAPI’s executive Director, Doris Griffin, as she discusses the DAPI model and how relationship education is an integral part of that work. Objectives: Participants will learn: Information about the Delaware Adolescent Program, Inc. (DAPI) What makes the DAPI model different from other alternative education How DAPI integrates relationship education in their work About DAPI’s goals for future programming Presenter: Doris L. P. Griffin, Ed.D., Executive Director of the Delaware Adolescent Program, Inc. Who should attend: Program managers working with expecting and parenting youth,…
Project Evident strives to put practitioners in the driver’s seat when it comes to building evidence for their programs. This doesn’t mean they need to become statisticians or data wizards. Even small programs without data expertise can run small tests of change to continuously improve—and build evidence for—their programs. This webinar will give a practical overview to get you started on continuous improvement. Objectives: Webinar attendees will: Learn how to identify problems and measure targets for continuous improvement. Go through a working example of root cause analysis as a tool for identifying and prioritizing potential changes. Gain guidance in assessing changes, qualitatively and quantitatively Presenters: Gregor Thomas, Project Evident, Director of Data and Evidence Science, Mississippi Who should attend: All organization leaders responsible for overseeing and measuring effective program delivery, i.e. program directors, program managers, facilitators, and evaluators. When: Wednesday, October 14, 2020, 4:00 pm Eastern/1:00 pm Pacific Duration: 60…
WEBINAR: Learning about Positive Youth Development: A Free & Fun Course for Youth Work Professionals
What does positive youth development mean to us? We may think about competencies, opportunities, and supports young people need to thrive and make healthy decisions. We may think about youth voice and leadership. In this webinar co-creator Jutta Dotterweich will provide a guided tour of a new, interactive online training course on positive youth development. This free resource consists of six, stand-alone segments, which were developed with a wide range of audiences in mind (e.g., volunteers, parents, frontline youth workers). Join us to learn about this free, engaging, and informative online resource! Specifically, webinar attendees will be able to: Identify at least three key principles of positive youth development Describe meaningful roles for young people Locate web resources that they can apply in their youth programming Presenter: Jutta Dotterweich, M.A. Director of Training, ACT for Youth Center of Excellence. Resources: August 2019 Webinar PPT
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…
Did you know that a “dibble” is a garden tool used to plant seeds? No small coincidence that our founder, Charlie Dibble, recognized the need to help youth grow healthy relationship skills. Join the staff of The Dibble Institute as we explore the “inside scoop” on effective tools to help youth develop the skills and knowledge needed for growing satisfying and healthy romantic, family, and work relationships. At the end of this webinar, participants will learn: Who is behind The Dibble name and what is our mission, How The Dibble Institute achieves our mission, and What services The Dibble Institute provides to help you meet your goals for teens and young adults. Presenters: The Staff of The Dibble Institute Resources: Dibble Curricula
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