Resources & Assets Among Jane/Finch Youth
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Transcript of Resources & Assets Among Jane/Finch Youth
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Resources and Assets among Jane/Finch Youth
Uzo Anucha, PhD Associate Prof & Graduate Program Director
School of Social Work, York University
Learning Circle – United Way June 15th, 2012
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Presentation Outline
Research Context • The Assets Coming Together for Youth Project • The Survey of Student Resources and Assets Findings • Demographics of Survey Participants • Jane-Finch Youth and the Five Fundamental Resources • The 40 Developmental Assets’ Profile of J-F Youth • Summary of Key Findings Research to Action: Building Assets for Youth • NOISE for Social Change Project Discussion – Comments and Questions
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Research Context
The ACT for Youth Project
The Survey of Student Resources and Assets
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Assets Coming Together for Youth: The ACT for Youth Project
• The ACT for Youth Project (2009 – 2014) is a community-university research partnership that is focused on developing a comprehensive youth strategy that will outline how urban communities like the Jane-Finch community can build assets for youth. – Funded through a $1 Million Community-
University Research Alliance grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC CURA)
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ACT’s Project Team
• A cross-sectoral alliance of community stakeholders and an interdisciplinary network of scholars: – 31 project team members (13 community members; 15
academic members; graduate students; and youth) – 27 community partners (Youth-led / Youth-centred Organizations;
Multi-service Community Organizations; Faith-based Organizations; Provincial / National Organizations; Coalitions)
• Five Research-Themed Working Groups – Youth Survey – Youth Voices – Youth Education and Employment Strategies – (Re)Framing Public Discourse – Evaluation and Monitoring
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A Commitment to Youth Engagement
• Summer CBR Institute • Research Internships • Research Assistantships – ex:
– 10 youth from each high school trained as YSAs to assist with the administration of the survey (n=33)
– Contributed 550 hours and paid $8,980 – YSAs participated in a paid orientation and training
session at York University led by a youth intern • Youth-Led Committee
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Survey of Student Resources and Assets
Five Fundamental Resources • Five wrap-around supports that young people need for
success in life – Ongoing relationships with caring adults – Safe places and structured activities during non-school
hours – A healthy start for a healthy future – Marketable skills through effective education – Opportunities to serve
Forty Developmental Assets • External Assets: structures, relationships, and activities that
create a positive environment for young people • Internal Assets: internal values, skills, and beliefs that
young people also need to fully engage with and function in the world around them
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ACT’s Survey of Student Resources and Assets
• 1706 Jane-Finch students (Grades 6 to 12) in the following TDSB schools completed the survey: – Emery Collegiate Institute (n=500) – C. W. Jeffery’s Collegiate Institute (n = 234) – Westview Centennial Secondary School (n = 396) – Oakdale Park Middle School (n = 246) – Brookview Middle School (n = 186) – J/F students in 3 schools outside J/F (n = 144)
• Northview Heights Secondary School • North Albion Collegiate Institute • William Lyon McKenzie Collegiate Institute
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FINDINGS
Demographics of Participants Jane-Finch Youth and the Five Resources
Summary of Key Findings
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Demographics of Student Participants (N = 1592)
Gender Male Female
719 860
46 % 54 %
Grade 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
139 161 100 234 208 347 398
9 % 10 % 6 % 15 % 13 % 22 % 25 %
Race/Ethnicity (Top Five)
East Asian South Asian Black African Black Non-African Multi-racial
377 479 241 217 85
24 % 31 % 15 % 14 % 5 %
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Resource #1: Ongoing Relationships
with Caring Adults • With Parents: Majority of youth see their parents as supportive and
an important resource. Areas to pay attention to: – Conversations about important concerns such as drugs, alcohol,
sex or some other serious issue: • only 42% say yes or probably (goes down to 38% and 35% in
grades 11 and 12) – Help with Homework:
• Only 22% say parents help with homework…40% in grade 6 but drops to 18%, 12% and 15% in grades 10, 11 and 12 respectively.
• While 26% of males say parents help, only 19% of females say parents help.
– Parents go to meetings and events at schools: • Only 27% said very often or often. ….higher in middle school
(40%, 31%, 30%) and lower in high school (23% in grade 12)
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Resource #1: Ongoing Relationships
with Caring Adults • With Teachers: majority of students feel teachers are
supportive (care about me – 67%, get lots of encouragement – 57% and push me to be the best – 67%). – Higher in middle schools but drops sharply from Gr 8
to Gr 9: EX: Cares about me – from 81% to 57%; get lots of encouragement at school – from 66% to 62%; push me to be the best I can be – from 86% to 67% .
– An interesting gender difference: while 70% of males believe that teachers push them to be the best they can, only 64% of females believe the same; while 63% of males believe ‘my teachers really care for me’, 59%
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Resource #1: Ongoing Relationships
with Caring Adults • With Adults in the Community:
– Only 36% of youth feel that there a lot of people in their community who care about them.
– This number is slightly higher for middle school students …Gr 6 – 48%; Gr 7 – 44%; Gr 8 - 44% but drops sharply to 38% in grade 9.
• Youth Who Have Mentors: – Only 28% of youth have a formal mentor. – Higher in grades 6 to 8: Gr 6 – 36%; Gr 7 – 28%; Gr 8
– 28% but drops in Gr 9 to 24% – Majority (about 81%) do not see their mentors about
once in a week.
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Resource #2: Safe Places and Structured
Activities During Non-school Hours
• Where do youth go after school? – Majority of youth go home after school 3 days or more
days in the week– 77% – Only 40% spend time in youth programs
• Hours spent in structured activities: 73% of youth take part in no clubs or activities outside of school
• Sense of Safety: Generally, youth feel the safest at home (80%) and followed by school (61%). – 48% of youth report that they feel afraid once in a
while or sometimes in the neighborhood and the places they go after school (43%).
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Resource #3:
A Healthy Start for a Healthy Future • There is a counselor/social worker/psychologist you could
talk to if you are feeling sad or bummed out and wanted to talk to someone: 26%......
• Health education classes: 3 or more times classes talked about: alcohol and drugs – 40 %; and sexuality – 40%. Healthy identity: youth have healthy/positive identity, or positive projections about their future: On the whole, I like myself: 84%; all in all, I am glad I am me: 86%; motivation for achievement: 79%; and positive view of personal future: 72%
• Health values and skills: much higher in females
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Resource #4: Marketable Skills
through Effective Education • Majority …82%...think their education is preparing them
for a future job. • 88% of youth have worked zero hours in a paid job.
Goes down to 79% in Gr 11 and 64% in Gr 12 • Majority of youth have watched or helped someone do
their job to learn about it: 78%. Goes up to 81% in Gr 12. • But almost half of youth have not talked about a job they
are interested in with the person doing that kind of job: 44%...goes down to 37% in Gr 12.
• Youth who don’t think that skills from current responsibilities are preparing them for a future job: 45%.
• Youth who know how to use a computer to do schoolwork, find info or type papers: 90%
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Resource #5:
Opportunities for Youth to Serve
• Majority of youth (68%) feel that they are not given an opportunity to make their community a better place to live in….more grade 9 students feel this way (78%).
• More than 1 in 3 youth (39%) have never been asked in a 12 month period to help while only 27% have been asked 3 or more times.
• Explains why a majority of youth are not volunteering (54%) while only 33%, 8% and 5% are contributing 1-2 hours, 3-5 hours, and 6 or more hours weekly.
• The most common kind of service is helping someone who is having trouble with school – 38% of youth do this 1-2 hours a week.
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The 40 Developmental Assets’ Profile of Jane-Finch Youth
Assets Profile of Jane-Finch Youth Top external and Internal Assets The Protective Power of Assets
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40 Development Assets’ Profile of
Jane-Finch Youth • Summary of Assets:
– 0-10 assets: 10% – 11-20 assets: 43% – 21-30 assets: 40% – 31-40 assets: 7%
• Average number of assets: 20 • Males: 18.8 • Females: 20.9
• Grade Level: • Higher in middle schools: Gr 6: 22.3; Gr 7: 22.5; Gr 8: 21.7 • Lower in high schools:
Recommended number of assets is 31
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Top External and Internal Assets
• External Assets:
– All assets under Commitment to Learning are higher than 50% except for Reading for Pleasure”…only 27% of youth (19% of males and 33% of females) said yes.
– All assets under Positive Values, Social Competencies are high. – All values under positive Identity are higher than 50% except
Personal Power which is 28%
• Internal Assets: Some troubling numbers: – Though youth feel they have family support (65%), only 25% say
yes to ‘parent involvement in schooling’ – Support from ‘other adult relationships’ – 29%. – Empowerment: community values youth – 17%, youth as
resources – 32%; service to others is 46% – Constructive use of time: creative activities – 12% and time at
home – 74%
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The Protective Power of Assets
• Why assets matter to youth: youth with more assets are
less likely to engage in risk taking behaviors and more likely to have thriving indicators: – School Truancy: skipped school once or more in the last 4
weeks – 39%of youth but…. • 60% - 0-10 assets; 44% - 11-22 assets; 30% - 21-30 assets;
21% - 31-40 assets. – Alcohol: used alcohol once or more in the last 30 days – 17% of
youth but… • Only 9% of youth with 21-30 assets and 5% of 31 to 40 assets
– Maintains good health: pays attention to healthy nutrition and exercise: 52% of youth but…
• While 41% of youth with 11-20 assets and 64 of youth with 21-30 assets. 89% of youth with 31-40 assets.
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Assets and resources DECLINE as youth get OLDER. This decline is most PRONOUNCED in the Grade 8 to Grade 9 TRANSITION.
Summary Finding #1: Assets Decline as Youth Get Older
Assets
Age
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Summary Finding #2: Resilient Youth, Weak Supports
RESILIENCE is an ASSET amongst youth in the Jane/Finch
community with high reports of POSITIVE/HEALTHY
IDENTITIES and POSITIVE PROJECTIONS about their
futures.
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Summary Finding #3: Parents are an Important Resource
Youth count their PARENTS as an important RESOURCE,
claiming strong parental INVOLVEMENT in their lives.
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Summary Finding #4: Education Matters for Youth But…
Youth exhibit STRONG BELIEF in the value of EDUCATION, but are
DISENGAGED at their schools and are UNABLE to LEVERAGE
skills for the WORK PLACE.
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Finding #5: Youth Need for More Adult Mentors
Youth feel like they DO NOT have ADULT MENTORS and ROLE MODELS in the community. • Youth who have a formal mentor (not parents):
29% (avg. 28%) • Adult role models (not parents): 31% (avg.
30%) • In my neighbourhood, there are a lot of people
who care about me: 35% (avg. 36%)
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Research to Action
NOISE for Social Change
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Research to Action:
Building Assets for Youth
Two Key questions: • How can we create pathways for youth to
assets and resources in the community at different levels: homes, schools, and afterschool programs?
• How can we build resources and assets for youth to address gaps at different levels?
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NOISE for Social Change • In May 2012, the School of Social Work will pilot “NOISE
for Social Change” – a research-informed model that will focus on enhancing the academic success of first year undergraduate students, final year master’s students and youth from the Jane-Finch community through engaged learning opportunities that energize and support their civic engagement and psychosocial wellbeing.
• NOISE will provide Jane-Finch youth with: – expanded learning opportunities that enable
experiential learning in out-of-school settings – meaningful connections with adults that support
school engagement and academic achievement
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Project Information
Project Website: www.yorku.ca/act Project Email: [email protected]
ACT’s Principal Investigator:
Dr. Uzo Anucha Associate Professor & Graduate Program Director
School of Social Work, York University 416-736-2100 Ext. 70625