Contact Name
Barbara Dietsch
562-985-9488

Contact Email
bdietsc@WestEd.org

CDC's Community-based Initiative

In 1995, Oklahoma City was one of the 13 communities selected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of a community-based teen pregnancy prevention initiative. CDC funding supported coordination, training, coalition-building and community capacity-building activities, but no direct services.

Called the "HEART of OKC -- Healthy, Empowered And Responsible Teens of OKC"-the project was developed by the Adolescent Health Division, Oklahoma State Department of Health; the Health Promotion Sciences Department of the University of Oklahoma's College of Public Health; and the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy.

Phase I: "Relationship-building"

The HEART of OKC was designed to be both neighborhood-focused and population-based, working through diverse racial and ethnic networks in central city neighborhoods. The first two years provided a planning phase, which, in reality, became a relationship-building phase. Extensive needs assessment activities were conducted in the neighborhoods where births to teens were the highest. Youth and adult task forces were created at the neighborhood level, which outlined teen pregnancy prevention plans from a youth development perspective.

At the city level, initial project discussions with community leaders revolved around determining the approach, structure and direction that had the best chance for resulting in real community change. Overwhelmingly, community participants responded with two clear directives: (1) do not create another single issue coalition, and (2) change the attitudes of policy-makers and community leaders so they look at teenagers as potential to be nurtured, not problems to be fixed.

Youth Development: A New Approach

With a charge to "change attitudes", the project sought first to frame the dialogue with a common, positive vocabulary. For reasons that are well-articulated by Karen Pittman, Vice President of the International Youth Forum, an "asset-building approach to youth development" was selected as the overarching prevention strategy. "Problem-free does not mean fully prepared", stated Pittman. "There must be an equal commitment to helping young people understand life's challenges and responsibilities and to developing the necessary skills to succeed as adults. What is needed is a massive conceptual shift - from thinking that youth problems are merely the principal barrier to youth development, to thinking that youth development serves as the most effective strategy for the prevention of youth problems."

The HEART of OKC chose Search Institute's developmental assets concept to shift the community's perspective from a problem focus to an asset focus. Search Institute has identified 40 developmental assets they feel all young people need to grow into healthy, capable, and caring adults. These assets fall into two categories-external (support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, and constructive use of time) and internal (commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies, and positive identity).

The asset-building approach to youth development is not a program model, nor a "how-to" outline. It is a philosophy that places the developmental needs of young people at the foundation of every effective prevention effort. In our community, traditional prevention efforts alone would not be enough to reduce teen pregnancy. In addition to helping young people understand when to say "No", we needed to provide opportunities for which they could say "YES"!

Phase II: Moving from Planning to Action

Last fall, the project entered a five-year implementation phase. As Phase II began, 9 key assets were identified as priorities for action in OKC. These assets featured the central themes that emerged from youth focus groups, youth and adult task forces and interviews with neighborhood residents.

For our project, assets have been defined as "attitudes, knowledge, values, skills and relationships that strengthen the ability of individuals to become healthy, capable, responsible adults". The 9 key assets for OKC are: aspirations for the future; constructive use of time; cultural respect (sensitivity to cultural issues); skills for meaningful employment; decision-making, especially related to refusal skills, restraint and personal health; positive family communication; positive peer role models; relationships with non-parent adults; and service to others.

Interventions: Developing the Link

Examples of HEART of OKC interventions, that link teen pregnancy prevention and health promotion with youth development, include:

"Learn and Serve" (community service) projects funded through the State Department of Education;

A new "21st Century Community Learning Centers" initiative in the OKC Public Schools, funded by the U.S. Department of Education and Mott Foundation, that will transform four central city schools into year-round health and learning centers; Skill-building projects partnered with local businesses, such as Home Depot;

A Junior League project that assists homeless youth in completing high school;

The placement of graduate students from the University of Central Oklahoma in inner city program settings; and

A replication of the "Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI)" curriculum that uses high school teens as program leaders and is faithful to the Atlanta model.

Recently, youth development has been "discovered" by teen pregnancy prevention leaders. Current publications highlight a handful of research-based projects, such as Quantum Opportunities, a demonstration project funded by the Ford Foundation in 1988. Though the results were positive in OKC, the replication expense was prohibitive and nothing was sustained. More affordable youth development linkages start with your local Urban League, YWCA, YMCA, 4-H, Scouting, or Camp Fire programs. Traditional youth-serving agencies were founded on a philosophy of helping youth grow into well-rounded, healthy individuals. The 4-H pledge addresses "head, hands, heart, health". The YWCA triangle represents "body, mind and spirit". Today, too few traditional youth-serving agencies are able to serve the large numbers of youth needing their programs, especially in the inner cities.

Our challenge is to help youth development programs-whether decades old or brand new-incorporate health education, health services and teen pregnancy prevention efforts in ways that match their missions and meet the real needs of today's youth. We must honor what they provide for young people. We must offer the information, assistance, resources, and goodwill that will enable us to meet our mutual goals. Youth development allows communities to look at teen pregnancy prevention through a new lens-a telephoto lens that enlarges our range of relationships and scope of prevention opportunities.

Sharon Rodine, M.Ed.
Director, HEART of OKC Project
Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy

[For information on the HEART of OKC project, contact Sharon Rodine at (405) 236-5437; fax - (405) 236-1690.]