BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. —In an effort to ensure a great future for our youth, Greater Falls Connections and Youth Services of Windham County recently teamed up on the three-part Youth Thrive training. This training took place at the Rockingham Free Public Library between December 2018 and February 2019. Participants learned how the teen brain works, how trauma affects behavior, how to connect to youth, and how to build on strengths of youth.
Youth Thrive is an evidence-based approach to working with adolescents aged 9-24. The approach uses the most current science on adolescent brain development, trauma, and resilience in order to provide support and to build on protective factors for youth. A number of local groups took part in the training, including Youth Services, Greater Falls Connections, Grafton Elementary School, Windham Northeast Supervisory Union, WOOL 91.5FM, Turning Point Recovery Center of Springfield, The Collaborative, HCRS, Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition, and the Greater Falls Community Justice Center.
The training was facilitated by Sara Croitoru of Youth Services of Windham County and Matt Wolf of Vermont Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health. According to Wolf, “Adolescence is a time of great growth and development, great passion and creativity and great feelings and behaviors as well. Instead of honoring this as a time of excitement and tremendous development of character, our culture seems to ‘pathologize’ our youth as ‘drama queens’ or ‘trouble makers.’ We often criticize our youth for what is really normal developmental behavior, such as hanging out with friends or being dramatic.”
The Youth Thrive approach focuses on “protective and promotive factors,” which help make young people more likely to thrive. It can be used in any setting where youth and their families are served. Parents who attended left with a deeper understanding of adolescent development. This empowers parents to give their children the opportunities they need for safe risk-taking, increasing responsibility and independence, while continuing to provide parental nurturing and guidance.
The Youth Thrive framework used in the training comes from the Center for the Study of Social Policy. Their research looked into resiliency, positive youth development, brain science, and the impact of trauma in order to create this training.
One goal of the training was to help youth-based agencies and their partners create programs that promote the health and well-being of youth, including those who have experienced high levels of trauma. Another important goal was to provide information for parents, caregivers, and communities on supporting the development of young people into productive and caring members of society.
Sara Chard of the Turning Point Recovery Center of Springfield attended all of the training sessions. She said, “It was a great opportunity to build resources and connect with other people in the community.” Chard added, “It was great to learn and better understand at a deeper level what kids are going through and how to reach them.”
Youth are more often successful when adults give them the opportunity to express themselves. Adults should also provide opportunities for youth to feel good about the skills and competence that they possess. When young people feel connected to peers and adults, they feel loved, wanted and valued. Research shows that when a young person feels connected to at least one caring adult they are more resilient and likely to do well. Multiple connections increase the likelihood that they will thrive.
Wolf added, “I feel this training is so important because it emphasizes understanding of where adolescents are in their development, so we can give them some understanding and a sympathetic ear. But it also emphasizes harnessing their passion and creativity and approaching youth with encouragement, support and enthusiasm; exciting their passions to help drive them forward.”
Participants worked on the best strategies to use when working with youth who have experienced high levels of childhood trauma. They learned that it is important to offer additional supports for youth with a history of trauma in a safe environment. When youth are focused only on their self-protection, it creates a difficult learning environment. Caregivers, parents, and youth-serving groups need to ensure the physical and emotional safety of youth.
During the third session, the group looked at how the community and organizations can work together to make sure all youth feel welcome and can succeed. The group is hoping that this training will lead to future collaborations among the organizations involved in order to better support the youth of the Greater Falls area.
The Youth Thrive training series was funded by a grant from the Fanny Holt Ames & Edna Louise Holt Fund (BACCGF), Bank of America, N.A., Trustee, which makes grants to qualified not-for-profit organizations that provide health and medical services to individuals living in and around Grafton, Vermont.
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