Getting to Outcomes with Developmental Assets: Ten Steps to Measuring Success in Youth Programs and Communities

For communities and organizations working with youth, this manual offers a straightforward and adaptable plan for building community initiatives and youth programs that get results. Because youth programs and community initiatives are required by their funders to document outcomes, this 10-step process poses different accountability questions. Each step is accompanied with examples from Search Institute and Healthy Communities*Healthy Youth (HC*HY), a network of nearly 600 community organizations, providing a helpful combination of scientific research and grassroots mobilization strategies. Included with the manual is a CD-ROM with all the worksheets, forms, and needs-assessment tools for community development workers to start applying the frameworks to their own projects.

Deborah Fisher is a journalist and former award-winning legal affairs reporter for Minnesota Public Radio who specializes in children's and family issues. She is the author of Assets in Action and Working Shoulder to Shoulder. Pamela Imm is a psychologist who works with agencies such as the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. She is a coauthor of the award-winning empowerment evaluation manual Getting to Outcomes (GTO): Methods and Tools for Planning, Self-Assessment, and Accountability. Matthew Chinman is a behavioral scientist whose research involves program evaluation of mental health and prevention programs. Abe Wandersman is a professor who specializes in social psychology and environmental psychology.