The two of us were both raised in rural California towns. We are both aware of the fact that not all youth have the opportunity to engage in social events. We were fortunate enough to have parents that were able to allow us the opportunity to experience social outings, in and out of the community in which we were raised. We wanted to be able to engage less fortunate youth in community activities that they otherwise may not be able to attend. We wanted to encourage positive social events for the group that we were going to be working with.

Statement of Need

    We started researching our community project by reviewing the literature on social skills, accumulating information from the Internet, and interviewing professionals from Butte County Behavioral Health and youth in our community. We found that there was a need to focus on resiliency in youth. Through our research we discovered many different ideas on what builds resiliency in youth. 
    One idea that we gained through reviewing the literature was that schools need to be a caring environment. Research has shown that if there is one positive adult role model in the life of a child, it can make a difference on their future success. Many positive adult role models that youth have access to are their teachers and coaches at school. Another important aspect is to involve parents more actively in the lives of their children. This can be done in a variety of different ways, to have positive interaction between parents and their children including: games, writing, sports, and community activities. It is important that we point out and focus on the strengths that youth possess. We also found that substance abuse has a large impact on youth. Often from a family member's abuse or peer pressures that youth encounter on a daily basis. 

Description of the Intervention

    Through our interviews we gained a list of possible group members that would benefit from a social skills group. We became aware of an event that the Sports Haven in Paradise was hosting called the LIFE (Lasting Ideas for Family Empowerment) Conference. We contacted the Sports Haven and received flyers to send out with our letters to possible group members. We proceeded to call perspective group members and explain to them and their families what the LIFE Conference would offer. We let the parents know that we would be able to provided transportation to and from the conference.
    The LIFE Conference was an all day event that was held on March 11, 2000, it was designed to promote positive family interaction and communication. The event was sponsored by many community organizations. Breakfast and lunch were provided and the first two hundred children received T-shirts. There was an orientation at the beginning of the day and the Mayor of Paradise came to speak and now March 11th is recognized as a special day for families in the town of Paradise. After orientation there was a calendar of events to choose from, including a demonstration form Haley's Martial Arts, and presentations on Conflict Resolution, Your Family and the Internet, Nutrition, School Yard Safety, A Game of Life Choices, Red Cross Water Safety, and a few others to choose from.
    Members from our group choose to attend the demonstration put on by Haley's Martial Arts. It was, by far, the most popular with our group and many other participants. The group members were given a hands on lesson about self-defense. We attended the presentation on conflict resolution; many participants gave real life examples of conflicts that they have experienced and the group as whole-offered resolutions. Our group also played the game of life. There were six groups total; we were asked to pick a family name. The six groups competed in answering questions about decision making. Each question had three possible answers and each was given a points value. For each point, one gained, they moved one space. At the end the game leaders said that there were no winners or losers in the game of life. The group that was in last place got a one-month pass to Sports Haven. The last event was water safety. In this event one of our group members was chosen to be a demonstrator and get in the pool. After the water safety class, the group was allowed to have a free swim.

Evaluation of the Intervention

We felt that even though transportation, breakfast and lunch were included that our participation was low. We sent out twenty invitations, and we had a group of five members. We provided transportation for two of the members. The Sports Haven also had expected a larger turnout from the community. We feel that the reason the attendance was low was possibly due to the fact that this was the first LIFE Conference to be held. We expect that next years turn out will be better.

Reflections on the Project

We felt that the group members we took to the event benefited from the day. The participants the group that we took to the Life Conference was youth who have not been very outgoing or have not participated in community activities. Two of the participants do not have a large social network and we were happy to see that they were able to become friends through out the day. The event was held from 8:30 to 5:00 and our group found this to be an extremely long day. We felt the community did a great job in participating and donating to this cause. We feel that it is important that the community recognizes families and their needs. We felt that we brought a few families together in a positive way, because they chose to come on their own to the event with their child instead of their child coming as part of our group. 

References

Bernard, B. (1993). Fostering resiliency in kids. Educational Leadership. 51(3), 44-51.

DeMar, J. (1997). A school-based intervention to strengthen personal and social

Competencies in latency-age children. Social Work in Education. 19 (4), 219-232.

Desetta, A., Wolin, S. (1998). Youth communication: a model program for fostering resilience through the art of writing. Resiliency in Action. 71-73. Retrieved October 16, 1999 form the World Wide Web: http://www.projectresilience.com/.html

Doll, B., Lyon, M.A. (1998). Risk and resilience: implications for the delivery of educational and mental health services in school. School Psychology Review. 27(3), 348-364.

Foreman, S.G., Kalafat, J. (1998). Substance abuse and suicide: promoting resilience against self-destructive behavior in youth. School Psychology Review. 27(3), 389-407.

McMillan, J.H., Reed, D.F. (1994). At risk students and resiliency; Factors contributing to academic success. Clearing House. 67 (3), 137-140.

Sayger, T.V. (1996). Creating resilient children and empowering families using a multifamily group process. Journal for Specialists in Group Work. 21(2), 81-89.

Williams, B., Newcombe, E. (1994). Building on the strengths of urban leaders. Educational Leadership. 51 (8), 75-80.

Interviews

Clinician from Butte County Behavioral Health-Youth Services. October, 1999

Case Manger from Butte County Behavioral Health Youth Services. October, 1999

7th grade student from Paradise Intermediate School. October, 1999

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