Town Safety

Community Asset Development for Youth

CADY

The Asset Development Strategy

CADY (Community Asset Development for Youth) helps a community take the first main step in identifying violence and substance abuse problems and solutions.  CADY is a powerful tool that school and community coalitions can use to identify youth and community strengths (assets) to offset youth development challenges (deficits).  Research tells us that communities that help youth build assets see a corresponding decrease in youth deficits.  Bolstering assets helps build resiliency and strength to make good choices and avoid violence, substance abuse, and other negative choices.

The CADY Surveys

CADY contains 7 questionnaires that focus on answering the following questions:
Youth: Which of the core assets do youth have to counter substance abuse and violence?
Parents: Are parents emphasizing these assets to their middle or high school-aged children?
School Staff: Are school staff teaching these core assets?
Community: Are members of the community role modeling core youth assets?
Civic Officials: Do civic officials have policies to promote the core youth assets?
Coalition: Are communities organized and ready to implement CADY?
Youth Serving Organizations: What programs does the community offer that relate to core assets?

The CADY Framework

CADY targets 21 assets in three areas that are identified in the youth resiliency literature as most capable of reducing deficits.  The three areas include character, skills, and relationships.  The framework that pulls these assets together is termed Relational Diversity Theory.

The CADY framework indicates that parents, schools, community, and civic officials (police, mayors, judges, lawmakers, etc.) work together to help build positive relations with youth.  As these relationships diversify and strengthen, youth are more likely to develop in healthier ways.

The CADY Assets

Character Assets
1. Attachment to Outside Activities
2. Fear of Consequences
3. Feelings of Cultural Acceptance
4. Morality
5. Personal Attitudes against Alcohol Use
6. Personal Attitudes against Cigarette Use
7. Personal Attitudes against Inhalant Use
8. Personal Attitudes against Marijuana Use
9. Personal Attitudes against Violent Behaviors
10. Praise for Not Using
11. School Value
Skills Assets
12. Communication Competence
13. Conflict Management
14. Cultural Competence
15. Resisting Peer Pressure
Relationship Assets
16. Family Bonding and Communication
17. Other Adult Bonding and Communication
18. Positive Diverse Relationships
19. Positive Peer Influence
20. Setting Limits for Youth
21. Teacher/School Bonding and Communication

The Results

CADY's results are intended to help communities in the following ways:

Targeting Assets:  CADY targets key youth assets from the core set that impact substance use and violence in your community.  These results are also provided by school grade so communities can target programs for specific youth populations.

Identifying Key Areas of Community Support:  CADY identifies types of support from the broader community that impact targeted youth assets.

 Inventorying Local Youth Serving Programs:  CADY catalogues available programs in your community that focus on the key assets for youth.  This document helps communities understand what programs are available and also may identify gaps in services for youth.  

Building an Action Plan:  The CADY results are used to create an Action Plan by answering five key questions:

  1. What attitude deficit areas should be targeted?

  2. What assets are needed to reduce deficits?

  3. What resources are needed to bolster assets?

  4. What program outputs are desired?

  5. What outcomes and impacts should result from these efforts?

For more information about CADY contact Town Safety