We read articles in the paper every day about terrible acts of violence perpetrated by children and against children. We're shocked and horrified. How could this happen?

Chances are that the seeds of violence reflected in those stories were sown long ago. And chances are that from the earliest days of the perpetrators' lives, there were missed opportunities to sow seeds of promise - missed opportunities to give those young children a sense of security, a sense of connectedness, a sense of competence and power to contribute to the good of the world.

In this series we've explored the risk and protective factors that can influence whether a child becomes alienated, cynical and disengaged or caring, compassionate and responsible - or put another way, factors that are seeds of violence or seeds of promise. We've explored in depth that most powerful protective factor: a relationship with a caring, supportive adult. We've emphasized how a child's earliest relationships - especially parent-infant attachments - influence successful or unsuccessful outcomes in children. And we've seen the important role fathers play in all facets of child development and family well-being.

A striking conclusion drawn by researchers featured in all three reports is that these critical influences have an impact on a child from the moment he or she is born. By the time a child reaches school age, important patterns already have been established. The foundation of development has been laid, and repairing damage to young psyches requires tender and tenacious work. In fact, research also tells us that preventing violence and promoting successful development must begin even before a child is born, through prenatal care and support for the caregivers who will wield such a profound influence on the child's lifelong development.

A rapidly-growing number of communities around the state are taking this research to heart as they rally around their children and youth and build stronger networks of support for young families. In this, our fourth and final report in the Seeds of Promise series, we highlight several of these exciting and heartening community initiatives in hopes that they will inspire others to thoughtful action.

Children First

A philosophy - not a program - pased on time and creativity

The seed for Children First was planted five years ago when then-St. Louis Park school superintendent Carl Holmstrom challenged the Rotary Club of St. Louis Park to do something to provide greater support for all the children and youth in the area.

Two entrepreneurs in that service club took on the challenge, says the initiative's director, Karen Atkinson. One of them is now 87 years old and is still putting children first, she says with a smile. Atkinson adds that she is clear that Children First is a philosophy, not a program. It also is the first local initiative to take Search Institute's ground-breaking youth development research and transform it into community action.

The first step of the initiative was to take an inventory of youth assets in their community. The average was 16.7 out of the initial 30 Search measured. Now, she explains, Search has identified an additional 10 assets that emphasize the importance of safety and caring neighborhoods. Some may be surprised to learn that only 3 percent of youth in the suburb of St. Louis Park were reported to have 26 to 30 assets - the amount required to indicate the best prospects for successful development. "That amounts to about 35 kids or 3 percent of the students at St. Louis Park High School," says Atkinson with a grimace.

Dramatic social upheaval in the space of only one generation is why we need initiatives like Healthy Communities, an initiative started by Search to promote support of youth asset building, says Atkinson. Two-parent working families, divorce, the prevalence of out-of-home child care, and unheralded technological developments have resulted in big societal changes without much understanding about how these changes might affect kids, according to Atkinson. The working mother of two young sons, Atkinson is familiar both personally and professionally with the challenges families face today.

She's been amazed at the generosity of her community. Unlike other groups interviewed for this report, Children First hasn't encountered much trouble raising money for Atkinson's salary and activities.

"Money has fallen out of the sky," says Atkinson with a sense of wonder. Some of it has come from corporations, such as Target and General Mills. Other funds have come from area churches, and the rest is from service clubs and individuals. The office space, furniture and printing has been donated.

Atkinson says her organization hasn't pursued government funding. "We don't want to chase money that has strings attached. All of our money has come from relationships we've established in the community. People don't understand that it's a philosophy not a program. It doesn't take a lot of money. It requires time and creativity. It's almost too simple. We just need do to what we naturally feel we should do for kids."

Children First's Philosophy at Work

Here are examples of some of the activities that have resulted from putting children first in St. Louis Park.

• Seven African American sophomores are providing motivation, tutoring and friendship to encourage younger minority students to succeed in school.
  

• A group studying youth health issues recommended that the local school district and health providers open a free medical clinic. As a result, all school-aged children in a low-income neighborhood have been immunized.
  

• A business woman started a mentor program for junior high school girls. Twenty-five students have been matched with 25 women with whom they regularly discuss their hopes and fears.
  

  z During their sport's season, the high school girls' basketball team members read to children every Saturday morning at the public library.
  

• A caring florist provided flowers to children in a low-income housing complex to give to their moms on Mother's Day.
  

• A local church has arranged for 40 students from a local elementary school to participate in a free after-school program once a week.

Cass County/Leech Lake Reservation makes full-service family centers a reality

One Vision for Families

Four - almost five - family centers are located in geographically accessible sites throughout Cass County - an area about the size of Rhode Island located in north central Minnesota. Only five short years ago, the vision for these family centers was simply to help communities build strong families, and the physicial reality of the centers was only a dream.

While many visions falter in the face of real challenges, the Children's Initiative, a movement to make services more accessible to families, has gained momentum along the way. Community leaders from many sectors have remained focused on their imperative to restructure how services are delivered, according to Jim Clark, director of the initiative.

"The idea of being able to change the system was really appealing to the people of Cass County," says Clark, who describes the population as progressive. Faced with out-of-home child placement costs, which tripled to $1,500,000 between 1988 and 1994, the initiative has branded its mission "building a framework for change."

The initiative was quietly launched in 1992 by a core planning team of county commissioners, social service agency personnel, school officials, Leech Lake Reservation leaders and others. They were approached by the State of Minnesota to consider serving as a systems redesign pilot project for delivering human services to families. This was viewed as a tremendous opportunity to participate in developing a new way of providing services that would reflect the needs of families and children, not institutions and agencies, according to Clark.

The planning team expanded to include a broad cross section of child and family-serving agencies, as well as communities and organizations serving Cass County and the Leech Lake Reservation. With support from the state and funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the group carefully laid the groundwork. The goal was to shift the focus of service delivery away from county agencies to community centers, based on local input. To facilitate this, a network of five area family councils, linked geographically to the project's five member school districts, was created.

Then the network of four area family resource centers was planned. The first center, the Pillager Area Family Center, opened its doors in November 1993. A year later the Cass Lake Family Center was inaugurated, and in 1995 the Remer/Longville Family center began operations. By June 1996 the Pine River Family Center was in business. A fifth family center, which will be located in Walker, is expected to open by the end of this year. The centers are located in a variety of buildings: Pillager's is in a community center; Remer/Longville's is in a school; Cass Lake's center is owned by the county; and Pine River's is owned by the Children's Initiative.

As Clark explains it, our goal is to make the best possible use of existing resources and to link with existing services. With this in mind, the initiative created an integrated fund through an interagency agreement with seven partner entities. About a million dollars from these partners funded the initiative during 1996. The funds include a combination of state and federal grant dollars, county and school district levy dollars and other contributions. The initiative has prepared a document, entitled "Sharing the Vision," as a model agreement for other collaboratives as they work to develop a shared funding mechanism for their projects.

Clark says he's been inspired by the commitment to serve young families in a healthier, more efficient way and by the process that generated the initiative. "If there's going to be change," he says, "it has to be demanded by the local people." The most obvious benefit is that each community gets to decide how to spend resources on its most pressing needs, according to Clark.

In Pillager, they've created a drop-in child care center, so parents can go to the doctor or the grocery store without the kids or out for entertainment on Saturday nights. In Cass Lake, they've used the resources to meet families' basic needs through a used clothing and furniture center. In Remer/Longville, they've worked to increase the connections between Early Childhood Family Education and the local schools to promote school readiness. They've also worked to involve senior citizens in their programs. And in Pine River/Backus, the local family council identified a strong community interest in providing better access for citizens to courthouse services, including veterans' services, a sheriff's office, as well as chemical dependency and income maintenance counseling.

"We can make a shift in the way decisions are made if we begin at the grass roots level," concludes Clark. While he admits it's too early to know the full extent of the initiative's impact, costs for out-of-home placement declined by $110,000 in 1996 thanks to prevention efforts, including the addition of family/youth counselors in the five school districts, a collaborative day treatment program for adolescents, a juvenile diversion project for first-time minor offenders and community violence prevention programming.

Nurturing Seeds of Promise

A Checklist for Communities to Make a Difference for their Children

1. All residents take personal responsibility for building assets in children and adolescents.

2. The community thinks and acts intergenerationally.

3. The community builds a consensus on values and boundaries, which it works to articulate

and model.

4. All children and teenagers engage regularly in service to others.

5. Families are supported, educated, and equipped to make asset building a top priority.

6. All children and teenagers receive frequent expressions of support in both informal settings

and in places where youth gather.

7. Neighborhoods are places of caring, support and safety.

8. Schools at all levels promote caring, clear boundaries, and sustained relationships

with adults.

9. Businesses establish family-friendly policies and embrace asset-building principles for

young employees.

10. All 10 to 18 year olds are involved in one or more clubs, teams or other

youth-serving organizations.

11. The media communicate the community's vision, support local efforts

and provide forums for sharing innovative action.

12. All professionals and volunteers who work with youth receive training in asset building.

13. Youth have opportunities to serve, lead and make decisions.

14. Religious institutions determine ways to build assets both within their own programs

and in the community.

15. Everyone works together to ensure that the community-wide commitment to asset building is long-term and sustained.

These ideas originally appeared in "Healthy Communities, Healthy Youth," a publication by Search Institute. They are reprinted with permission.

Moorhead Immigration issues challenge Minnesota border town

The minority population in Moorhead schools has grown from 2 to 15 percent of the total in the short span of 10 years. Today, there are more than 15 languages spoken in the city's school districts. These are big changes for an area formerly populated by 99 percent Scandinavian and German descendants.

Not surprisingly, there have been some significant tolerance and integration issues, according to Minnesota Extension Service (MES) Educator Nancy Frosaker Johnson. In the early 1990s, the Moorhead school district was charged with discriminating against some of its Hispanic students. There also have been incidents of gang violence and a drive-by shooting in Fargo involving five Hispanic youth (some from Moorhead) who shot and killed a Caucasian woman.

These incidents and the resulting negative media attention catapulted the county extension office, mayor, the school superintendent and other community leaders into action. They invited a delegation from Search Institute headed by its president, Peter Benson, to provide assistance. In November 1994, about 100 community leaders were invited to a meeting where Benson and others recommended an ongoing initiative to promote developmental assets for area youth. Three months later, a Search Institute survey of assets was administered to all students in grades six through 12. In April 1995, more than 400 community members showed up at a town meeting to learn the results of that survey.

"We found our community isn't that much different than many others," says Frosaker Johnson. Out of the 30 assets Search monitored at that time to determine prospects for successful outcomes in youth, the students in Fargo/Moorhead averaged about 16. The biggest concerns were grouped into six areas, and the community enthusiastically formed asset teams to address the following needs: after-school programs; neighborhood safety; promotion of intergenerational relationships; encouragement of positive values; ways to offer positive parenting education; and support for youth service opportunities.

In less than a year the Moorhead Healthy Community Initiative (MHCI) was born - launched by an active board of 27 community members who represent a broad cross-section of the population. Staffed by a full-time coordinator and a half-time assistant, the group's list of accomplishments is long and varied. In 1996 alone, MHCI provided more than 13,000 area citizens with information about promoting the positive development of children and youth, launched a community-wide after-school enrichment program, and earned national attention through a feature article in The Christian Science Monitor.

After-school programming is the centerpiece of the Moorhead initiative and a potential model for other communities that recognize unstructured time between 3 and 6 p.m. can lead to trouble for children and teens left unsupervised. Youth-serving organizations working with MCHI on after-school activities realize the programs are far more than a solution to a problem - the activities provide an opportunity for youth to give back to their community.

The activities - all of which are free - include everything from service clubs to "math mania" to chess club and cartooning. The programs were developed after fourth through eighth graders were surveyed to find out their interests. The first choice was working with animals, the second was swimming, and the third was drawing. All of the choices have been incorporated into the after school programming. One of the most innovative programs, 4-H's "Happy Trails with Happy Tails," involves junior high students who take pets to visit nursing home residents.

Funding for these initiatives has come from a variety of sources. And as Frosaker Johnson points out, the total budget of less than $130,000 isn't an extraordinary sum considering what the community has accomplished. The majority ($85,000) came from state funds. The remainder came from individuals and the city government. Finding ongoing funding may prove more challenging, however, worries MHCI Coordinator Dianna Hatfield.

She has fewer concerns about the momentum of MHCI. "People from throughout the country have a hard time understanding what's happening in our community and how we are mobilizing citizens and institutions to provide more developmental assets for our youth. Indeed, I often feel more awe than understanding in my day-to-day work."

In addition to working with Search Institute, Moorhead has tapped other resources to support efforts to strengthen the communities and the schools. They received funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts to increase awareness of diversity issues and to promote cultural diversity. This has funded a variety of programs - ranging in magnitude from the hiring of a coordinator of youth diversity to the formation of La Casa de la Juventud, a group for Hispanic youth, to minority activity scholarships, to dances to encourage various youth groups to socialize in a positive manner.

In addition, Moorhead Schools asked for assistance from MES to develop a strategic plan to guide them through the next five years. MES issued its "plan for planning" in mid-1996. It included a strong emphasis on focus groups both in the schools and in the community. The groups included all sectors of the community.

"I know all of this sounds wonderful," says Frosaker Johnson. "But we've spent a lot of time in meetings sorting out missions and a lot of time in communities explaining the purpose of each initiative." This collaboration has paid off in a myriad of ways. "We've really moved beyond our respective turfs," she says, "and learned how our youth-serving groups can complement each other."

Research shows 9 characteristics of effective community programs

Community Based

Programs need to recognize that children are part of a family and community. Programs that encourage neighborhood and school involvement help communities respond to the needs of individuals and families.

Comprehensive

Programs that provide continuous interaction with competent, caring adults and peers are more effective than programs designed solely for crisis situations. Addressing the educational, health, social and emotional needs of individuals, parents and children in a collaborative manner is most effective.

Empowering

Programs that provide nurturing connections with others help individuals and families learn about community resources and link them to the world of work. Successful programs encourage clients to shape their own "interventions."

Complex

Programs must focus on causes - addressing symptoms is not enough. Early intervention and crisis prevention should be emphasized. Addressing barriers to change supports individuals and families to become part of the decision-making process.

Culturally Relevant

Programs that respect individual and cultural differences build strengths in the clients they serve. Addressing barriers and accommodating different learning styles helps build a broad resource base for problem solving.

Collaborative

Programs need to involve multiple agencies, organizations, and citizens. Coordination with existing services helps integrate programs into communities.

Intergenerational

Programs that value resiliency use an encouragement model that takes an intergenerational approach to build on family strengths. Programs that provide parent education can help families acquire basic skills and promote informal support among peers.

Accountable

Programs need regular assessment to make services more responsive to families and to justify financial investment.

These principles and characteristics were outlined in a report on "Family Resiliency: Building Strengths to Meet Life's Challenges," which was published by the National Network for Family Resiliency; Children, Youth and Families Network; and CSREES-USDA in July 1995.

Lyndale neighborhood focuses on assets

Building on strengths

A third of the residents living in Lyndale neighborhoods are at or below the poverty line. But instead of focusing on the challenges of poverty, the Lyndale Neighborhood Association (LNA) builds on the rich diversity of its residents. The association recognizes that strong families need to be supported by strong communities - ones that are economically sufficient and safe for residents and visitors.

"We are rebuilding the social fabric of this community," explains Sean Gosiewski, LNA resource coordinator. "We approach social capital or human resources the way companies approach developing financial capital." This is especially important in a neighborhood that is usually viewed by insiders and outsiders alike as "needy." By shifting this paradigm, residents are more positive and enthusiastic.

Indeed, the Lyndale neighborhood appears more active and connected than some of the more affluent neighborhoods bordering it. A guide to resources and activities compiled by LNA includes countless ways for residents to get involved in their community - without attending a meeting!

Gosiewski and LNA executive coordinator, Joe Barisonzi, use Building Communities from the Inside Out, written by John Kretzmann and John McKnight from Northwestern University, as a template for planning and fundraising. Gosiewski's copy of the book is dog eared.

The paperback text suggests five steps toward whole community mobilization. Its authors are quick to point out that these steps don't necessarily add up to a complete blueprint for asset-based community development. Instead, they're intended to identify some of the major challenges facing community builders and to point toward a path to mobilize an entire community's assets around a vision and a plan. The authors say such a path should include at least the following five basic steps:

• Mapping capacities and assets of individuals, citizens' associations and local institutions.
  

• Building relationships among local assets for mutually beneficial problem-solving.
  

• Mobilizing fully the community's assets for economic development and information sharing purposes.
  

• Convening a broadly representative group to build a community vision and plan.
  

• Leveraging activities, investments and resources from outside the community to support asset-based, locally-defined development.

Houses of worship are local institutions that play an integral role in the health of the Lyndale community. LNA shares physical space with the Church of New Life, and Zion Lutheran Church has been located in the heart of the Lyndale neighborhood for more than 100 years. The church membership includes neighbors from throughout the city. Barisonzi credits the church for its extraordinary commitment to the Lyndale area. In fact, seven years ago, Zion supported its pastor, Bruce Westphal, to spend 25 percent of his time organizing the neighborhood. His efforts were the impetus for creating LNA.

As changes from federal welfare reform trickle down, Barisonzi and Gosiewski are hopeful that their neighborhood will not only survive but thrive. They realize it will take an enormous change in perspective - not only from the residents of their community but from government officials and philanthropic funders. Their biggest challenge is to reduce isolation and get families connected, which is particularly difficult due to how often families move in search of better housing. But LNA has found ways to encourage collaboration. Today 16 social service groups work together through a provider network to set neighborhood priorities and promote outreach to families in need.

"We aren't a needy basket case waiting to be fixed," says Gosiewski. Lyndale neighbors want a chance to be leaders and partners in initiatives designed to alleviate the poverty that plagues their neighborhood.

Statewide resources to support research based community initiatives

Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) is available in more than 350 school districts in Minnesota and four tribal schools. This covers more than 99 percent of the state. Local programs serve families with children through age four. Typical classes provide separate parent and child activities, with a period at the end of each session for parent and child interaction. ECFE is part of the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning. Calls can be directed to 612-296-8414. Correspondence should be sent to ECFE, 992 Capitol Square, 550 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55101.

The Minnesota Extension Service (MES) is a lifeline from the University of Minnesota to 90 communities throughout the state. MES was involved in several Greater Minnesota community initiatives featured in this report. MES offers a myriad of community education programs, including violence prevention, parenting education, and child and youth development. MES offices are listed in local government sections of telephone books under "Minnesota Extension Service or (County Name) Extension Service." The MES web site with an extensive library of current information on parenting and family issues can be found at http://www. mes.umn.edu

Search Institute was a resource for several communities featured in this report. Search works with communities to translate research into useful programs to promote asset development in youth. Call 612-376-8955 to find out more about ways Search can help your community support successful youth development or to obtain publications explaining youth asset development.

Way to Grow (WTG) works with expectant parents and those with young children (newborn to age 6) to promote school readiness. In collaboration with other child-serving agencies, WTG introduces young families and parents to each other and to resources and services. Information is provided via phone or home visits. WTG sites are located throughout Minneapolis. For more information, call Ann Tressel, associate director, at 612-377-1012.

Minnesota Coalition for Family Policy's goal is to provide timely and objective information to influence public policy to strengthen all families and society. The network of family service organizations and University of Minnesota departments does this by sponsoring programs and sharing publications about how policy initiatives affect families with policymakers, the general public and organization members. To obtain membership information, call 612-222-0161, ext. 111.

Policies must support services at the local level

The winds of change have been blowing hard against social service systems throughout the U.S. and in Minnesota in particular. As we talked with heads of initiatives for children and families, extension educators and legislators, we heard a recurring theme: Services work best if they're provided at the local level.

People in neighborhoods and towns are best equipped to decide what programs to sponsor, how to spend money and how to round up the volunteers needed to support community programs.

In 1993, Gov. Arne Carlson and the Minnesota Legislature made a strong move to support local-based services when they provided funding for family services collaboratives. It was their hope that by providing incentives for better coordination of services, more babies and children would be healthy, greater percentages of children would come to school ready to learn, more families would be able to provide a healthy and stable environment for their children, and lastly, greater percentages of children throughout the state could excel in basic academic skills. More than $8 million was allocated in 1993 to begin this initiative. Two years later, $14.5 million was appropriated to continue this initiative.

Collaborative grants are available to communities that have developed measurable goals and a comprehensive plan to integrate and improve services for children and families. Almost 50 grants have been awarded to date, with service delivery areas representing almost 85 percent of Minnesota children.

Local service providers are worried that they may inherit more responsibility than they can handle as the effects of new federal welfare reform trickle down to the state level and on to individual communities. While little is certain when it comes to welfare reform, it will be imperative for all communities - urban, suburban and rural - to ensure children and families don't slip through the cracks.

Many of the protective factors outlined in this series of reports go well beyond the domain of government control: secure parent-infant attachment, the ongoing involvement of caring adults, development of at least one area of competence, service to others, and affiliation with a religious community. Certainly government policy can influence these and the other protective factors we've named (prenatal care and connectedness to school), but it is the community of family members, neighborhoods, and local organizations that can make the biggest difference for most children and families.