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606 - Empower Youth and Families to Achieve Social, Economic and Educational Success
Situation: It is both shortsighted and expensive to focus attention and resources on interventions directed entirely at troubled youth with acute problems. It is much more effective to focus attention on holistic approaches that prevent problems and reduce cost to society by strengthening the resiliency of youth and families and enabling them to overcome adversity.. Research demonstrates that increasing “protective factors” for young people and their families is effective in reducing risk behaviors such as substance abuse, violence, school dropout, and delinquency. In 2002, 16.7% of Washington’s children lived in poverty. (Washington Counts in the 21st Century). Poverty exacerbates other risk factors, and is the central reason that many children and families experience physical and emotional abuse, neglect, poor health, substance abuse, early pregnancy and violence. Children and youth need to be in environments where they have the opportunity to acquire the basic skills needed to become responsible family and community members, participants in the workforce and contributing citizens. An emerging situation in Washington is the record high level of deployment of National Guard and Reserve troops. Currently, 46% of Washington’s National Guard members are deployed for up to 555 days. Children with parents in the military face unique challenges when their parents are deployed for extended periods. These unique challenges are often not well understood by teachers and others such as counselors and clerics. It is difficult for youth in military families to connect with other youth, caring adults, and community programs and services, which are sensitive to their specific situations and needs.
Sub-Goals:
6.1 Reduce risky behaviors by improving decision making, communication, and leadership and by increasing wise use of resources and acceptance of differences while developing useful and marketable skills, healthy lifestyle choices, self-responsibility and related lifeskills of youth and adults.
6.2 Increase the level of formal educational attainment among Washington youth and adults.
6.3 Increase rates of family bonding and child success.
6.4 Increase readiness for science, engineering and technology among youth.
6.5 Improve quality and safety of child care.
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