Project Evident strives to put practitioners in the driver’s seat when it comes to building evidence for their programs. This doesn’t mean they need to become statisticians or data wizards. Even small programs without data expertise can run small tests of change to continuously improve—and build evidence for—their programs. This webinar will give a practical overview to get you started on continuous improvement. Objectives: Webinar attendees will: Learn how to identify problems and measure targets for continuous improvement. Go through a working example of root cause analysis as a tool for identifying and prioritizing potential changes. Gain guidance in assessing changes, qualitatively and quantitatively Presenters: Gregor Thomas, Project Evident, Director of Data and Evidence Science, Mississippi Who should attend: All organization leaders responsible for overseeing and measuring effective program delivery, i.e. program directors, program managers, facilitators, and evaluators. When: Wednesday, October 14, 2020, 4:00 pm Eastern/1:00 pm Pacific Duration: 60…
Relationship Education
September 9, 2020 @ 1:00 pm Pacific Developmentally, one of the ways adolescents explore who they are is through romantic relationships. How adolescents approach these relationships is influenced by the relationships modeled around them. While some youth may have witnessed and learned about positive couple interactions from good models, many may have witnessed only poor models of couple relationships. Educational programs on healthy relationships can help youth develop skills to make smart relationship choices and avoid risky behaviors. Since 2008, the University of Georgia along with Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H Extension agents, in partnership with schools and community agencies across 76 counties, have delivered Relationship Smarts PLUS to nearly 15,000 youth. Overall, participating youth have reported increases in knowledge, confidence that they can use the skills learned, likeliness to use these skills, and positive feelings about themselves. Join Dr. Ted Futris and Cindy Sheram as they share their…
We are starting this school year with many questions. Will we teach students in classrooms? Or, will we engage them via ZOOM? (Based on current conditions, ZOOM looks more and more likely.) Our big question is… how do we effectively teach relationship skills virtually? In March, Dibble convened a working group of clients who were moving instruction online. Together, we created this free Online Teaching Toolkit. Join us in a conversation with several experienced practitioners who were part of that effort to learn how they successfully moved their instruction in Dibble materials into the virtual world. Objectives: Webinar attendees will gain guidance in: The points to consider when developing an online teaching approach. Tips for keeping young people engaged in online learning. The apps and tools that enhance core concepts. Best practices for online facilitation. Presenters: Tracy Barber, Aiming for Healthy Families, Mississippi John Lewis, Urban Strategies, California Jonelle Zachary, Healthy Visions, Ohio Alexander Chan,…
Mission West Virginia, Inc., a non-profit, has been providing services to youth and families across West Virginia for over 22 years. The THINK Program (Teaching Health Instead of Nagging Kids) has been providing teen pregnancy prevention, healthy relationship education, and positive youth development for over 12 years, reaching over 100,000 middle- and high-school-aged youth. The THINK Program currently utilizes several Dibble programs to impact teen pregnancy. During this webinar, Jill Gwilt will discuss the THINK Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, which utilizes Love Notes EBP 2.1. Specifically, she will cover how they were able to scale up their large program in a rural area. Additionally, she will discuss how the curricula were chosen, how they developed long-standing partnerships, the importance of youth voices, creation of community groups, and more. Objectives: What “scale up” actually means out in the field. How to build and maintain long-lasting grant programs in rural areas. How…
The impact of financial poverty has been a focus of researchers for decades. In this webinar Dr. Sarah Halpern-Meekin, author of “Social Poverty: Low-income Parents and the Struggle for Family and Community Ties,” examines another dimension of poverty that has been considerably understudied: social poverty. Social poverty, or lacking adequate of close, dependable, and trusting relationships, is an often-ignored form of hardship that is separate from financial poverty. Developing healthy relationship skills and coping mechanisms through relationship education may help address social poverty. Join us as Dr. Halpern-Meekin discusses the relational and emotional dimensions of poverty and the benefits relationship education has to offer. Specifically, webinar attendees will learn: To identify what social poverty is, and how it may motivate participation in relationship education How programs can purposefully try to build participants’ social resources Presenter: Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison….
Hear how three agencies that use different funding streams utilize relationship education to meet youth where they are in order to help them to prepare for healthy lives and futures. These organizations use Dibble’s programs to build protective factors so the youth can communicate effectively in jobs, set safe boundaries in relationships, make healthy decisions about their love lives. These agencies serve young people in schools, transitional living homes, and community-based settings. Attendees will: Understand the needs of vulnerable youth Demonstrate how relationship education meets vulnerable youth where they are Learn about best practices used in diverse settings Presenters Panel: Mina Koplin – Salt Lake County, SLC, UT (SLC) – TLP Funded Emily Spruill – Advocates for Children/Flowering Branch, Cartersville, GA – ILP through VOCA funding Reta Johnson – Family Center, Little Rock, AR – PREP Funded Resources: September 2019 Webinar PPT
Peer relationships, particularly friendships, area critical context for development during adolescence. In the relationships, adolescents learn important relationship skills (e.g.,conflict management, empathy) that can impact their later romantic relationships. In this webinar, we will explore how adolescents build relationship skills through friendships and discuss the implications friendships have for later romantic relationships. Specifically, webinar attendees will learn: The core features of and relationship skills learned in friendships. How relationship skills learned in friendships affect later romantic relationships. How relationship education can improve friendship quality and the quality of romantic relationships. Presenter: Kathleen Hlavaty, Ph.D.Project Manager and Research Associate with Military Families Learning Network, Auburn University. Resources: May 2019 Webinar PPT
More than Conquerors, Inc. (MTCI) is nonprofit social service provider in Conyers, Georgia, with a long history of delivering relationship education to high school students. With funding from the Office of Family Assistance at the Administration for Children and Families, MTCI is currently partnering with staff from Mathematica Policy Research and Public Strategies to deliver and evaluate the Relationship Smarts PLUS curriculum in two Atlanta-area high schools. In this webinar, Phillippia and Brian will discuss emerging lessons from the evaluation and MTCI’s long history of serving youth. The lessons include MTCI’s process for hiring, training, and supporting facilitators to achieve optimal student engagement and impact. They will also include general tips for selecting a curriculum, engaging youth, and making the content relevant for students. Specifically, webinar attendees will learn: The steps and characteristics prioritized when hiring facilitators. How to select the right curriculum for your population. How to engage youth in…
Marline Pearson, author of Love Notes and Relationship Smarts PLUS, will make the case why a 4thR is needed for increasing student success. Learn why relationship education must be a central tool to help young people reach their school, work, and family goals by increasing their agency over their love lives. She will cover recent research and share evidence-based solutions to the pressing problems that face today’s youth. Attendees will: Identify at least 2 key reasons why relationship education is key to helping students succeed. Describe current trends that could be reversed by teaching relationship education. Identify 2 evidence based strategies that could be implemented to help students succeed. Presenter: Marline E. Pearson, M.A., Author, Love Notes and Relationship Smarts PLUS. Resources: February 2019 Webinar PPT
Relationship education targets common correlates of adolescent dating violence, such as gender role beliefs and dating violence acceptance. However, few studies to date have evaluated the influence of relationship education on these two correlates of adolescent dating violence and none have considered the differential and combined effects of participants’ sociodemographic characteristics. In this webinar we will present a study examining the impact of youth relationship education, specifically the Relationship Smarts PLUS program, on adolescents’ gender role beliefs and dating violence acceptance. Moving beyond the current literature, we will also examine whether and how individuals’ sociodemographic identities, specifically their gender, race, and socioeconomic status, influence change following program participation. Using this information, we will offer suggestions for educators and program developers to further address the needs of youth moving forward Presenter: Rachel Savasuk-Luxton, Ph.D., Research Specialist and Master Trainer, The Dibble Institute. Resources: September 2018 Webinar PPT
Looking for new ways to fund your relationship education work? Take a look at the new Teen Pregnancy Prevention funding opportunities with Aaron Larson, Dibble’s Director of Programs and former staff at the Department of Health and Human Services. He will go over the basics of applying for federal funding plus he will also take a look at the Sexual Risk Avoidance (SRA) and Sexual Risk Reduction (SRR) adaptations of Love Notes (found to be one of the most effective teen pregnancy prevention programs) and Relationship Smarts PLUS. Both programs are currently being successfully used for teen pregnancy prevention in federally funded Sexual Risk Avoidance Education grants. Presenter: Aaron Larson, Director of Programs, The Dibble Institute
The field of couple and relationship education is dominated by a focus on helping committed couples strengthen their relationship. In this webinar we will review several lines of research to argue that the relationship education field should give greater priority to youth relationship education — individually oriented relationship literacy education for adolescents and young adults. Serious problems are common in adolescent and young adult romantic relationships and increasing numbers of youth follow paths from adolescence to marriage that make it harder for them to form and sustain a healthy marriage. Early evidence on the effectiveness of individually oriented youth relationship education provides some reason for optimism. The webinar will conclude by exploring implications of this proposed shift in the field for practice and policy. Participants will learn: How the RE field historically has been dominated by a focus on committed couples. A research-based argument for why it can be problematic…
Now that you have figured out how to deliver excellent, evidence based pregnancy prevention instruction, how about your adult preparation topics? Join PREP Pregnancy Prevention Grant sub-awardees to learn how they are using Dibble evidence based materials to successfully teach the Adult Preparation topics. Learn how to: select the program that best engages your audience and adapt the material to meet your needs for time and topic. Presenters Panel: Felicia Tuggle, LMSW, PREP Director, Georgia Department of Human Services, Atlanta Dr. Ted Curtis, PH.D. CFLE, Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens Lisa Smith, RN, MSN, IBCLC, University of Utah Adolescent Services, Clinical Nurse at Teen Mom/Teen Health Clinic Robyn McLymont, Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Senior Program Manager, OIC of South Florida Delano Grant, PREP Educator, OIC of South Florida Resources: RSBPBRBP_Connection RSMAD_Connection RSMPC_Connection RSRR_Connection
Learn the effectiveness of teaching relationship skills along with job preparation skills. Hear what works in creating an environment for students to comfortably engage in meaningful discussion—essential for facilitating successful relationship skills education. Through the use of The Dibble Institute curricula they will show how students can self-assess the healthiness of their relationships, learn skills to strengthen them, and set goals for the future. Presenters: Jo Anne Eason, Building Brighter Future Program Director, Dibble Institute and Vice President, Communications and Marketing, Public Strategies and Briana Levin, Health Program Coordinator of CCEO YouthBuild