Expanding the Partnership Network
Why expand the PROSPER Partnership network?
PROSPER Partnership Model Benefits Youth, Families and Communities
Local teams bring together members of the community to help accomplish a common goal in a scientifically-sound way. These teams have improved potential to collaborate on other challenges in their community. Benefits to-date include:
- Enhanced child management and family cohesion; based on earlier PPSI partnership studies expected long-term outcomes include improved, long-term youth skills and problem behavior outcomes, plus positive cost-benefit ratios, for similar programs (for more on those and other findings, visit www.ppsi.iastate.edu).
- Early on, teams have been successful in generating their own sustainability funds, as part of a larger plan for generating long-term local buy-in and funding.
- Youth participation on PROSPER teams has:
- Supported healthy youth development and engagement in community activities; and
- Contributed to youth self-efficacy and mastery.
- Teams promote greater parent involvement with schools
What would it entail?
Scaling up PROSPER Partnerships
- A large number of states have expressed interest in adopting the PROSPER model. Scaling up the partnerships requires:
- State-focused replication projects that brings PROSPER to new states—to address a range of youth development and problem-behaviors.
- The development of infrastructure to support additional partnerships. PPSI (ISU) and the Prevention Research
Center (PSU) will provide informational materials, technical assistance, and a structure for partnership networking.
- The infrastructure for a national network of partnerships—PPRN (PROSPER Partnership Replications Network)—would include closely-linked centers for information dissemination, technical assistance, and multi-site research.
- PPRN could then address other public health issues in which evidence-based interventions can be best implemented through community partnerships.
