CURRENT PROJECTS
Our Youth Development Resource Portal is being developed thanks to a grant from the Pallottine Foundation’s Healthy Communities Initiative.
IDN YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PORTAL
Funded by the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington (first in 2021 and annually thereafter), Inspiring Dreams Network continues to develop our youth development resource portal to provide free resources to support youth in areas they commonly struggle with and often do not know where to turn to get the support and information they need. The portal serves three primary groups families, youth-serving adults, and youth who are impacted by poverty, substance use, dysfunctional families, adjudication issues, school suspensions, academic underachievement, and trauma. These youth often lack adequate family and community support to achieve wellness and inspiration for success.
The need for online resources has increased post-pandemic as prolonged exposure to the Covid 19 epidemic resulted in increased mental health struggles, including anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, social-emotional relationship struggles, academic disengagement and a lack of vision for their own futures. Our goal is to make IDN's youth portal a one-stop shop where our youth and the families and adults who support them can go to get support resources and help with issues they are experiencing. Our goal is to have the IDN Youth Development Portal become a common household resource for youth and families in need and the community organizations who serve them.
All of our resources go through a vetting process by experts in the field, ensuring that when our stakeholders go to our site that the resources are reliable and offer best practice, high quality support resources. The resources include a variety of media, including info graphics, games, videos, websites, curriculum, camps. event announcements, and so forth. The resources will be listed first by Broad category (academic supports, social-emotional development, and career investigation and planning) and then by sub-topics to help users drill down to specific topics. This year’s project includes funding for a full-time VISTA Volunteer, Project Coordination, Resource Vetting, and support for our webmaster to continuing designing pages, posting new resources, and removing outdated links and resources.
SUPPORTING AT-RISK YOUTH THROUGH
COACHING & COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: Afterschool Program Training Initiative
This project provides training in positive, supportive youth development to staff and volunteers in 27 afterschool programs in Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, and Putnam counties to build their capacity to better support at-risk youth. Afterschool programs serve some of our most at-risk youth. Providers report their students are exhibiting more behavioral, mental health, social, and academic struggles than ever before. Research shows that afterschool programs are a lifeline for West Virginia youth who are impacted by trauma, poverty, the opioid epidemic, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). “Afterschool and summer programs are proven to support healthy youth development, keep kids safe, and prevent drug use. The experiences young people have in afterschool help them build confidence, self-control, resilience, healthy relationships and life skills. These protective factors play a critical role in preventing drug use and other risky behaviors.” (WV Afterschool Network,2024). This project provides training by certified and expert trainers to help frontline staff implement best practices in supportive youth development aimed at changing the trajectory of these youth from at-risk to successful. Providers and staff of each program choose training topics from our training menu, ensuring training is individualized to needs of staff and students in each program.
IDN is partnering with four Afterschool Program Directors in three of The Greater Kanawha Vally Foundation Grant (TGKVFG) counties: Kanawha, Lincoln, and Putnam, and was able to add Logan County through the Claude Worthington Benedum Grant (Benedum) who is co-funding the project. IDN is working with the following partners: Step by Step (Kanawha, Lincoln and Logan counties), Star Club (Kanawha County), Tri-State YMCA (Putnam County), and Camp Appalachia (Putnam County). Through this project, staff and volunteers in each of the participating afterschool programs will receive a minimum of six “units” of in-person trainings with the opportunity for staff to participate in eight virtual training options.
A component of this program will be evaluating the impact of this training initiative on staff preparedness to better address youth needs as well as its impact on stress reduction related to working with high-risk youth. Additionally, we will assess the impact of the training of youth-serving adults on student outcomes in relation to attendance, behavior, achievement, and any social/emotional/relationship improvements. Afterschool programs have data contacts from feeder schools who collect and share aggregate data from the WV Educational Information System (WVEIS) to determine any improvements in grades and attendance and any reductions in discipline referrals. IDN is excited to partner with TGKVF and Benedum to provide this crucial training project.
CONTRACTS WITH SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS
Inspiring Dreams Network (IDN) continues to work with school systems and community agencies to provides needs-based training. Partners select from our training menu or request customized training to meet the needs of their staff, students, and organizational stakeholders. School systems have contracted with recently include Braxton, Clay, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan and Nicholas. Agencies and Organizations that IDN have provided training with include Westbrook Health Services,
West Virginia Foundation for Information and Services (FRIS), West Virginia Association for Pupil Transportation (WVAPT), Marshall University School Health Technical Assistance Center (MUSCTAC), the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), and Waynesboro University at the inaugural Pennsylvania ACES Conference. Additionally, IDN presents regularly at WV conferences, including the WV School Counselor Association Conference, WVDE School Counselor Conference, Handle with Care, WVDE Student Support Conference, and more. Contact dbarbbrady@inspiringdreamsnetwork.org if you are interested in IDN providing training for your organization.
ONGOING VIRTUAL TRAININGS IN SUPPORTIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
AND PROMOTION OF PARTNER TRAINING
As part of our goal to build a network of trained adults who are prepared to support at-risk youth, IDN offers a variety of virtual trainings based on identified needs of youth serving adults. Needs are identified by ongoing conversations with stakeholders and through data form those who complete our Training Needs Survey. We invite you to complete our survey to help us plan upcoming virtual training topics. We will be providing minimum of eight virtual training opportunities within the next year. Additionally, to meet your training needs, IDN regularly posts partner training opportunities on our Partner Training Tab. If your organization has a best practice training geared at helping adults support at-risk youth, please email training information to dbarbbrady@inspiringdreamsnetwork.org
WV REGROUNDING OUR RESPONSE (WVROR)
IDN is a collaborative partner with the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) in developing and updating the WVROR Curriculum aimed at reducing stigma and supporting drug users in substance abuse recovery. Modules include Stages of Change, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Social Determinants of Health, Medical Assisted Treatments (MAT), and Comprehensive Health Framework for Drug Users. IDN has certified trainers in each module and is a collaborative partner with RCORP, regularly delivering train-the-trainer events to build a network of master trainers who train professionals throughout the state to use evidence-based practices to effectively address the opioid epidemic in a humane, trauma-informed manner.
BUILDING YOUTH FOCUSED PARTNERSHIPS
IDN is continually connecting with other youth serving organizations to build connections to fulfill our mission “to Inspire, Develop & Nurture youth & their network to foster stronger, safer, more connected communities”. Contact DrBarbBrady@inspiringdreamsnetwork.org to inform us about your youth-serving initiatives to see how we can partner or share training opportunities and resources with our network.