About this Project

In early 2017, Jefferson County Communities That Care held focus groups with over 65 diverse youth from Jefferson County, Colorado, to find out what was behind youth substance misuse, violence, hopelessness and anxiety. What we found out was simple, and yet also profound.

Our youth need more support from trusted adults in their lives, especially parents and guardians.

Since many of us in the coalition are parents ourselves, we know that parents love their children more than anything. And we also know that sometimes finding the right words– and the right resources– can be frustrating, confusing and overwhelming. We hope that Twelve Talks to Have With Teens will be a resource for parents and guardians to “be that adult for a teen in your life.”

The big idea

Jefferson County Communities That Care offers a brief summary about one of the Twelve Talks to Have With Teens each month, along with Facebook and Twitter posts. We disseminate these to parents and caregivers through partner newsletters, email blasts, blogs, Facebook and other media. If your organization would like to provide Twelve Talks content on your website, blog, social media or newsletter, find our more here.

Obviously, Twelve Talks to Have With Teens does not encompass every topic parents and trusted adults need to discuss with youth. However, an extensive data collection project completed by Jefferson County Communities That Care in 2017 and 2018 indicates that these particular conversation topics are talks that:

Teens wish more adults would discuss with them.
Adults in Jefferson County could use tools to start the conversation and information to answer questions accurately.

Twelve Talks to Have With Teens was developed by:

Charmaine Brittain, Twelve Talks to Have With Teens Chair, University of Denver
Pamela Gould, Twelve Talks to Have With Teens Project Lead, CTC Staff, Jefferson County Public Health
Marlene Alba, Jefferson County Public Health, CTC Youth Staff
Jason Conger, Denver Family Therapy Center
Sophie Dila, University of Colorado Boulder
Chris Eberhardt, Community Member
Jamie Haney, STRIDE Community Health Center
Amy Hansen, Jefferson Center
Seth Johnson, Community Member
Kelly R. Kast, Jefferson County Public Health
Scott Lomurray, Sources of Strength
Katie Lazar, Jefferson County Public Health
Melody Maendel, Jefferson County Public Health, CTC Youth Staff
Michael Miller, Jefferson County Public Health
Marc Morgan, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Joel Newton, Jefferson County Public Health, CTC Sraff
Ethan Pierson, Jefferson County Public Health, CTC Youth Staff
Amy Sciangula, Jefferson County Human Services
Tracy Selph, Jeffco Safe Schools
Ashley Sever, Jefferson County Public Health
Nikki Work, Jefferson County Public Health
Noella Rios, Jefferson County Public Health
Kathy Smith, Jefferson Unitarian Church
Douglas Snow, Jefferson County Public Health, CTC Youth Staff
Fran Taffer, Jeffco Public Schools
Samantha Taylor, Jefferson Center
Michael Terranova, Family Tree
Heather Trish, Jefferson Center
Bing Walker, CTC Staff with Jefferson County Public Health
Kate Watkins, Jefferson County Public Health

Jefferson County Communities That Care

The Twelve Talks to Have With Teens project is a component of the Jefferson County Communities That Care initiative, a coalition made up of community members, including over 50 parents, youth, educators, government officials, behavioral health providers and business owners. Find out more about our work by watching the video below.

OUR VISION: JEFFERSON COUNTY IS A THRIVING, HEALTHY & SAFE COMMUNITY FOR OUR YOUTH.

Jefferson County Communities That Care uses a structured, evidence-based community change process focused on preventing substance misuse, violence and hopelessness/anxiety among youth by reducing risk factors and improving protective factors.

A Note About Diversity and Inclusion

Our process included members of a multitude of Jefferson County partners, including each of the “Drug-Free Communities” sectors below.

To understand issues facing Jefferson County youth, we invited local Jefferson County youth to two town halls and a series of eight focus groups. A very diverse group of young people, including multiple ethnicities, races, gender expressions and life situations, shared their thoughts with us and formed the basis of Twelve Talks to Have With Teens.

In order to make sure we reach our entire community, we are forming a team of Spanish-speaking parents, students and content experts to translate the Twelve Talks to Have With Teens content into Spanish in a culturally relevant and appropriate way. The Spanish version of Twelve Talks to Have With Teens is a priority next step for this project.

Email us at jeffersoncountyctc@gmail.com if you would like to help with this effort to create a great Twelve Talks to Have With Teens resource in Spanish.

Funding

Jefferson County Twelve Talks to Have With Teens is a project of the Jefferson County Communities That Care coalition. The project is administered by the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center and is funded through the following grant programs:

Coalitions Organizing for Prevention grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Drug-Free Communities grant from the Centers for Disease Control