Dr. Sandra Morgan and Dave Stachowiak talk about TAG, which stands for “Think, Act, Grow.” TAG is a “multi-sector approach that challenges organizations and professionals to improve adolescent health through a strengths-based, positive youth development approach that emphasizes youth engagement.”
Key Points

The TAG initiative acknowledges the limitations of the adolescent brain but it also focuses on the unique strengths that adolescents bring.
Adolescents are very quick to learn.
How do you use the ability to learn quickly as a point of resilience for adolescents?
There is now a rush to create a curriculum to support adolescents, but many of the creators don’t understand the whole picture.
Prevention usually has the least amount of resources devoted to it.
Adolescents can easily find information, but they need help processing it.
Risk can be a positive thing because it leads to growth.
Youth leading youth is much better than adults telling them what to do.

Resources

109: Prevention – Saving up for a Rainy Day
The Adolescent Brain videos
TAG Toolkit
Teen drug abuse facts
The Power of the Adolescent Brain
The Power of the Adolescent Brain - Discussion Guide
The Power of the Adolescent Brain - Additional Resources
National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens

2018 Ensure Justice Conference
Click here to register!
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Transcript
Dave: [00:00:00] You're listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 158, Health and Human Services: TAG Think Act Grow.

Production Credits: [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:36] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, make a difference in ending human trafficking, and not duplicate the things other people are doing right, Sandie.

Sandie: [00:00:50] That's right.

Dave: [00:00:52] We talk a lot on this show about the desire that all of us have to help and to serve. And in particular around the challenges of this issue the willingness that so many people have Sandie who hears about the dangers and horrors and awful stories around human trafficking to jump in right away and help. And one of the messages we've had is a consistent story over the last few years, story is maybe not the right word, but is to educate all of us on the fact that before we jump in with both feet and work to help one of the best ways we can help is often aligning with the resources, agencies, organizations that are already doing things. That rather than us reinventing the wheel, we can support in a very strategic way and I believe that today's conversation Sandie we're going to really jump into that again as a reminder for us through a different lens.

Sandie: [00:01:53] Absolutely. And I have to tell you that when I discovered TAG, I really looked at myself first. Why did I not go to the Health and Human services adolescent page? They have so many resources. And here we are thinking that we're out here on our own fighting human trafficking and trying to build kids who are able to have the kind of developmental assets that make them more resilient. And how do we empower kids to say no to some of the lures that we've talked about on this show that lead to the commercial sexual exploitation of our children and even labor trafficking like we mentioned in the latest episode on homeless youth? And eight percent are lured into labor trafficking. So,