Trusted adults are predictors of well-being because they provide crucial support, guidance, and a sense of safety, leading to positive outcomes in areas like mental health, academic success, and overall resilience, especially for youth.  Simply put, youth having a trusted adult is a clear protective factor that drives well-being.

To increase the number of trusted adults in youth’s lives, we need to understand – from youths’ perspectives – what makes an adult safe and trusted.  Our Youth Fellows and youth partners from around the region from 1N5, Edge Teen Center, Forever Kings, Brighton Center, Magnified Giving and more, tackled this challenge and created an extremely useful tool – the definition of a safe and trusted adult.