Partnerships for Success (PfS) is a model, a strategy, to build and enhance a community’s ability and capacity to more effectively prevent and deal with youth and adolescent problem behavior and to promote positive youth development.

It was developed through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Comprehensive Strategies. This approach was implemented in five Ohio counties and refined into the PfS model. Funded by the Ohio Department of Youth Services, each county’s PfS Project is part of the Family and Children First Council, and monitored and assisted by the PfS Academy, a section of the Center of Learning Excellence at Ohio State University. It is a well researched, well defined process. Twenty- eight counties have been involved in PfS. PfS is a component of the overall Summit 2010 project.

The PfS planning process which began in January 2003 has three stages:

1. Needs Assessment: The goal of needs assessment is to define broad targets for change in the community (called “targeted impacts”), and factors (risk, protection, and assets) that are most closely associated with the targeted impacts.

2. Resource Assessment: The goal of the resource assessment is to create a realistic profile of current programs, services, and activities in the community addressing the targeted impacts identified in the needs assessment.

3. Identification of Strategic Actions: The goal of the third stage is to analyze gaps in the system and develop a five-year strategic plan that captures the work group’s thoughts about how best to address problem behaviors and promote youth development.

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