Sharing Tools and Approaches
MCWI Measurement Library
We created this library to provide people who are interested in assessing and elevating the well-being of children and youth with the measures they can use to understand and track child and youth well-being. We were particularly motivated by the increasing number of people and organizations wanting to measure and improve well-being and related elements of life – such as curiosity, resilience, and sense of belonging – but thought that there was no good way to do it. We included measures that give a clear picture of how young people are doing, based on their own reflections and the reports from their caregivers
Character Strengths Interventions
Group Model Building & System Maps
Group Model Building is a participatory approach to understanding and acting on complex systems. Participants represented various perspectives, from education, health, parents and grandparents, police, recreation, young adults, and youth development. This group created a causal loop diagram and identified key leverage points in service to child thriving.
MCWI utilizes the VIA Character Strengths. The VIA Character Strengths assessment is the only scientifically validated strengths assessment that helps people flourish across every aspect of their lives-and at each stage of life. People rely on their character strengths to achieve goals, remain resilient, deepen relationships, feel like their true selves, and ultimately thrive. Below are two introductory resources to Character Strengths including on how to get started with character strengths and how to use the Aware-Explore-Apply (AEA) Model. Many more resources can be found on the Via Institute website.
The MCWI Well-being Workbench is a regular series that provides space for everyone to learn about child & youth well-being, thriving, and flourishing. From well-being science experts to people with lived experience, a variety of guest speakers share well-being knowledge and tools.
Recent Workbench Opportunities:
August 27, 2024, MCWI Workbench: An Intro of What, Why, and How Character Strengths for Teams with Dr. Jillian Coppley
September 24, 2024, MCWI Workbench: Co-Creating the Conditions in Which Communities Thrive with Dr. Carley Riley