Assessing youth/adult partnerships: the Seven Circles (AK) experience

Seven Circles is a substance abuse prevention coalition in Southeast Alaska with a two-tiered structure consisting of local partnerships joined together in a regional coalition. Seven Circles incorporates a youth/adult partnership approach to accomplish its activities. This article describes the results of four annual administrations of a partnership member survey designed to assess the development and implementation of youth/adult partnerships in the local projects, assess the value of the partnerships to the participants, and gather feedback about the functioning of the Seven Circles Coalition. The results support the youth/adult partnership model and are also discussed in the context of youth empowerment.