The River Coalition Communities Mobilize for Healthy Youth

December 8, 2003

 Thursday and Friday, December 11^th and 12^th, River Coalition Inc. area community members will gather to complete plans to realize their goals of positive development of children and youth and to assist in the prevention of adolescent problem behaviors – including alcohol and other drug use, delinquency, teen pregnancy, dropping out of school and violence.  Channing Bete Co. Inc. and the University of Washington will assist community members in updating a focused; long-range community action plan for building on existing resources using a data based community profile.  Gaps in resources will be filled with tested, effective programs to insure youth of the River Coalition community gain healthy beliefs and clear standards for behavior.

Communities That Care® (CTC) is a community-wide initiative for the benefit of the River Coalition Inc communities of Alton, Bradley, Greenbush, Indian Island, Milford and Old Town.

 

The community has organized and is involving all community members with a stake in healthy futures for young people by bringing together representation from those stakeholders including: elected officials, youth, parents, law enforcement, schools, public health officials, agencies and organizations serving local youth and families, the faith community, the business community and residents.

 

The River Coalition Inc. used the Communities That Care approach in 1996 when completing their initial Comprehensive Plan and is one of 12 communities across the country using the Communities That Care® prevention operating system as part of the Community Youth Development Study. This study will help determine how well the Communities That Care ® (CTC) system works to foster healthy youth development in these 12 communities compared with 12 communities not using the CTC system.  The study will determine whether CTC helps communities reduce levels of risk, increase levels of protection and reduce levels of youth drug use, violence, and other problem behaviors.  The community’s involvement in the Study will contribute to the development of cutting-edge knowledge on how to foster the healthy development of youth.

 

The Community Panning Training will give community members the skills needed to develop a focused Community Action Plan.  The training will help the community define clear measurable outcomes that can be traced over time to show progress and ensure accountability.  It will identify gaps in how priorities are currently addressed by community resources, select tested, effective programs, policies and practices to fill any gaps and evaluate the progress toward desired goals.

On Friday, an evaluation plan for each program will be developed as well as development of a written Community Action Plan to augment the River Coalition Inc. Comprehensive Plan.

 

Thanks to Georgia Pacific Inc, the training, which is open to all River Coalition community members from Alton, Bradley, Indian Island, Greenbush, Milford and Old Town, will be held on December 11^th and 12^th from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM each day at the Erland Sleight Training Center.  For more information please contact Kathryn McGloin at mcgloink@adelphia.net or 827-8744.

 

Communities That Care® helps bring together diverse community efforts that address youth and family issues by establishing a shared vision, a common language and a collaborative approach to planning and implementing needed changes.