Huntington County Community Action Plan / 3
Huntington County
Communities That Care
Community Action Plan
Compiled by:
Cynthia M. Morton
CTC Committee:
Mandy Reber, Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington County
Tiffany Trissel-Griffey, A Better Way Services
Jan Williams, Youth Services Bureau of Huntington County
John Markley, Markle Town Marshal
Jonathan Leist , Huntington County Solid Waste Department
Huntington County Community Action Plan
Outline
1) Executive Summary
2) Introduction
a) Purpose and use of the plan
b) Prevention science overview
c) Description of community involvement
d) Summary of community planning results
i) How community level outcomes were drafted
ii) How programs were selected
iii) How program-level outcomes were drafted
iv) How systems-change strategies were identified
e) How to use the plan
3) The Community Action Plan
a) Community Profile
i) Data collection efforts
ii) Prioritization process
iii) Existing resources
iv) Gaps, issues, barriers
v) Recommendations
b) Community Planning Results
i) Community-level outcomes
ii) Selected programs, policies and practices
iii) Program-level outcomes
iv) Preliminary evaluation plans
v) Preliminary implementation plans and budgets
4) Conclusions and Recommendations
a) Summary of key findings
b) Recommendations for next steps
Executive Summary
The following plan describes the ways chosen by the Community Board to address the priority risk factors identified through the Communities That Care effort in Huntington County. The Communities That Care system is a way for members of a community to work together to promote positive youth development. The system was developed by Dr. J. David Hawkins and Dr. Richard F. Catalano. Their research has identified risk factors that predict youth problem behaviors and protective factors that buffer children from risk and help them succeed in life.
Huntington County developed its outcome-based plan after the Community Board identified three risk factors as priorities for community planning: availability of drugs, friends who engage in problem behaviors, and family conflict. The Community Board then completed the Community Resource Assessment and identified resources and programs available in the community currently targeting the identified priority risk factors.
In April of 2011, the Community Board attended the Community Planning Training and began to draft this report. Community Board members chose preliminary programs and practices to implement at the training and met again in June of 2011 to finalize plans for programs and practices and also set program-level outcomes.
The following are the programs, policies, and practices selected:
· To address the risk factor availability of drugs, Huntington County selected to implement the environmental strategy of implementing prescription drug drop-off locations.
· To address the risk factor availability of drugs, Huntington County also selected to implement the individual strategy program Keepin’ it REAL.
· To address the risk factor friends who engage in problem behaviors, Huntington County selected to implement the individual strategy SMART Moves program.
· To address the risk factor friends who engage in problem behaviors, Huntington County also selected to implement the individual strategy programs Natural Helpers and Lifelines as part of the Teen Suicide Prevention Task Force.
· To address the risk factor family conflict, Huntington County has selected to implement the environmental strategy of Community Parenting Meetings.
Introduction
Purpose and use of the plan
Huntington County presents its 2010 Comprehensive Action Plan. This plan explains the current work done by the Communities That Care effort and plans for future benefits and outcomes in the community. The plan describes areas of concentration for programs, policies, and practices that will be implemented to reduce risks, enhance protections, and decrease resulting problem behaviors in Huntington County Youth.
The vision is that Huntington County will implement this comprehensive plan for county-wide prevention.
Prevention Science Overview
In February 2010, Huntington County began implementing the Communities that Care system. Communities that Care is a prevention-planning system developed by Dr. David Hawkins and Dr. Richard Catalano of the Social Development Research Group in Seattle, Washington. The Communities that Care system provides a way for all stakeholders in the community to work together to promote positive youth development. The implementation of this system will aid the community in decreasing problem behaviors such as substance use, delinquency, teen pregnancy, school drop-out, violence, anxiety, and depression.
Community Involvement
The Huntington County Community Board and Key Leader Board are comprised of community members from all sectors of private and public institutions in the community including Boys and Girls Club of Huntington County, Youth Services Bureau, county solid waste management and a local police department. Several other organizations have helped with the development of the Communities That Care process in Huntington County.
When involving the community and recruiting for selected programs, diversity and inclusion of all cultures will be considered.
The Community Plan
A key goal of the Communities That Care process is to develop a Community Action Plan that builds on the data-based community profile. This plan not only builds upon the findings of the Community Assessment Report and the Community Resource Assessment Report, but also addresses issues in implementing programs, policies, or practices and addresses gaps in current prevention efforts.
The Huntington County plan accomplishes this goal by identifying desired outcomes for each program, policy, or practice selected; for the priority risk factors on which the plan is focused; and for the problem behaviors. It describes how each policy, program, or practice selected will work toward improving priority risk factors in the county as well as bringing about desired changes in youth problem behaviors. The plan also discusses systems-change strategies to help with implementations of these programs.
How the information was collected and drafted
Huntington County developed its outcome-based plan after the Community Board identified risk factors as priorities for community planning. The Community Board, with these risk factors in mind, then created outcomes for the community to plan to outline in May 2011. This was done via email after the Community Planning Training. Program selection then also took place via email in May 2011.
The Community Board then adapted the overall outcomes to each specific program, drafting implementation and participant outcomes. Implementation outcomes describe the way in which the programs effect change; participant outcomes describe the desired changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills or behaviors that the program will produce for participants. Community Board members drafted these outcomes via email after the programs were selected.
The Community Action Plan was presented for approval of the Community Board in May 2011 and submitted as a final product in June 2011.
How to use the plan
The Community Action Plan is intended to help guide participants at the Community Plan Implementation Training to develop implementation, evaluation and budgeting plans for the selected programs, policies and practices. Participants developing the plans should use this plan to develop:
-funding strategies by tying funding plans to outcomes and reevaluating funding priorities as outcomes are monitored
-implementation plans for the programs identified in the plan
-evaluation plans for programs by first monitoring the short-term program-level outcomes and then longer-term community-level outcomes.
Community Profile
Data collection efforts
The Community Board collected and analyzed data pertaining to risk factors, protective factors, and problem behaviors in Huntington County. Then, taking the professional opinions of the board into consideration, the Community Board identified priority risk factors to address as well as current community strengths. The data used for this assessment came from the 2010 Communities That Care Youth Survey and archival data. The Communities That Care Youth Survey was administered to all 8th graders of Huntington County in February 2011. The archival data was ascertained from local sources and public records.
Based on analysis of the data presented and the professional opinions of the Huntington County Community Board, the following risk factors were identified as priorities:
- Availability of drugs (Community Domain)
-Family Conflict (Family Domain)
-Interaction with Antisocial Peers (Peer and Individual Domain)
These risk factors were selected as priorities in Huntington County because the data pointed to these areas as the most elevated in the community. We recommend that Huntington County give particular attention to these areas when implementing new prevention programs, practices, or policies in Huntington County. The data leading to this conclusion is summarized as follows:
Community Risk Factor: Availability of Drugs
Communities That Care Youth Survey:
The CTCYS asks the following questions regarding the availability of drugs:
-How easy is it to get cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigars, or other tobacco products?
-How easy is it to get beer, wine, liquor, or other tobacco products?
-How easy is it to get marijuana pot, hash, weed)?
Figure 1: Perceived Availability of Drugs. Source: 2010 Huntington County CTCYS report
Archival Data:
Another data set that shows the availability of drugs in Huntington County is the State Non-Compliance rates from the Tobacco Retailer Inspection program. In 2010, 6.0% of tobacco retailers in Huntington County failed their inspection. This is an alarming rate as it rose 0.4% from the previous year, and is almost double the statewide average. Alcohol retailers’ inspection showed that 25% of retailers failed inspection in 2009. This is less than the state average of 35.5%, but is still an area that needs to be improved upon. There is also a substantial amount of media attention concentrating on the prescription drug problem in Huntington County (though supporting data is difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain). This may be due to a lack of prescription medication drop-off locations in Huntington County.
Family Risk Factor: Family Conflict
Communities That Care Youth Survey:
The CTCYS asks the following questions regarding the family conflict:
-We argue about the same things in my family over and over.
-People in my family have serious arguments.
-People in my family often insult or yell at each other.
The Communities That Care Youth Survey compares the scores concerning risk factors to the national average. Concerning Family Conflict, 50.8% of Huntington County 8th graders scored above the national average for that risk.
Individual/Peer Risk Factor: Friends Who Engage in Problem Behavior
Communities That Care Youth Survey:
The CTCYS asks the following questions regarding friends who engage in problem behaviors:
-In the past year, how many of your best friends have been suspended from school?
-In the past year, how many of your best friends have carried a handgun?
-In the past year, how many of your best friends have sold illegal drugs?
-In the past year, how many of your best friends have stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle such as a car or motorcycle?
-In the past year, how many of your best friends have dropped out of school?
The Communities That Care Youth Survey compares the scores concerning risk factors to the national average. Concerning Interaction with Antisocial Peers, 50.7% of Huntington County 8th graders scored above the national average for that risk.
Existing Resources
Huntington County has many programs available to their youth. There are many opportunities for pro-social involvement through the Huntington County Boys and Girls Clubs and the Youth Services Bureau. The school corporation is also very willing to cooperate with area organizations and has a great focus on prevention throughout their schools. There are also a variety of evidence based programs available throughout the county, especially those addressing the priority risk factor, friends who engage in problem behaviors. The Boys & Girls Club provides the Afternoons R.O.C.K. (Recreation Objectives of Culture & Knowledge) in Indiana program to all three middle schools afterschool throughout the school year, providing an evidence based prevention program every year to over 120 5-8 graders. The Purdue Extension office runs the evidence based curriculum Professor Popcorn for 4th graders in Huntington County.
Gaps, issues and barriers
Although many great programs are present, the main gap in resources is funding. The resources offered by many of the organizations are being cut due to lack of funding. It also appears that the parenting classes currently available are not accessible to all parents in Huntington County as there is still a large problem with family conflict.
Recommendations
The Huntington County Community Board recommends that programs currently targeting Friends who engage in problem behaviors be expanded and new programs, policies, and practices be developed to target family conflict and availability of drugs. Each will be discussed in turn.
Community Planning Results
Community-level outcomes
Huntington County developed outcomes for the following identified risk factors:
-Availability of Drugs
-Family Conflict
-Friends who engage in Problem Behaviors
The following sections describe the outcomes, programs, policies, and practices for each risk factor.
Risk Factor: Availability of Drugs
Behavior outcomes are meant to identify the changes that need to be made in behaviors to reach the Huntington County community vision. The outcomes will help to measure the change in the problem behavior of substance use. The behavior outcomes are as follows:
-To decrease the juvenile substance use arrests by 5% (from 47 in 2010 to 45) by 2015.
-To decrease reported use of prescription painkillers from 6.1% to less than 5.0% and to decrease the use of prescription drugs from 5.6% to less than 4.5% by 2015.
Risk-factor outcomes are meant to identify the changes in Huntington County that need to be made in its priority risk factors to achieve the previously described behavior changes. The risk-factor outcomes are as follows:
-To decrease perceived availability of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes (easy or fairly easy answers) all to less than 8.5% each by 2015 on the CTCYS. (Currently, 11.5% say it is easy and 9.9% say that is would be fairly easy to access cigarettes, 12.3% say it is easy and 13.1% say it would be fairly easy to access alcohol, and 6.9% say it is easy and 6.1% say that it would be fairly easy to access marijuana.)
-To have a decrease of over 125 pounds of controlled substance prescription medication by 2015 (using a return program).
Protective Factor outcomes will be added; pending results of 2011 Communities That Care Youth Survey.
Selected Programs, Policies and Practices
To address the risk factor Availability of Drugs, Huntington County selected the program Keepin’ it REAL. Several factors made this selection sensible: