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View Actual Community Action Plan Shared Services Network sponsored two community planning sessions conducted by a consultant from Channing Bete/Communities that Care. The sessions took place on April 23, 2003 and August 27, 2003 and were sponsored financially by Safe and Drug Free Schools, The Children’s Services Council of Martin County and Martin County Board of County Commissioner’s Community Services Department. Invited guests included Executive Roundtable and Steering Committee members, agency personnel and interested community members. The purpose of the planning sessions was to gather data related to reducing youth substance use (Martin County students self-reported higher than state average substance abuse use in many categories on the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey statistics in both 2000 and 2002.) Information was collected at both planning sessions to be used in the development of a community mobilization action plan to reduce youth substance abuse. A product of the planning sessions was the development of a prioritized risk and protective factors document, which was the springboard for the community plan. Risk factors include: · Family attitudes favorable toward alcohol, tobacco and other drugs use · Peer attitudes favorable toward alcohol, tobacco and other drug use · Personal transitions and mobil Protective factors include: · Family · School rewards for pro-social involvement · Community rewards for pro-social involvement
Three outcomes of the Communities that Care Planning Sessions include: 1. Engaging key leaders and citizens in the community to meet together to discuss the issue of youth substance abuse 2. Development of a database of committed community leaders and citizens interested in working together on the issue of reducing youth substance abuse 3. The collection of data to be used as the framework for a draft community plan to reduce youth substance abuse The Shared Services Network Steering Committee synthesized the information collected at the Communities that Care Planning Sessions and developed a draft Community Mobilization Action Plan to Reduce Youth Substance Abuse. This draft plan included a fourth risk factor, Community Attitudes favorable toward alcohol, tobacco and other drug use. The plan was presented to the Executive Roundtable at their quarterly meeting on October 8, 2003 and was approved by the CEO’s by consensus at that meeting. Additionally, community members who participated in the Communities that Care Planning sessions were invited to the October 8, 2003 meeting of the Executive Roundtable which was televised by Martin County TV Channel 20. Having the Executive Roundtable meeting televised allowed for information in the community plan to be shared with citizens in Martin County who did not participate in the Communities that Care planning sessions. After approval by the Executive Roundtable, Steering Committee members were asked to develop the strategies by which the plan would be implemented. Strategies included the development of four sub-committees, one for each risk factor domain. The sub-committees had their organizational meetings in early December 2003 and a second meeting in mid-December 2003 and plans to implement best practices and activities are in full swing. A detailed report on progress of the action plan will be presented to the Executive Roundtable at their quarterly meeting on January 28, 2004. An additional update to the Executive Roundtable is planned for their quarterly meeting on April 21, 2004.
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