Communities That Care®

Communities That Care^®

Communities That Care^® (CTC) is a research-based process to help communities work together to promote positive youth development and prevent specific problem behaviors. This system was recently acquired by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and uses a five-phase process based on successful public health models of community action:

Getting Started: Identifying the community to be involved and determining the strengths and needs for the planning to begin
Organizing, Introducing, Involving: Building a coalition of individuals and organizations and developing a vision and a structure
Developing a Community Profile: Collecting and analyzing data on risk factors and protective factors, identify priority issues, assess current resources and gaps in resources
Creating a Community Action Plan: Defining clear and measurable outcomes, reviewing and choosing effective programs
Implementing and Evaluating the Community Action Plan: Putting the coalition plan into action, evaluating the process and the outcomes

In 1989, this system was used in the formation of TOGETHER!, and the system was renewed in Thurston County in late 2005 in partnership with the North Thurston Public Schools Safe Schools Healthy Students Project. With the oversight of the TOGETHER! Key Leader Council, representatives from schools, law enforcement, non-profit agencies, local government, health care, and other community coalitions form the CTC Planning Group and work together to implement the various aspects of the system and to move the community through the process.

Current Work of Communities That Care^® in Thurston County

Research has identified 20 risk factors that can predict certain youth problem behaviors: substance abuse, delinquency, dropping out of school, teen pregnancy, depression, and violence. Two of the twenty risk factors shown to contribute to these problem behaviors were chosen by the CTC Planning Group to be specifically targeted in Thurston County:

Favorable Parental Attitudes and Involvement in the Problem Behavior
Academic Failure Beginning in Late Elementary School

The CTC Planning Group has selected 6 Best Practice programs/strategies which target these risk factors to expand in Thurston County. These include:

1. Guiding Good Choices

2. Parenting Wisely

3. Project ALERT

4. Strengthening Families

5. Tutoring

6. Mentoring

The group recently completed defining desirable outcomes that will measure the success of the Communities That Care^® effort. (See Outcome Statements.)

All businesses, agencies, organizations, and governments in Thurston County are encouraged to implement programs, policies, and strategies that target these two risk factors in their community.

For more information regarding the Communities That Care^® in Thurston County process, contact Gale Hemmann, Program Assistant at TOGETHER! at 360-493-2230, ext 20 or ghemmann@thurstontogether.org

Previous Meeting Minutes:

May 2007

For detailed information on the Communities That Care® planning system, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and SAMHSA National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information: http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/features/ctc/resources.aspx