Hunterdon County Safe Communities Coalition DFC Mentoring Grant with Partnership for Health Coalition - Presently, the mentor, Hunterdon County Safe Communities Coalition (HCSCC) and the mentee, Partnership for Health Coalition (PFHC), have a strong collaborative partnership and are poised to take the partnership to the next level via a mentoring relationship, solidifying the PFHC as a DFC-eligible grantee. Both the mentor and mentee have prevention as central to their mission, a key determinant in the decision to pursue the DFC mentoring opportunity. In addition, HCSCC has already been providing informal direction for the PFHC with local data assessment, drug and alcohol education, methodology of data collection, recruitment strategies for required 12 sectors, and establishment of a sustainability plan. The HCSCC in its prior 10 years and since becoming a DFC grantee has exceeded its goals in relation to the four core measures of the DFC program. As evidence, HCSCC received three prestigious awards from CADCA (Community Anti-drug Coalitions of America): 2017 "Got Outcomes Coalition of the Year" Award; 2013 Got Outcomes Milestone Award and 2010 Dose of Prevention Award. HCSCC also expanded capacity by 115% since 2009 and was awarded a contract in 2014 to present training and technical assistance to over 12 coalitions on how to utilize the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) and CADCA's 7 strategies for change. HCSCC also has significant experience in mentoring through the DFC Mentoring program. In 2012-2013 HCSCC mentored the Safe Communities Coalition of Somerset County NJ, which was awarded the DFC grant on its first try. In 2014-2015, HCSCC mentored a neighboring coalition in PA, NHS Cares, and they were also awarded the DFC grant in their second year of mentoring. One Voice Coalition, HCSCC's 3rd mentee has applied for DFC funding in 2018 with great hopes of receiving funding. This clearly corroborates the capacity of HCSCC to successfully mentor a DFC mentee, as well as its effective training of the SPF. PFHC, with its strong leadership, high capacity and outreach in the community is an ideal candidate for the DFC mentoring opportunity. PFHC's "healthier community" initiative was co-founded in 1995 by John Beckley, former Hunterdon County Health Department Director, Robert Wise, President and CEO of Hunterdon Healthcare System and Dr. Bernadette West, the Executive Director of Local Advisory Board (LAB), a central NJ regional health planning organization. Since that time, the PFHC expanded and developed, especially over the last 7 years, into a county-wide coalition of over 60 community agencies sharing a common interest in promoting the health of county residents. The coalition has taken the lead in conducting a wide range of community surveys and assessments designed to measure and track community health indicators over the years resulting in working to reduce substance use due to the following results: 1. Alcohol and marijuana are the most frequently used substances among high schools students. 2. Prevalence of binge drinking among Hunterdon adults and percentage of adult heavy drinkers are higher than state average. 3. Lifetime heroin use among Hunterdon high school students is higher than NJ average. 4. Majority of residents admitted for substance abuse treatment are due to alcohol followed by heroin/opiates. The PFHC is eager to further develop internal strategies including the strategic prevention framework model that has led the HCSCC to become so successful, allow them to become DFC eligible grantees. A successful working relationship between the 2 coalitions already exists and will be enhanced by the formalized structure of the mentoring partnership. The roles and expectations will be documented in the Strategic Action Plan which will serve as the guideline for mentor responsibilities and Mentee coalition building strategies.
