Strategic Prevention Framework - Partnerships for SuccessLa Casa Community Behavioral Health – Chaves County, New Mexico - Strategic Prevention Framework - Partnerships for Success La Casa Community Behavioral Health – Chaves County, New Mexico Abstract 2024 La Casa Community Behavioral Health in Roswell proposes to implement the SPF-PFS across Chaves County, New Mexico using universal evidence-based initiatives focused on preventing the onset and progression of substance abuse, specifically alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana, among youth. La Casa will partner with the Roswell Independent School District to implement universal, evidence-based curriculum, and to design campaigns promoting attendance. The SPF-PFS program would greatly enhance prevention capacity across the county, especially in these targeted systems and agencies: schools, community service providers, and law enforcement agencies. For example, prevention infrastructure will be strengthened by working on school policies and practices to identify, support, and refer students at risk for substance misuse, adding direct services for substance abuse prevention, selected prevention programming for students caught in violation of substance use policies, and increasing local law enforcement's coordination of underage drinking enforcement activities. Program goals include: • Increasing substance abuse prevention infrastructure and capacity to collect and use local data to assess needs and readiness, develop a data-driven strategic plan, and implement evidence-based substance abuse prevention approaches. • Reducing behavioral health disparities in Chaves County, particularly related to access to care, use, and outcomes of service; • Reducing underage drinking, and nicotine and marijuana use among youth. • Increasing the age of initiation of alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana use among youth. The proposed activities will reach the entire county population of 65,000, and at least 400 youth will receive prevention curriculum annually, or 2,000 students over the course of the grant. An additional subset of 100 adults will receive prevention training and information through forums or other events each year, reaching at least 500 community members over the course of the five-year grant. Media and messaging are expected to reach the entire community through radio, newspaper, billboards, and social media. This comprehensive approach will prevent the onset and reduce the progression of substance abuse and its related problems while strengthening prevention capacity and infrastructure at the community level.
