Healthways Alliance Partnerships for Success - HealthVisions Midwest, dba Healthways Alliance (HWA) will implement the Strategic Prevention Framework-Partnerships for Success (SPF-PFS) Project in Lake County, Indiana, to strengthen community prevention capacity and reduce youth substance use. Through data driven assessment, coalition building, youth engagement, and evidence-based strategies, the project will address alcohol, marijuana, prescription drug misuse, and other emerging substance use concerns among youth ages 12-19. The project will build sustainable infrastructure, strengthen cross-sector partnerships, and increase the capacity of local prevention providers to reduce risk factors, strengthen protective factors, and promote youth well-being. The HWA SPF-PFS Project will serve Lake County, Indiana, including the communities of Whiting, East Chicago, Hammond, Gary, Lake Station, Hobart, Highland, and Munster. The population of focus includes youth ages 12-19, their families, schools, and community stakeholders. Lake County requires stronger coordination among prevention partners, increased youth involvement in prevention planning, expanded language access and outreach efforts, and enhanced capacity to use local data to identify and address substance use concern. Using the Strategic Prevention Framework, HWA will conduct a comprehensive needs assessment to identify substance use priorities, populations at elevated risk, service gaps, community readiness, and key risk and protective factors. Youth and community stakeholders will participate through coalition workgroups and a Youth Advisory Committee. HWA will collaborate with schools, healthcare providers, law enforcement, community organizations, state prevention partners, and other local prevention initiatives to coordinate efforts and maximize resources. Assessment findings will guide the development of a prevention plan, logic model, implementation plan, and evaluation plan. Strategies include coalition development, stakeholder training, youth leadership initiatives, positive social norms campaigns, parent and community education, Sticker Shock campaigns, prescription drug take-back events, Mental Health First Aid training, language access initiatives, and evidence-based programs such as Media Ready and Overdose Lifeline. Prevention activities will begin within the first 6-9 months of the project period and will be refined through ongoing evaluation and community feedback. Project goals are to strengthen prevention infrastructure, increase collaboration among community partners, expand access to evidence-based prevention services, and reduce factors associated with youth substance use. Objectives include increasing coalition functionality by 40% by September 2031, increasing coalition member competency by 20%, adding at least five new prevention partners annually, expanding the reach of prevention activities each year, and demonstrating annual improvements in risk, protective, consumption, and consequence measures. Through sustained community collaboration and continuous quality improvement, HWA will establish a stronger prevention system that supports long-term reductions in youth substance use throughout Lake County.
