Youth of Burnett County Prevention Coalition - The Youth of Burnett County Prevention Coalition (YOBC) began in May of 2022, and we have built a strong membership group among all of the 12 Sectors. The mission of YOBC is “uniting the community and organizations to protect the youth in Burnett County to reduce substance misuse.” Our vision is “a healthy and safe community, free of substance misuse”. YOBC focuses on creating long term environmental change by implementing a comprehensive youth substance abuse prevention and reduction plan. YOBC endeavors to change cultural norms through school educational programs, community presentations, town halls, social media, developing youth led AODA groups and by integrating education of traditional Ojibwe practices of sacred tobacco. YOBC will reduce access to substances by limiting placement of advertising and products, performing alcohol and tobacco/vaping compliance checks, establishing tobacco-free zones, standardizing school policies, and increasing enforcement of existing laws and policies. We recognize a multi-pronged strategy is required to address the problem of youth substance use in our County. Our work plan is strategically designed to allow us to provide an effective dose of comprehensive and complementary evidence-based strategies both individually and environmentally focused. Our strategies include providing information, enhancing stakeholder skills, providing support for enhancing protective factors and reducing risk factors for youth substance use, changing access to risk and protective factors, changing consequences for risk behavior, and offering incentives for protective behaviors, modifying the physical design of our county to “make the healthy choice the easy choice”, and engaging in effective public health policy advocacy. Our mission statement also reflects our commitment to collaboration, bringing together stakeholders from multiple sectors as well as youth and parents to provide input, actively engage to own and guide the process. Utilizing a public health approach, we seek to change the environment of our County to reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors for youth substance use. This includes supporting policy changes, working to change community norms, and supporting a culture in which youth substance use does not exist. Ultimately, as our mission statement underscores, the Coalition seeks to create a culture of health in our community where all youth are thriving in families and supported to maintain a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle.
