Henry County Prevention Coalition's proposed plan to prevent and reduce substance use among 12-18 year old youth by establishing and strengthening community collaboration. - Project Abstract Henry County is a quintessential rural community, in the northwest region of the state, within the 8th Congressional District, and hosting an urban center in Paris, TN. The Henry County Prevention Coalition’s (HCPC) mission is to empower the community through prevention, education, and leadership roles in reducing alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, and other harmful behaviors among our youth and families. With the Drug Free Communities Funds, the coalition will employ evidence-based strategies that have been proven effective, utilizing SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework and the Seven Strategies for Community Change. HCPC’s focus will rely heavily on increasing awareness of the risk factors, particularly among youth, while identifying and promoting protective factors through a multifaceted approach. Our approach follows the Drug Free Communities’ logic model, and it encompasses providing information, building stakeholder skills, establishing support systems to bolster protective factors and diminish risk factors, altering access points for risk and protective factors, as well as adjusting consequences for risky behaviors. Additionally, we plan to incentivize protective behaviors, modify the physical landscape of our county to facilitate healthy choices, and advocate for effective public health policies. Our coalition depends on collaboration with stakeholders from diverse sections of the community, to foster a culture where youth substance use is not tolerated. HCPC’s strategies and activities for these grant funds will include objectives focused on building our coalition members, youth members, and reducing substance use by teens 12-18 years old. To build our coalition numbers in each of the 12 sectors, we plan to partner with other organizations with mutual interests, participate in community events, and employ marketing strategies for the recognition of our brand. The youth coalition will be a major focus on our efforts to reduce substance use in our target population. HCPC’s plans to recruit and retain more youth includes providing informational sessions on substance use and misuse, teaching coping strategies, organizing youth outings and drug-free youth-led activities, facilitating youth-driven advertising campaigns and billboards, and providing community service opportunities. The coalition, with the support of the Drug Free Communities grant and coalition partners, will strive to foster a substance free community. School systems will be utilized in providing educational workshops and information campaigns to parents, youth, and community members. Law enforcement will be employed to assist in business compliance checks and data collection on community drug trends. Healthcare partners and school guidance counselors will collaborate with the coalition staff to streamline the curriculum that is presented to the youth of the county. Coalition members will help with our efforts to conduct community scans and evaluate our action plan for its effectiveness. With the collaboration efforts of strategic partners within the community, we will create lasting change for Henry County.
