Taos Pueblo Awareness Coalition Team - ABSTRACT: Taos Pueblo Awareness Coalition Team (TPACT) proposal to Drug Free Communities Taos Pueblo is home to the Red Willow people, a legally recognized political classification used to describe this Native American pueblo community. Located at the base of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains in North-Central New Mexico, the pueblo honor traditions passed on through over a thousand years of existence. Taos Pueblo prides itself on the strength of traditions, ancestral heritage, and the protection of homelands. Using policy and education, Taos Pueblo is tenacious and persistent in practicing pueblo traditions. Collectively, there is a belief ingrained in Taos Pueblo identity: what we have is worth saving. The Taos Pueblo Awareness Coalition Team (TPACT) formed with the vision of Taos Pueblo as the thriving community our ancestors prayed for, and our children deserve. The TPACT is comprised of partnership across Taos Pueblo, the Town of Taos, and the County of Taos, representing education, law enforcement, health services, media, nonprofits, and leadership. TPACT’s Mission is to revitalize the community’s core values in tradition, education, and action to prevent youth substance abuse, in the interest of building skills and strength in the youth and families of the Red Willow Nation. TPACT seeks Drug Free Community (DFC) partnership and support to fulfill its mission of preventing youth substance use and promoting mental well-being. In recent years, TPACT data has shown that alcohol and marijuana are the most misused substances, and current and planned programming reflect these findings. Activities are monitored, reported, and data used to adapt programming to the needs of the community in real-time. TPACT monitors youth substance use through qualitative data and quantitative data collected locally and through state-sponsored surveillance. Qualitatively, data is collected through Town Halls, Focus Groups, youth group meetings, and community forums. Quantitatively, TPACT uses the Youth Risk Resiliency Survey (YRRS), a state-wide tool modeled on the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS); as well as the Drug Free Communities sixteen Core Measures, which are collected and analyzed through a partnership with the New Mexico Department of Health (DOH). This allows TPACT to monitor Taos County and Taos Pueblo and compare use rates with New Mexico and across the United States.
