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On October 2, 1996, 40 community leaders who were deeply concerned about the alarmingly high rates of drug and alcohol use among Santa Cruz County youth came together to form Together for Youth/Unidos Para Nuestros Jovenes. Their goal was to develop and build public support for a comprehensive, multidisciplinary prevention plan to decrease youth alcohol and other drug use in Santa Cruz County to the national average by the year 2000.
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Convened by representatives of the United Way of Santa Cruz County and the County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency Alcohol and Drug Program, with funding provided by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, members of the Together for Youth/Unidos Para Nuestros Jovenes Planning Group came from many sectors of the community: public and private health and human service organizations, schools, the juvenile justice system, community members, concerned parents and youth themselves. What these members held in common was an awareness that alcohol and other drug use is increasing among youth in the county and that a unified approach is needed to reduce the factors that put youth at risk for substance abuse and to strengthen the factors that shield youth from becoming involved with drugs and alcohol.
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The Together for Youth/Unidos Para Nuestros Jovenes Planning Group examined community approaches from across the United States and adapted the Communities That Care model, pioneered by Dr. David Hawkins and Dr. Richard Catalano. Communities That Care is a research-based social development strategy that is designed to help children develop into healthy adults. It is aimed at achieving significant reductions in adolescent problem behaviors by reducing risk factors in ways that promote resilience. Dr. Hawkins and Dr. Catalano have done substantial research on risk focused prevention through the University of Washington's Social Development Research Group. They developed Communities That Care after more than ten years of research on risk and protective factors. Communities That Care has demonstrated success in communities in twelve states where the model has been adopted.
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The Together for Youth/Unidos Para Nuestros Jovenes planning process began with orientation and education about risk and protective factors and the research-based essential components of successful prevention. Volunteers from the Group then made presentations about this information to community groups of all kinds reaching 375 concerned parents and other community members. The Group solicited input on types of prevention strategies that community members see as most promising.
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An independent evaluator, Susan Brutschy of Applied Survey Research, gathered and analyzed this information along with other relevant data for the Planning Group to consider. The Planning Group prioritized strategies with the goal of seeking organizations to assume responsibility for specific action items. This Plan includes both short term and long term strategies and distinguishes activities for which resources are currently available from those for which new resources are being sought.
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Upon implementation, the Plan will be reviewed at six-month intervals to evaluate the activities' impact on the goal of reducing youth alcohol and other drug use to the national average by the year 2000.
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The recommended components, strategies and activities for this Comprehensive Prevention Plan are described on pages 12 to 26, in the complete Together for Youth handbook. (click here to find out how to obtain copy) Together they form the network of prevention strategies in the seven essential components.
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Members of the Together for Youth/Unidos Para Nuestros Jovenes Planning Group will now select and convene prevention partners, organizations and groups who will help develop and deliver the activities described in this Plan. Together for Youth/Unidos Para Nuestros Jovenes members will seek the necessary resources from public and private sources to fund this Plan. They will continue to meet to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the activities of the Plan in decreasing youth alcohol and drug use.
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